An Examination of Social Relationships Among Six-Year-Old Children Diagnosed with Language and Speech Disorders Through Child Drawings

Language and speech disorder (LSD) can restrict children's communication with others and cause more problems in social relationships than their normally developing peers. It is known that children diagnosed with LSD but who can express themselves are less affected by LSD. As a means of expression, children's painting is seen as an important tool that reflects the world of children in a direct, simple and pure way. The use of child drawings is very important in helping communication between children whose speaking skills are not sufficiently developed and adults. Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine how six-year-old children diagnosed with LSD in late childhood experience their social relationships, how they express themselves through the pictures they draw, and their social relationships through pictures. In order to understand social relationship patterns in the collection of data in the research, children were given instructions and asked to draw: "Draw me a picture of you playing games with your friends.” A total of seven participants, three girls and four boys, with chronological ages ranging from 6 years and 3 months to 6 years and 9 were included in the study. In this study, which was carried out with the document analysis method in a qualitative pattern, the pictures of the children were examined as documents and analyzed in accordance with the interview form data collected from the parents and the observation notes recorded by the researchers. How the participants dealt with social relations in their pictures, what special signs they used regarding language and speech, and what characteristics were seen in the use of paper, composition and colors were discussed and suggestions were presented, taking into account the findings of the study and the relevant literature. Research findings indicate that social relationships in the drawn pictures are addressed through games played with peers, siblings, or family members. The theme of social relationships stands out within the activity of play in the drawings. Participants most frequently included the drawing of eyes and mouths in human figures. Hands, mouths, eyebrows, and pupils were drawn in a detailed, prominent, large, and emphasized manner. The results obtained from family interviews, observation data, and the drawings of the participants are consistent with each other.