Teachers' Experiences in Teaching Independence to Children with Special Needs at School

Background/purpose. Children with special needs often experience limitations in their activities. Despite this, they are expected to develop independence and avoid reliance on others. Therefore, education for independence is essential for children with special needs. Unfortunately, teaching and training children to be independent is challenging, requiring experience and good practices from teachers at school. This study aimed to obtain information from teachers on teaching and training the independence of children with special needs at school. Materials/methods. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method. The data were obtained through an in-depth interview with three inclusive school teachers in Ponorogo Regency, Indonesia. Results. The results of this study indicated that teachers who teach children with special needs to be independent employed imitation and repetition methods. Education for independence for children with special needs is not significantly different from that of children in general. The independence taught and trained is in the form of daily activities. Patience, hard work, and cooperation with parents are essential for developing the independence of children with special needs optimally. Conclusion. Teaching and training independence to children with special needs requires patience, hard work, and genuine effort. Teachers must be able to identify the children's special needs before teaching independence. This can be achieved through consistent daily routines and modeling positive behavior at school.