AN INVESTIGATION OF EFFECT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF CHILDREN WITH DOWN SYNDROME ON NEEDS, ANXIETY AND SOCIAL SUPPORT LEVELS OF THEIR MOTHERS

This study aims to investigate the effect of communication skills of children with Down Syndrome on their mother’s perceptions of needs, anxiety, and social support. The quantitative research method was used in the study, which was performed in the descriptive survey model. 71 mothers who have children between 4-16 years of age, diagnosed with Down Syndrome participated. The research data were collected using Communication Function Classification System (CFCS), Family Needs Survey (FNS), Questionnaire on Resources and Stress for Families with Chronically or Handicapped Members (QRS), and Social Support Scale (SSS). There was a positive significant relationship between CFCS and financial needs and QRS 2 and there was a negative significant relationship with social support. A negative significant relationship was found between QRS 3 and social support.  Article visualizations

The Comparison of the Morphological and Syntactic Awareness Skills of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students Regarding Agreement and Tense Categories that Exist in Verbs in Reading Activities with those of Students Without Hearing Disabilities

The difficulties in learning skills that deaf and hard of hearing students encounter stem from morphology and syntactic morphology (morpho-syntax) and it is clear that there are limited studies related to these. In this study, it is aimed at examining hearing and deaf and hard of hearing students’ morpho-syntactic actions which are compatible with the Turkish Sign Language and the awareness skills of these actions in the time categories. In total 122 students; 57 deaf and hard of hearing students from secondary and high school and 65 hearing students have participated this study. The data is gathered through DMASTR and SuperLab 5 software programs where data is collected by a process with a “word reading method” and “an inclusion of agreement and tense categories in actions”. In the outcome of the study it is identified that students hard of hearing had an underachievement in the agreement and tense categories compared to hearing students. At the agreement category, in terms of reading duration it is seen that deaf students’ verbs with disagreement compared with verbs with agreement, they read faster. In the tense category, it is clear that deaf and hard of hearing students’ accuracy rate of reading words have got similarities in the categories of past and future tenses whereas they have got inadequacies in the present tense, when the data is observed in terms of the speed of reaction and reading duration, it is seen that they are more successful in the past tense. In accordance with these findings, it is indicated that hard of hearing students have shared the same reading skills with their hearing peers whereas they had plenty of difficulties related to reading skills some of them which are from the fields of morphology and syntactic morphology, in the steps of formal education

Written Language Characteristics of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Terms of the Components of the Language

Hearing has vital importance for language development. Deaf and hard of hearing children have problems in spoken and written language due to hearing loss. The development of written language is directly related to language skills such as listening, speaking, and reading skills. This study aims to evaluate the use of language components in written language in deaf and hard of hearing students. In the study, writing samples of eight deaf and hard of hearing students who continue 4th grade in the school for the deaf were taken and error analysis was conducted. Besides, interviews were made with their classroom teacher about their language development, and in-class observations were conducted. It was seen as a result of the study that deaf and hard of hearing students have significant difficulties in all components of language in written language