Drawing a Picture of Happiness: Examining the Emotional World of Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Students with learning disabilities experience difficulties in their emotional development. How these students express their emotional characteristics and feelings is a topic that needs to be focused on to understand them. This research aims to examine the perception of happiness among students with learning disabilities through picture analysis. The criterion sampling method was used to form the study group, which preferred the phenomenological design. Thirty students with learning disabilities who met the predetermined criteria participated in the research. Research data were collected from pictures drawn by students with learning disabilities, semi-structured interview forms, and the researcher's diary. The data obtained were analyzed using content analysis. According to the research findings, it was observed that drawings depicting the happiness perceptions of students with learning disabilities contained a high density of human figures and they drew themselves most often. However, using mother and father figures also showed that happiness was associated with family members. Students with learning disabilities drew symbols representing happiness, such as smiling faces, smiling suns, and hearts. However, it was found that among the drawings, they also depicted symbols reflecting emotions other than happiness, such as crying houses and sad suns. They expressed happiness through activities such as birthday parties and going to the park with their parents.