Perspectives of Faculty of Education Students on Autism Spectrum Disorders in North Cyprus

This study aims to indicate the autism awareness of Faculty of Education students in North Cyprus. The main purpose of this study was to obtain more information about Faculty of Education students’ knowledge, awareness and attitudes about autism. “The Autism Awareness of College of Education Students in Turkey” questionnaire which was developed by Yasar and Cronin (2014) was used to collect the data. Participants for this study were randomly selected from among the students in the Faculty of Education of a private university in North Cyprus. The departments which was selected to include in this study were Pre-school Teaching, Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Turkish Language and Literature Teaching, Classroom Teaching, Gifted Education, Teaching the Mentally Retarded and Teaching the Hearing Impaired. The survey statements were designed to answer the research questions and provide considerable information on Faculty of Education students’ awareness and attitudes about autism. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed with descriptive statistics to understand attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts of Faculty of Education students in North Cyprus and make interpretations to improve the quality of education policies, programs and practices in universities.