Authors: Huseyin KIRIMOGLU * (1), Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences, Turkey.

Corresponding Author:
Huseyin KIRIMOGLU, Assoc. Dr.
Mugla Sitki Kocman University, Faculty of Sports Sciences Kotekli/Mugla, 48000
hkirim2005@gmail.com
002522111951

(1) Huseyin KIRIMOGLU is an Associate Professor in Sports Exercise Science at the Mugla Sitki Kocman University studying intellectual disabilities and self-concept in sports.

ABSTRACT
The current study focused on reviewing attitudinal levels of academic and administrative team of Faculty of Sports Sciences (FSS) and School of Physical Education and Sports (SPES) who teach physical education and sports science in Turkish State Universities towards sportive activities for individuals with mental retardation (MR) in terms of various variables in relation to development process of physical activities adapted to disabled individuals. As data collection tools, “Personal Information Form” designed by the researcher and Attitude Scale of Individuals Having Mental Disabilities towards Sports Activities (ASIHMDSA) designed by Ilhan, Esenturk, and Yarimkaya (2016) were employed. Attitudinal levels of the participants were compared in relation to gender, academic title, administrative service, duration of academic service and whether or not receiving sports education for the disabled during their education. Besides, the literature was screened and development process of adapted physical activities and what kind of effects it had upon participants’ attitudinal levels were discussed. The population of the study was composed of academic staff (deans, school directors and deputy directors and heads of academic departments) who executed administrative services for FSS and SPES of state universities (36 Universities) during 2016-2017 academic year and sample of the study was consisted of a total of 151 academic administrators (17 female and 134 male administrators) who volunteered to join the study. For the assessment of the data and exploration of calculated values; SPSS 22.0 statistical software was used. Whether or not the data followed a normal distribution was tested through Levene’s (variance-ratio) test and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and non-parametric tests of Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis H tests were used for those data that did not follow a normal distribution according to normality test. As a result, as far as the results of the current study was concerned, it may be suggested that academic and administrative team of Faculty of Sports Sciences (FSS) and School of Physical Education and Sports (SPES) of who serve in physical education and Sports science in Turkish State Universities had a high and positive attitudes towards supporting establishment of Exercise and Sports Departments for the Disabled and participation of the individuals with mental disabilities in sportive activities.
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