İlk Gençlik Çağı Romanlarında Özel Gereksinimli Karakterlerin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Introduction: Juvenile books are useful tools to increase young people's knowledge and sensitivity about individuals with special needs. In particular, the books that are structured in a qualified way and that appeal to the world of young people will be useful in establishing healthy communication bridges between individuals with typical development and individuals with special needs. For this reason, it is important to identify qualified books on individuals with special needs. In this research, we examined the books that include individuals with special needs as characters in terms of their structure, depiction, and developmental characteristics. Method: The study utilized document analysis model, one of the qualitative research methods, in which we examined the characters with special needs according to various criteria. We evaluated thirty-eight books in the study. While identifying the books, we sought that they appealed to juvenile and included at least one character with special needs. We analyzed the books with the content analysis technique. Results: Results showed eleven different disability types in the 38 books. Of these, 10 were visual impairment, 11 were physical disabilities, six were hearing impairment, six were intellectual disability, six were autism spectrum disorder (ASD), five were cerebral palsy, three were speech and language disorders, three were gifted, one was specific learning disability, one was attention deficiency and hyperactivity disorder, one was a physical disorder. In 33 books, characters had positive depictions; 33 characters had dynamic characteristics, and all of the books had realistic fiction except two. Discussion: The results of the study differ from the studies in the literature in terms of the variety of special needs of the characters. In terms of the reality of the fictions, the results overlap with the studies in the literature. The rate of dynamic characters in the books that are the subject of this research is higher than past studies. The results regarding the relationship between the characters with special needs and their peers are also consistent with the results of the studies on the topic.