Articles
Special education and development guides from our experts
Home Routines: Tips for Families on Dressing, Undressing, and Toilet Training
Every parent's greatest dream is for their child to gain independence in daily life. However, for families of children with intellectual disabilities, toilet training or teaching dressing skills can sometimes become a challenging and patience-demanding process.
Pre-Verbal Communication: Ways to Understand Your Child and the SÖMDÖ Approach
Your child's inability to express themselves with words does not mean they are not communicating with you or do not wish to. Families of children with delayed speech or no verbal communication often face great difficulty understanding their child's wants and needs. Yet in autism and intellectual disability, communication begins long before the first words are spoken.
Building Self-Confidence Through "Errorless Teaching" in Intellectual Disabilities
Do you experience moments when teaching your child a new skill suddenly goes wrong — when your child becomes agitated or completely withdraws? Watching your child experience repeated failures and develop the feeling of "I can't do this" is one of the hardest processes for any parent to witness. However, there is a scientifically grounded way to eliminate the sense of failure and the frustration that comes with it during the education of individuals with intellectual disabilities: Errorless teaching.
Take Care of Your Voice: Vocal Hygiene and Diaphragmatic Breathing
Teachers, call center employees, clergy, singers, or professionals who must speak all day long... The voice is the most important instrument for these occupational groups. However, when we overuse or misuse this precious instrument, problems such as vocal nodules, polyps, or chronic hoarseness can emerge on the vocal cords.
Speech Loss After Stroke: What Is Aphasia and How Can Communication Be Supported?
Witnessing a loved one suddenly lose their communication abilities following a stroke, brain hemorrhage, or traumatic brain injury—on top of the physical challenges—is an incredibly devastating experience for families. When someone who was conversing with you just yesterday can no longer find words or struggles to understand what you say, this is one of the most fundamental signs of an "acquired language disorder."
Children Who Cannot Pronounce Sounds Correctly: What Is Articulation Disorder?
When you hear your child say "ayaba" instead of "araba" or "titap" instead of "kitap," these endearing pronunciation errors may not catch your attention at first. However, as your child grows older, if they continue to struggle with producing certain sounds (such as 'r,' 'k,' 's,' 'sh') or if their sentences become difficult for others to understand, it is completely natural to begin feeling concerned as a parent.
Before the First Words: How to Build "Pre-Verbal" Communication With Your Child
One of the most eagerly awaited milestones in a child's development is the first meaningful word. However, if you notice that your child speaks less than their peers, does not respond to you, or has difficulty joining in play, you may begin to worry about delayed speech.
My Child Stutters – What Should I Do? Ways to Support Fluent Speech at Home
As a parent, it can be worrying to watch your son or daughter struggle to express the words they want to say, get stuck, or run out of breath while speaking. Speech fluency difficulties that begin during childhood are manageable processes with the right intervention and informed family guidance.
"Print-Rich Games" You Can Play at Home
Is your child in the preschool or early elementary years, just beginning to step into the world of reading and writing? For children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with a specific learning disability (dyslexia), this process can easily become tedious and overwhelming through long desk-based paper-and-pencil exercises.
Overcoming Math Anxiety: Process-Based Problem Solving
Does your child immediately answer "What is 5+3?" with "8," yet freezes when hearing "Ali had 5 apples, Ayşe gave him 3 more. How many apples does Ali have now?"
Life-Saving "Reading Strategies" for Children Who Don't Understand What They Read
Your child may be reading a text fluently and quickly without any hesitation. However, if you're met with blank stares when you ask simple questions like "What was this story about?" or "Who was the main character?" after the text is finished, you are facing a very common problem.
My Child Refuses to Do Homework: "Self-Regulation" Skills in Learning Disabilities
Do evenings turn into a nightmare for your child when it's time to sit down and do homework — and an exhausting struggle for you? If you notice your child constantly leaving the table, procrastinating on assignments, or losing focus every five minutes, you are not alone.