Views of Teachers and Principals for Intellectual and Developmental Disabled Students in Quarantine

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic affected all areas of life, including the education system. Extraordinary conditions induced by the pandemic necessitated a sudden transition to distance education, which had significant effects on students, parents, and teachers. While all students were negatively affected by this development, the difficulties experienced by students with developmental disabilities were different from their peers with typical development. It has been reported that the individuals with developmental disabilities experienced the highest difficulty in the management of the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and their needs were primarily ignored in distance education. The current study was conducted with a phenomenological and qualitative approach to investigate the related data in depth. The study participants included 10 special education teachers and 10 special education school principals. The study findings revealed that it was extremely difficult to conduct special education online; schools were not only a learning environment for the students with developmental disabilities, but also a sphere of socialization.