Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, Issue 55, 2014, 137-158

Stories about Children with Disabilities: The Writing

Process and the Opinions of the Storywriters

Sezgin VURAN*

Suggested Citation:
Vuran, S. (2014). Stories about children with disabilities: the writing process and the
opinions of the storywriters. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research.55, 137-
158. [Link] 10.14689/ejer.2014.55.9

Abstract
Problem Statement: Successful inclusion is established through
understanding and respecting differences among individuals. This study
emerged from the idea that books play an important role in this
understanding and from the lack of published children’s books about
disabilities. Although, stories are very important in any educational
curriculum, there are no example stories including children with
disabilities in Turkish children’s literature (C'sL).
Purpose of Study: The purpose of this research is to examine the opinions of
pre-service teachers about their experiences during the storybook writing
process.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. The first
phase focused on how stories about successful inclusion situations in the
community were developed by college students. In the second phase the
experiences of the storywriters were examined through the use of semi-
structured interviews. The data were analyzed inductively.
Findings and Results: The outcomes of the interviews revealed that the
story writers gained positive experiences, and the writing process
contributed to their individual and career development. The interviews
further showed that the stories would increase the social acceptance of
children with disabilities.
Conclusions and Recommendations: Attitudes, opinions, expectations,
feelings and thoughts can be changed by reading storybooks about
children with disabilities in Turkey. These changes are based on greater
familiarization of special education, the development of positive

* Dr. Anadolu University, svuran@[Link]

137
138 Sezgin Vuran

intentions toward individuals with disabilities (ID), and the

encouragement of positive interactive relationships among children of
different abilities. This could help the society improve their view of what
professional practice could be by developing insights to explore
alternative ways of looking at practices and providing access to
storybooks about integrated early childhood and primary literacy
experiences.
Keywords: Stories for children, children with disabilities, inclusion,
storybook writing process.
Education provides children with an understanding of their social positions, the
era and the society in which they live. They benefit from the knowledge and
experiences throughout their lives to develop their personalities. In this respect, the
books that are read in childhood are particularly significant (Bozdag, 2000). Starting
from an early age, most children start to realize the differences and similarities of the
people around them and themselves. Those who are two years old or younger can
usually differentiate the physical properties such as skin and hair colour. This
awareness sets the stage for children noticing unfamiliar characteristics such as facial
hair, glasses and disabilities. Although they may be worried about these differences,
it is important to give them time and opportunities where they can talk about this
and express how they feel (Williams, Inkster & Blaska, 2005).
The content of books that correspond to children’s requirements, interests,
mental, emotional and psychological development, and most importantly that can be
read by children with pleasure, should address their interests and life experiences.
They should be age-related and comprehensible. The story should have a simple and
realistic plot; the actions should have reasonable results; and the characters should be
so real that there should be no suspicions in the child’s mind (Ataseven & Inandı,
2000). In addition, the pictures in the books should be related to the topics,
explanatory, interpretative, enjoyable and attractive (Sever, 2007). When children’s
books are written in a way that leads the children to fill in certain blanks, their
limited life experience is enriched, as they can think about different kinds of people
and their developing values and culture become more apparent. In this way, children
can adapt more easily to their social and cultural environment (Ataseven & Inandı,
2000).
Can children’s books about differences help the reader adapt to society? This is a
recently argued topic in Turkey. Regarding this point, Alpoge (2000) emphasizes that
children’s stories should express that a different child or one with disabilities has a
lot of characteristics in common with the normally developing children, and these
different people can be successful and talented in some subjects and share these
experiences with others. It should also be expressed that the differences are nothing
to fear, and that they bring diversity to the community. In the stories, it is important
to note that the possibilities of communication will be lost if we divide the world into
‘us’ and ‘them’. Success can be achieved by creating characters with whom the
children can identify (Alpoge, 2000; Alpoge, 2003).
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 139

In 1992, a study by Blaska and Lynch reviewed 500 award-winning books for
children, published 1987-1991, for the inclusion and depiction of individuals with
disabilities (ID). Of the books that were reviewed, ten (2%) included ID in the story
line or illustrations. Within those ten books, ID was integral to the story line in only
six of the books (Blaska, 2003).
In recent literature, there are several stories and books written for children with
various disabilities and chronic illnesses, such as attention deficit disorders, attention
deficit and hyperactivity disorders, AIDS, autism, Down's syndrome, hearing
impairment, hydrocephalus, mental retardation, visual impairment and other types
of disabilities (Ashton, 2006; the National Dissemination Centre for Children with
Disabilities, 2001). These stories involve texts about different groups of disabilities
supported with pictures and examples derived from real life. Reading books about
ID helps children to express their feelings and to ask questions. They can have the
opportunity to develop empathy and an understanding for disabled people
(Williams et al., 2005).
In terms of characters, Turkish stories and novels mainly feature normally
developing individuals. Having scanned the stories for children, we could find only
one story about a person with a disability (Ural, 1993). However, those with ID are
also members of society. The success of inclusion, which allows children with
disabilities to be educated with their peers, depends on the acceptance of the children
with disabilities by both society and their peers. C’sL, which has an important role in
children’s lives, must be enriched in the aspects of the lives with similar and different
characteristics of ID. Starting from an early age, children must be guided to be more
sensitive, insightful and tolerant towards others. They must acquire the skills to
cooperate and support each other. To this end, books about people with disabilities
are extremely important. If the stories show the problems and the solutions within
the lives of the people with disabilities, children can better understand characters
with disabilities and their differences and can thus develop tolerance for them.
The fact that there are no books for children that are about children with
disabilities has motivated the researcher of this project to educate pre-service
teachers to write books for children that are about ID. Stories can have an important
role in the education of teachers in the field of special education to explain the
implications of an identified need and identify strategies that could be used to
support children with and without disabilities (Jarvis, Dyson, Thomas, Graham,
Iantaffi & Burchell, 2004). This could help pre-service teachers not only advance in
their understanding in the field and knowledge of richer practical repertoires, but
also present their material in a child’s voice, that offers a significant ‘reframing’ for
many, which has the potential to lead to practical change (Jarvis et al., 2004). The
purpose of this research was to examine the opinions of pre-service teachers about
their experiences during the storybook writing process.
 140 Sezgin Vuran

Method
This qualitative study was conducted in two phases. The story writing process
was used in the first phase to conduct an action process and to collect and analyse
the data. Action process workshops were conducted to prepare children’s storybooks
about children with disabilities. During the second phase, the data were collected
through semi-structured interviews about story writing processes from the
participants and analysed inductively.
Participants
The participants of this study were pre-service teachers (college students) from
the Departments of Early Childhood Education and Special Education at Faculty of
Education at Anadolu University. With the aim of writing children’s literature that
addressed children with special needs, it was announced to undergraduate students
at the Faculty of Education, which includes special education, early childhood
education and primary education, that a study on facilitating the acceptance of
students with special needs by their peers in inclusive classes would be conducted.
Volunteers were asked to register to participate in this study (in the related
department). Considering this announcement, 67 undergraduate students registered
for the study. At the pre-meeting held with these students, a consent form was given
to the volunteers. This document informed students that a long period (maximum
ten weeks) study was planned, their attendance to the study was important in order
to implement the study successfully, and during the study process, volunteers who
wanted to leave the study would be able to do so. They were given one week to
make their decision. During this time, 19 volunteers agreed and signed the consent
form. Later 2 out of 19 volunteers left during the study. The remaining students (17)
from special education and early childhood education departments attended all
phases of the study. Volunteers included 12 students from the Department of Special
Education, and 5 from the Department of Early Childhood Education (Table 1). All
participants had taken at least one course related to special education, and six of
them had taken a course entitled “C’sL”.
Table 1
Participants in the Story Writing Process
Early Childhood
Special Education Department Education
Department
Sex of Female Male Female Male
participants
Number of 6 6 5 -
Participants
School 2/Sophomore 4/Senior 2/Sophomore 1/Junior 4/Senior 1/Junior
Years/Grades
Number 2 4 2 1 3 5 -

Data Collection and Procedure

Story writing process. During the story writing process, nine workshops were
conducted during seven months, usually at fortnightly intervals. The first of these
was organized to ascertain the determination of the participants and provide general
explanations. The participants shared their experiences during the story writing
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 141

process and their storybooks with the other participants in these workshops. The
workshops lasted approximately 1.5 to 2.5 hours. Twenty-five pages of field notes
were written by the researcher, including workshop agendas and the responses to
the stories of the children, other stakeholders and the participants. Three days before
the first workshop, the topic of the workshop was determined and announced to the
participants via email and on the school board. The first workshop was directed by
the researcher. The following ones were directed by a selected participant and the
decisions about who would direct the following workshop were determined at the
end of each workshop. The researcher participated in all the workshops and
supervised all participants. The aims, activities and decisions of the workshops are
shown in Table 2.

Table 2
The aims, activities and decisions of the workshops
Workshop Aim Activity Decision
Number (decision was taken)

1  to inform the Discussion about:  storybooks about

participants about  the topics of children children with disabilities
children with with disabilities and should be written
disabilities and inclusion  the participants were
inclusion.  what happened in the required to examine the
 to determine what inclusive classes Turkish children’s
could be provided  what we could do to stories (15 day period)
in order to increase promote inclusive  A participant was
the acceptance of classes selected to direct the
children with  selecting a moderator following workshops.
disabilities by their for each of the
peers. following workshops
2  to discuss the story  content, writing  two participants who
writing process styles, target age had experience of
group; illustration children with disabilities
styles of the obtained were chosen to prepare a
stories presentation in order to
 discussion of the share their experiences
reasons why there are
no SCD
3  to share  two participants  all the participants
participants’ shared their should observe both
experience about experiences of children with disabilities
children with children with and their parents both at
disabilities intellectual home and at school
disabilities and their  the support meetings
parents would be held for the
participants who wanted
to meet with children
with disabilities and
their families
142 Sezgin Vuran

Table 2 Continue
Workshop Aim Activity Decision
Number
(decision was taken)
4  to share  participants related their  to read the stories aloud
participants’ observation and their to each other
observations story plots.

5  to discuss story  the researcher and  to read the stories aloud

writing principles participants discussed to each other
the narration principles
and criteria (length,
 to share content, view point,
participants’ first etc.) related to C’sL, and
draft selected the vocabulary
for children with
disabilities.
 the comprehension
level of the primary
students was discussed.
 five participants read
their story/stories
aloud
 the participants gave
recommendations to
each other about their
the stories
6  to read participants’ all participants read  to get permission from
storybooks their storybooks aloud the elementary
schools, which have
inclusive classes, to
read the storybooks
created by the
participants aloud in
the inclusive classes

7  to revise the participants read  the participants should

participants’ their stories aloud and take notes about
storybooks revised questions and
suggestions coming
from the inclusive class
students
8  to revise all the participants  to ask for assistance for
participants’ presented their illustrations of the
storybooks experiences in classes storybooks from the
all the participants Art Department of the
shared the children’s Departments of
reactions and the Education and Fine
corrections they had Arts
made and considered
these reactions
9  to complete the the final drafts of
storybooks nineteen written and
illustrated stories were
typed and saved on
computer.
the final drafts of the
stories were revised
with the participants
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 143

At the end of the story writing process about children with disabilities, nineteen
stories were completed related to different disabilities. Table 3 presents the titles and
content of the stories, which were written in Turkish.

Table 3
The Titles and Content of the Stories
Title Content
Rabbit without a The adventures of a rabbit without a tail who copes with his friends’ making fun
Tail of him and who is later accepted by his friends

Ahmet and His Ahmet, a boy in a wheelchair, cures a wounded pigeon that came to his balcony.
Friends This pigeon helps Ahmet build a relationship with his friends to share and join in
their games.
Teacher Zeynep The wheelchair adventures of regular students and teacher Zeynep, who helps a
student in a wheelchair who is going to join this class.

Magic Feather This is a fantasy story about a girl who cannot walk. In her dream, she talks
about life to a toy soldier and a sailor who have lost their legs.
Hero with Three A lion with three legs. It tells of the difficulties that he experiences and his
Legs cooperation with his friends to cope with the problems.

My Wings: Two The feelings, the difficulties and the struggles of a stork whose wings are broken
Little Falcons and two little falcons that helps her.
Life is Beautiful About a high school student who has to use a wheelchair. The story is a first
person narration that tells of his achievements on the disabled basketball team
and in the disabled dancing group. It also tells of his interaction with his
environment and how he is positively affected by his achievements.
Little Chick About a little chick with one eye and its relationships with its family.
Beautiful Blue About a student whose sight has deteriorated. It is about his problems before the
Eyes diagnosis, his period of adapting to his friends after the diagnosis and the
regulations in the school, which are enacted for him.
Let’s Play Guiding A visually disabled student is about to join a new class. Before he comes to the
Eyes Game class, the games that the other students are demonstrating develop the students’
tolerance and understanding.
Rainbow A blind student at high school; his interactions with his father and his
achievements in music.
You Should Try A primary school student who is trying to prepare homework about helping
each other. She comes across a blind man on the street.
Birthday Present The story of how a boy with visual disabilities changes direction after he receives
a colouring set as a birthday present.
Dream of Omar Omar is the son of a poor family. He needs to buy a hearing aid device for
himself, and for that he needs to work in the bazaar after school.
 144 Sezgin Vuran

Table 3 Continue

Title Content
Mommy, What A blind girl hears about a rainbow from the kids in a park, and asks her mother
Does Rainbow ‘Mommy, what is a rainbow?’ After that, she develops an interaction with the
Mean? kids in the park.
Celebration Ali is a hearing impaired boy. He learns how to make shoes and makes a pair of
Present shoes for his mother as a celebration gift.

School Love About a child who has intellectual disabilities and spasticity and who cannot
walk properly. The story draws attention to this child’s happiness about starting
school and achievements that he gains in skills.
Best Friendships The characteristics of a student who has hydrocephaly, the negative reactions of
his friends in the first days of school and the change of these reactions in a
positive way with the help of the teacher.
Özgür’s World A child with autism; his reactions to changes in routines and repeating
behaviours. It also tells about a relationship that is initiated by one of his peers.

All the stories included the problems that ID children encounter; they
emphasized the positive and negative experiences of the characters with a solution to
the problems. The main themes of the stories were about understanding,
collaboration, and respect of differences. We are pleased to note that after this
research, these 19 stories were published by an educational book company.
Interviews. Although all the participants were invited to attend an individual face-
to-face interview, only 11 of them volunteered and had time to share their
experiences (Table 4).

Table 4
Participants who Attended the Interview
Special Education Department Early Education Department
Female Male Female Male
Number of
Participants 3 3 5 -
School
Years/Grades 4/Senior 1/Junior 2/Senior 1/Junior -

Number of
participants 3 1 2 5

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with each participant individually by

the researcher. All interviews were audio recorded. A code name was used for each
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 145

participant to assure anonymity. The interviews lasted from 18 to 25 minutes. The

interview questions are given in Appendix 1.
Researcher Features
The researcher has a bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree from the
Department of Special Education. She has worked as an instructor at the university
since 1986. She supervised in instructional practice for pre-service teachers for 27
years at the Department of Special Education. In addition to this, she instructed
Teaching Skills and Concepts to Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities, Applied
Behavioral Analysis and Development of Individualized Education Program courses
at the undergraduate level. She also teaches graduate courses (Qualitative Research,
Applied Behavior Analysis and Developing Social Competence) and supervises
theses in the same field.
Data Analysis and Credibility
All the interviews were transcribed by the researcher; the transcriptions were
confirmed by another colleague studying in the area of special education. All the
data sections that were indexed and interpreted were coded simultaneously using 20
different codes from the transcriptions. The coded data sections were omitted, and
the data which had the same codes were collected in a file. Two copies of these files
were prepared. Each file was analysed independently by the researcher and her
colleague and main themes and sub-themes were formed. The researchers formed
the themes through negotiation and agreement after comparing all the themes.
Another colleague revised the themes and seven main themes were obtained. A third
colleague revised results and research reports, and arranged subthemes. Finally, the
themes were verified taking into consideration the field notes written at the
workshops. Thus the researcher tried to provide credibility and reliability.

Results
Seven main themes were determined by evaluating the opinions of the
participants about story writing process. These themes were: aim, insufficiency of
Turkish C’sL about ID, observations, opinions and contributions of the
stakeholders, benefits, writing process and problems, and suggestions for story
writers when writing SCD (Table 5). Numbers given in parenthesis are the
number (frequency) of participants stating similar opinions.
146 Sezgin Vuran

Table 5
Summary of Main Themes, Subthemes and Exemplary Quotes
Themes Subthemes - Explanations - Exemplary quote
Frequencies
Aim The aim included two
subthemes. All of the story
writers mentioned their social
aims. Only one of the
participants said that she had
an individual aim.
Social aims “My aim is … ID are not well known by
 To provide the acceptance society. Our basic aim in this study is to help
of ID by society (11) normally developed individuals recognize
 To familiarize the children with disabilities. This group
characteristics of children includes students, adults and regular
with disabilities to primary class teachers. My basic aim is to
normally developing ones familiarize ID and facilitate their acceptance
(10) by the community.”
 To make contributions to
create C’sL about children
with disabilities (3)
 To make contributions to
the field of special
education, and to give hope
(2)
 To reflect the emotions of
ID (1)

Individual aim “I would like to receive personal satisfaction

 Personal satisfaction by making a contribution to the field.”
Insufficiency of Approximately 1000 children’s “When I searched children’s libraries and the
Turkish stories in C’sL were market, I scanned approximately 300 books,
Children’s researched by the but none of them mentioned children with
Literature about participants during the story disabilities. This is terrible. In our
ID writing process. Eight of the environment and society, there are negative
participants stated that they and insensitive attitudes toward people with
could not find any children’s a disability.”
SCD, and two of them stated
that they found only one
story.
Observations The participants expressed
their opinions about the
experiences that they gained
while reading their
storybooks to ID, their
parents and normally
developing children.
Therefore, the observation
theme was formed into two
sub-themes.
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 147

Table 5 Continue

Themes Subthemes - Explanations - Exemplary quote

Frequencies
Observations on the children
with disabilities and their One of the participants observed
parents triplet siblings with mental
retardation and their mother.
“Compared to the other mothers, their
mother was the most optimistic and
positive one. ... The triplets, who are
 Educational and social thirteen years old, have been attending
necessities of the children the school for five years. Their mother
with disabilities and their gets up at 5 a.m. to change their nappies
parents (7) and comb their hair. Their mother says
 The feeling of shame of the that they are happy hours for her when
families with children with they spend time together, and she is
mental retardation (5) hopeful for them…there was another
 The attitude differences mother at school. The teacher thought her
between families with child would be able to read soon. The
children with disabilities and child was mentally retarded but not at a
normally developing serious level. … The mother was always
children toward their pessimistic; for example, she thought the
child could not do anything, be educated
children (2)
and/or could even be stabbed on the
 ID need understanding
street. The teacher gave this mother’s
rather than sympathy (2)
child a welcoming task to the triplets. The
 In inclusion classes, the
mother criticized the teacher as she
children with disabilities
thought the child could not achieve this
were able to comprehend the task. ... She did not let the child do it
stories (2) although she could have managed.”
 The attitudes of two families, Seven participants stated that the
one of which is hopeful and observed families with children with
the other one is desperate disabilities have necessities for their
about the future of their educational and social life.
children (1)
 The success of a child with
severe mental retardation (1)

“It is quite normal for a normally

developing child to finish her/his school.
However, for this child (a child with severe
mental retardation) it is miraculous to
fasten their own buttons; to be able to
button up their own clothes. In my view, it
is something to proud of.”
148 Sezgin Vuran

Table 5 Continue

Themes Subthemes - Explanations - Exemplary quote

Frequencies

Observations on the normally Participants/storywriters expressed

developing children that the students:
During the story writing “were able to comprehend the stories”.
process, all the storywriters “received the messages of the stories”
read their stories to normally “discussed SCD”
developing students both in “asked why was the main character in the
pre-school and in primary story not able to see?”
school regular classes. “would like to dramatize the game of
guiding eyes told in the story”
“entitled one of the stories “Let’s Play
Guiding Eyes Game”
“the students examined the rabbit in the toy
corner, discovered its tail and expressed that
rabbits had tails; but the rabbit in this story
did not have one, although the rabbit was
also able to do good things”.
One student in the class This normally developing student
perceived this story as called the storyteller:
defining his negative “a disgusting person”.
attitudes toward students
with disabilities and became
very upset.
Opinions and Participant/s “there was a need for this kind of stories”,
Contributions of  shared their story writing “giving ideas about the conclusions of the
the Stakeholders process with their friends, stories”
families, families of the “the storybooks should include how children
children with disabilities and with disabilities learn”
received their opinions “these kinds of stories provide normally
about writing stories for developing children with an awareness of the
disabilities (11) presence of children with disabilities”
 expressed that the people “writing this kind of story is a sensitive
around them had positive behaviour”
attitudes toward the idea of “these stories could provide benefits to the
writing SCD (11). teachers of children with disabilities”
 expressed that one of the “these stories would create consciousness not
people with whom he shared only in normally developing children but
the stories gave a negative also in teachers, families and other adults.”
opinion (1). “there was no need for these kinds of SCD”
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 149

Table 5 Continue

Themes Subthemes - Explanations - Frequencies Exemplary quote

Benefits Personal benefits
 Receiving information in detail about
children with disabilities and
recognizing these children (7) “I’m attending this faculty four years. I
 Increased in self-confidence due to have learned in these workshops
participating in such a study, collaboration with others.”
resulting in the writing of SCD (5)
 Developing empathy towards
children with disabilities and also
their parents (5)
 Learning group work based on
collaboration and sharing (4)
 Learning the ways of making “I didn’t know about developing some
contributions to ID (2) materials for normal children.”
Professional benefits
 Learning how to develop materials
for normally developing children (4)
 Learning the process of story writing
(3)
“People may see those [children with
 Increased interest in and love of
disabilities] on the streets, in their
special education profession (2)
environment and in social settings. In
 Learning how to prepare activities for
order not to watch in a passive way,
children with disabilities (2)
primarily something might be told to
 Using the written stories in
children at pre-school level by stories,
professional life (1)
something might be differentiated. This
 Developing creative thinking skills (1)
is important for teachers. They might
Social benefits
not have encountered a child with
 Contribution to an understanding
disabilities. However, they will be
and acceptance toward children with
disabilities in society (11) informed thanks to our stories. At the
same time, I think it will also make
 Contribution to knowing and
contributions to the families. With the
acceptance for normally developing
children toward children with help of these stories, they may
disabilities (11) understand better their view of life,
 Contribution to self-acceptance of the feelings, what they experienced and
ID by exploring parts from their own felt.”
lives in these stories (5)
 Providing more information about
children with disabilities to families
and teachers (4)
 Leading story writing focusing on the
lives of the peoples with disabilities
(2)
 Contribution to the positive change of
the view points toward special
education teachers in society (1)
150 Sezgin Vuran

Table 5 Continue

Themes Subthemes - Explanations - Exemplary quote

Frequencies
Writing All the participants Problems are
Process and  expressed that they encountered “not having example stories in Turkish
Problems some problems during the story literature”(10)
writing process (11). “selecting appropriate word choices and
 said that they had a strong need to sentence structures according to the
share the process with classmates, level of the children”(3)
roommates, special education “using a comprehensible style for the
teachers, primary education teachers, children to understand better”(2)
student advisors, relatives, colleagues “creating the theme of the story”(2)
and so on (11). “writing the introductory sentence for
 mentioned that there were no the stories”(2)
difficulties for them in observing “choosing animals as story characters
children with disabilities, conducting in such a way as to avoid labeling the
interviews with the families of these children”(1)
children or reading the stories to the “difficulty of being empathic”(1)
normally developing children who “creating a story”(1)
were attending regular classes (11).
Suggestions  To understand the ID and their “They should recognize closely children
for Story families better, the future writer with disability and their families”
Writers should observe these people and “They should recognize both normal
when spend their time with them over a children and children with disabilities.
Writing long period (11). And they should compare the two
SCD  The future writer should read more groups.”
stories about children (8). “They will need participant
 The future writer should build observation, especially with a disabled
empathy toward the ID and their person and in their life area.”
families (3).
 The future writer should work with
ID (2).
 The future writer should become
familiarized with normally
developing children and their
development periods (1).
 The future writer should research the
culture and family structures in
Turkey (1).
 The future writer should read and
follow scientific publications about
ID(1)

Discussion and Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of storywriters when
creating SCD. Although stories are very important in any educational curriculum,
there are no example stories including children with disabilities in Turkish C’sL. As
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 151

mentioned by Blaska (2003), the inadequate existence of children with disabilities

focuses on the need for more stories that signify the diversity of society including
persons with varying abilities. While more storybooks with characters with
disabilities are published today in the world, the percentage is still very insufficient
when compared to the total number of children’s picture books published each year
(Blaska, 2003).

Additionally, it is clear that these stories can help children with disabilities to
adopt models for themselves and their daily problems. These stories can be useful for
normally developing children to understand children with disabilities and for
children with disabilities to understand and find themselves. The success of the
inclusion depends on the acceptance of the students with disabilities by their peers
and their considering themselves as members of their class. When interaction
opportunities with peers are provided to students with disabilities, they can also
represent appropriate social behaviours, improve their friendships and learn
cooperation. At the same time, normally developed students learn that their peers
with disabilities are individuals. Moreover, they learn to develop sensitivity toward
people who are not exactly similar to themselves and to have social responsibilities
due to having peers with disabilities in the classroom environment (Vaughn, Bos &
Schumm, 2003; Friend & Bursuck, 2006).

The story writing process was extremely difficult for the storywriters, as there
were no example stories, and they had no previous experience of writing storybooks.
The storywriters expressed that the story writing process contributed greatly to their
gaining more knowledge about children with disabilities. They also indicated that it
provided them with the opportunity to better recognize those with disabilities,
improve their self-confidence, developing collaboration skills, gain a higher interest in
special education as a career and improve their creative thinking abilities. Similar
outcomes were obtained as a result of a study on learning through writing stories
about students with disabilities in inclusion classes conducted by Jarvis et al. (2004),
where it was emphasized that in special education teacher training, writing stories has
an important function. Moreover, attitudes, opinions, expectations, feelings and
thoughts can be changed by reading storybooks about children with disabilities in
Turkey based on making the field of special education better known, developing
positive intentions toward ID (Blaska, 2003), encouraging positive interactive
relationships among children of different abilities (Gross and Ortiz, 1994), avoiding
stereotypes and bias in children’s books (Walling, 2001), being supported in a creative
and risky process, which could help society have a better view of what professional
practice could be (Jarvis et al., 2004), developing insights to explore alternative ways
of looking at practice (Chambers, 2003), and providing collection and access to
storybooks about integrated early childhood and primary literacy experiences
(Williams et al., 2005).

Teachers have a crucial role in providing both positive social interactions

between students with disabilities and typical students. They must offer education
152 Sezgin Vuran

about all kinds of differences among individuals, which includes ID (Mastropieri &
Scruggs, 2004). The curriculum should include the characteristics of ID, regardless of
whether the teacher encounters only a few students with disabilities during her/his
teaching period. All students should be educated on understanding ID and
developing positive attitudes toward all other students (Friend & Bursuck, 2006).
While explaining the characteristics of the peers with disabilities to normally
developed students, stories will provide significant opportunities for teachers.

In Turkey, it is observed that a lot of people have erroneous and negative

attitudes toward ID, since they do not have enough knowledge and experience on
the subject. It is thought that SCD may make contributions to eliminate the
knowledge deficiency in society.

References
Alpoge G. (2003). Çocuk edebiyatının çocuk gelisimine katkısı (Contribution of
children’s literature to child development). Çoluk Çocuk, 24, 32-33.

Alpoge, G. (2000). Çocuk kitapları farklı olma konusunda çocuklara yardımcı olabilir
mi? (Children's books can help children about being different?). I. Ulusal
Çocuk Kitapları Sempozyumu-Sorunlar ve Çözüm Yolları (I. National Children’s
Books Symposium-Problems and Solutions). 1(1), 544-550.

Ashton, A.T. (2006). Books for Children Concerning Diseases, Disorders, and
Learning Differences. Retrieved October 23, 2007 from
[Link]

Ataseven, F., & Inandı, Y. (2000). Çocuk kitaplarının çeşitli yönleriyle incelenmesi.
[Examining various aspects of children’s booksI. Ulusal Çocuk Kitaplari
Sempozyumu-Sorunlar ve Çözüm Yolları (I. National Children’s Books Symposium-
Problems and Solutions). 1(1), 187-206.

Blaska, J.K. (2003). Using Children’s Literature to Learn About Disabilities and Illness. For
Parents and Professionals Working with Young Children. Troy, NY: Educator’s
International.

Blaska, J., & Lynch, E. (1994). Inclusion and depiction of individuals in award-
winning and highly recommended children’s books. In Blaska, J.K. (2003).
Using Children’s Literature to Learn About Disabilities and Illness. For Parents and
Professionals Working with Young Children (p. 6). Troy, NY: Educator’s
International.

Bozdag, F. (2000). Çocuk kitaplarında metin, dil ve resimleme ilişkisi [Relationship of

text, language and illustration in children’s books]. I. Ulusal Çocuk Kitapları
Sempozyumu- Sorunlar ve Çözüm Yolları (I. National Children’s Books Symposium-
Problems and Solutions), 1(1), 365-378.
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 153

Chambers, P. (2003). Narrative and reflective practice: recording and understanding

experiences. Educational Action Research, 11(3), 403-414.

Friend, B., & Bursuck, W.D. (2006). Including Students with Disabilities. A Practical
Guide for Classroom Teachers. Boston: Pearson Education Company.

Gross, A.L., & Ortiz, L.W.(1994). Using children’s literature to facilitate inclusion in
kindergarden and primary grades. Young Children, 49, 32-35.

National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (2001). Children's

Literature & Disability. Retrieved September, 20, 2007 from
[Link]

Jarvis, J., Dyson, J., Thomas, K., Graham, S., Iantaffi, A., & Burchell, H. (September
2004). Learning through creating stories: developing student teachers’
understanding of the experiences of pupils with special educational needs in
mainstream classrooms. Paper presented at the British Educational Research
Conference Annual Conference, University of Manchester. Retrieved July 07,
2006, from

[Link]

Sever, S. (1995). Çocuk kitaplarında bulunması gereken yapısal ve eğitsel

özellikler[Structural and Educatioanl Caharacteris are needed in Childern
Boooks. Abece, 107,14-15.

Vaughn, S., Bos, C.,S., & Schumm, J., S. (2003). Teaching Exceptional, Diverse, and at-
Risk Students in the General Education Classroom. (3rd Ed.). Pearson Education,
Inc.
Walling, L. L. (2001). Ability, disability and picture books. School Libraries Worldwide,
7(2), 31-38.

Williams, S. Q., Inkster, C. D., & Blaska, J. K. (2005). The Joan K. Blaska Collection of
Children’s Literature Featuring Characters with Disabilities or Chronic
Illnesses. Journal of Children’s Literature. 31(1), 71-78.

APPENDIX 1
Interview Questions

[Link] you introduce yourself?

[Link] was your aim in joining a study on writing stories for children with
disabilities?

[Link] scanned the children stories. In the stories you reached, did you encounter
any parts from the lives of children with disabilities? Or did you encounter a
154 Sezgin Vuran

story which was completely dedicated to a child with disabilities or her/his

parents? What did you think after you scanned these stories?

[Link] kind of contributions did the writing a story for children with disabilities
workshops make in recognizing individuals with disabilities?

[Link] kind of benefits do you think you will receive for your career as a result of
this study?

[Link] your opinion, what are the benefits of these kinds of stories being on the
market for children with disabilities?

[Link] whom, except the study group, did you share the information that you
wrote stories for children with disabilities? When you shared this information,
what kind of reactions did you receive? How did these reactions affect you?

[Link] kinds of problems did you come across while writing the stories?

[Link] do you suggest to people who will write stories about children with
disabilities?

Özel Gereksinimli Çocukları Anlatan Öyküler: Öykü Yazma Süreci ve

Öykü Yazarlarının Görüşleri
Atıf:
Vuran, S. (2014). Stories about children with disabilities: the writing process and the
opinions of the storywriters. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research.55, 137-
158. [Link] 10.14689/ejer.2014.55.9

Özet
Problem Durumu: Dünya’nın pek çok yerinde olduğu gibi Türkiye’de de yasalar
okulöncesi dönemden başlayarak özel gereksinimli çocukların akranları ile birlikte
normal sınıflarda eğitilmesini öngörmektedir. Özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin normal
sınıflarda, akranları ile birlikte gerekli destek hizmetler sunularak eğitilmesine
kaynaştırma denilmektedir. Başarılı kaynaştırma sınıfları farklılıkları anlama ve
farklılıklara saygı duymaya dayalıdır. Kaynaştırma sınıfındaki öğrencilerin özel
gereksinimli akranlarını kabul etmeleri, özelliklerinin farkında olmaları, onlara karşı
hoşgörü anlayış ve işbirliği geliştirmeleri kaynaştırmanın başarısını artıracağı gibi
öğretmenin işini kolaylaştıracaktır. Normal öğrencilerin kaynaştırmaya
hazırlanmasında, özel gereksinimli çocukların özelliklerini anlatan resimli ve
eğlenceli çocuk öykülerinin, bu bireylere karşı olumlu tutumları artırmak ve farklı
yetenekleri olan çocuklar arasındaki olumlu akran ilişkilerini geliştirmek amacıyla
kullanılabileceği belirtilmektedir. Türk çocuk alanyazınında, özel gereksinimli
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 155

çocuklara ilişkin kaynaklar yoktur. Bu nedenle özel gereksinimli çocukları anlatan

kaynaklara gereksinim duyulmuştur.
Çalışmanın Amacı: Bu çalışmada normal öğrencileri kaynaştırmaya hazırlamak üzere
özel gereksinimli çocukları anlatan çocuk öyküleri oluşturmak ve bu öykülerin
yazarlarının (öğretmen adaylarının) görüşlerini belirlemek amaçlanmıştır.
Yöntem: Eğitim Fakültesi, Özel Eğitim ve Okulöncesi Öğretmenliği Bölümlerinden 12
gönüllü öğretmen adayı öykü yazma çalışmalarının tamamına katılmışlardır.
Katılımcıların 7’si özel eğitim öğretmenliği bölümünde, 5’i okul öncesi öğretmenliği
bölümündendir. Katılımcıların tamamı özel eğitimle ilgili en az bir ders, altısı çocuk
edebiyatı dersleri almışlardır. Bu katılımcıların 11’i gönüllü olarak görüşmelere
katılmışlardır. Görüşmelere okul öncesi eğitim bölümünden 5 kişi, özel eğitim
öğretmenliği bölümünden 6 kişi katılmıştır. Bu nitel bir çalışmadır. İki evreden
oluşmaktadır. İlk evrede özel gereksinimli öğrencilerinin kaynaştırma sınıflarında
akranları tarafından kabul edilmelerini kolaylaştırmak üzere özel gereksinimli
çocukları anlatan öyküler yazılmıştır. Öykü yazma sürecinde, yedi aylık bir sürede
dokuz çalışma toplantısı yapılmıştır. Bunlardan ilkinde, “Katılımcılarla özel
gereksinimli çocuklar, kaynaştırma, kaynaştırma sınıflarında neler oluyor?”, “Biz
kaynaştırma sınıfları için neler yapabiliriz?” konuları tartışılmıştır. Kaynaştırma
sınıflarında özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin akranları tarafından kabul edilmemeleri
üzerinde odaklanılmıştır. Özel gereksinimli öğrencilerin akranları tarafından
kabulünü artırmak için “Neler yapılabilir?” üzerinde tartışılırken, özel gereksinimli
çocukların özelliklerini anlatan kitapçıklar yazılması fikri ortaya atılmıştır. Daha
sonra bu kitapçıkların, resimli öykü formunda olmasının çocuklar tarafından
okunabilirliğini artırabileceği tartışılmış ve öykü kitaplarının yazılmasına karar
verilmiştir. Daha sonraki çalışma toplantılarında katılımcılar öykü yazma
sürecindeki deneyimlerini ve yazdıkları öyküleri ve gruptaki diğer gönüllü
katılımcılarla paylaşmışlardır.

Toplantılar yaklaşık 1,5-2,5 saat sürmüştür. Bu süreçte araştırmacı tarafından 25

sayfalık saha notları tutulmuştur. Toplantıların gündemi üç gün önce belirlenip
katılımcılara e-posta ve duvar ilanları aracılığıyla duyurulmuş ve ilk toplantı yazar
tarafından yürütülmüştür. İzleyen toplantılar katılımcılardan biri tarafından
yürütülmüştür. Her toplantının sonunda gelecek toplantının gündemine karar
verilmiştir.

Toplantılarda 18 öykü yazılmıştır. Öykülerin tamamı özel gereksinimli bireylerin

yaşadıkları sorunları içermekle birlikte, sorunların çözümünde ve çözümüyle birlikte
ortaya çıkan olumlu yaşantıları dile getirmiştir. Tüm öykülerde özel gereksinimli
olan ve olmayan bireyler arasında hoşgörü, işbirliği ve farklılıklara saygı temaları
işlenmiştir. Bu öykülerin isimleri;
156 Sezgin Vuran

•Ömer’in Hayali

• Bayram Hediyesi

• Güzel Mavi Gözler

• Küçük Civciv

• Anne Gökkuşağı Ne Demek?

• Zeynep Öğretmen

• Okul Sevinci

• Ahmet ve Arkadaşları

• Sihirli Tüy

• Özgür’ün Dünyası

• En İyi Arkadaşlıklar

• Gökkuşağı

• Bir de Siz Deneyin

• Hayat Güzel

• Doğum Günü Hediyesi

• Üç Ayaklı Kahraman

• Ponpon Kuyruğu Olmayan Tavşan

• Haydi Gören Rehber Oyunu Oynayalım

• Benim Kanatlarım: İki Küçük Şahin

İkinci evrede özel gereksinimli çocukları anlatan öykülerin yazarlarının, öykü yazma
sürecinde deneyimlerini ve beklentilerini incelemek amaçlanmıştır. Bu aşamada
öykü yazma sürecine katılan öğretmen adayları ile süreçteki deneyimlerini
paylaşmak amacıyla yaklaşık 20’şer dakikalık yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler
yapılmıştır. Tüm görüşmelerin yazılı dökümleri yazar tarafından yapılmış ve ses
kayıtları alanda çalışan bir başka araştırmacı tarafından dinlenerek doğrulanmıştır.
Görüşmelerin dökümleri iki kopya olarak hazırlanmıştır. Dökümler araştırmacı ve
bir başka uzman tarafından bağımsız olarak analiz edilmiştir. Bu süreçte ana ve alt
temalar oluşturulmuştur. Bu temalar karşılaştırılarak uzlaşma sağlanmıştır. Üçüncü
bir uzman tarafından temalar gözden geçirilerek yedi ana tema oluşturulmuştur.
Sonuç olarak toplantılardaki saha notları dikkate alındığında alt temalar
çeşitlendirilerek veri analizinin güvenilirliği ve inanırlığı sağlanmıştır.
Sonuçlar: Araştırma bulgularına göre Türk çocuk öyküleri literatüründe öykü
yazarları için örnek oluşturabilecek özel gereksinimli çocukları anlatan öykülere
rastlanmamıştır. Bu yüzden öykü yazma süreci, yazarlar için oldukça zorlayıcı
 Eurasian Journal of Educational Research 157

olmuştur. Araştırma bulguları bu sürecin öğretmen adaylarının bireysel ve mesleki

gelişimine katkıda bulunduğu, özel gereksinimli çocukları anlatan öykülerin özel
gereksinimli çocukların sosyal kabulünü artırdığına ilişkin olumlu deneyimler
kazandırdığını göstermektedir.
Tartışma ve Öneriler: Türk toplumundaki pek çok kişi özel gereksinimli çocuklara
ilişkin yeterli bilgi ve deneyimleri olmadığı için onlar hakkında yanlış ve dolayısıyla
olumsuz tutumlara sahip olabilmektedir. Bu yüzden de toplumda özel gereksinimli
çocukların kabulü ile ilgili sorunlar devam etmektedir. Özel gereksinimli çocukları
anlatan öykülerin toplumdaki bilgi eksikliğini kapatmaya bir ölçüde katkıda
bulunacağı düşünülmektedir. Kaynaştırma sınıflarında, özel gereksinimli çocukları
anlatan öykülerin kullanılmasının, özel gereksinimli olan ve olmayan çocuklar,
öğretmenleri ve ailelerine olumlu katkılar sağlayacağı söylenebilir ve başka
araştırmalarla desteklenebilir.

Özel gereksinimli çocuklar hakkında öykü kitaplarının gerek okulöncesi gerekse

ilköğretim döneminde okutulması bu çocuklara/bireylere karşı tutumları,
beklentileri, düşünceleri değiştirebilir. Farklı yetenekleri olan çocuklar arasında
etkileşimleri cesaretlendirebilir. Bu çocuklar büyüdüklerinde de onların bu
hoşgörülü tutumları toplumun özel gereksinimli bireylere olumlu bakış açısına
katkıda bulunabilir. Bu öykülerin tutum değişikliğine neden olup olmadığı
araştırılabilir.