Examination of Parental and Special Education Teachers' Attitudes towards Sports Activities of Students with Intellectual Disability

The purpose of this study was to examine the attitudes of parents of students with intellectual disability and special education teachers working in special education schools to the sports activities of students with intellectual disability (ID).The study included 92 volunteer teachers who worked in special education schools, and 116 voluntary parents of children with ID who attended special education schools. The "Attitude Towards Sports Activities of Intellectually Disabled Individuals Scale" was used by participants to determine their attitudes towards the participation of students with intellectual disabilities. The total scale scores of the teachers and the parents were 100.39 ± 9.41 and 117.00 ± 15.47, respectively. When the scale scores of the teachers and the parents were compared, there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the parents (p = 0.000). The results of this study have shown that special education teachers and parents of students with intellectual disabilities have positive attitudes towards their participation in sports activities. The attitudes of the parents were found to be more positive than those of the special special education teachers.