ABSTRACT

Due to easy access and multimedia support, Internet has become the main source of information in the field of special education, as it in any area. Parents with handicapped children make use of Internet for both communication and gathering information for support. The present research investigates Internet using profiles of parents with handicapped children and how they use the Internet for their handicapped children. For this purpose, the researchers interviewed 15 parents with hearing-impaired children, 15 with physically handicapped children, and 15 parents with mentally retarded (a total of 45 parent). The research adopted qualitative design, and obtained data were analysed via content analysis. In this context, the focal point was taken as the handicapped children, and the following findings were obtained related to Internet use of parents with handicapped children. Almost half of the parents reported that they couldn’t make full use of Internet and the most frequently stated reasons by them were Internet illiteracy, complication of the information on the Internet, and they didn’t want to use Internet. In terms of the type of the handicap their children have, there were some differences between the ideas of parents about Internet use, and parents of hearing impaired children used Internet more than the others. The parents who stated that they made good use of Internet also reported that they used Internet to gather information on the education of their children, handicap of their children, and treatment, and search for devices. The participating parents suggested to develop Internet use on the subject matter that, parents are educated and awareness is raised among them, the information online is presented in a simpler way, and the websites also have simpler designs.