All articles

Personal boundaries are a convenient descriptive metaphor reflecting the interaction of personality and environment. The purpose of our research is to study and thoroughly describe the formation of this phenomenon in a group of children aged 3-7 years with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The study was conducted between 2016 and 2019 using qualitative methods (on-line observation, case study, simulation of situations) and involved 14 children who were diagnosed with ASD. The group composition and the study procedure remained unchanged for four years.

The children were asked to participate in the staging of various problem situations (violation of privacy, daily routine, etc.), which made it possible to describe both territorial behavior and to reflect the various manifestations of the phenomenon of personal boundaries (regulation, control, essence, ways of protecting personal boundaries). Statistical analysis showed the presence of dynamics in the development of personal boundaries in children with ASD. Personal boundaries of children in this group are perceived as a physical barrier that unambiguously separates spaces of different people. Another person (adult or child) is also a barrier that divides spaces. A close adult becomes a bearer of the personal boundaries of a child with ASD. The differences in the manifestation of personal boundaries for familiar and unfamiliar children are shown: a considerable degree of freedom and social experimentation in the first case is manifested (a wider range of ways to protect the personal boundaries, regulation and control are more vividly expressed), interaction with unfamiliar children appears threatening due to unpredictable behavior. The phenomenon of the personal boundary has qualitative uniqueness and high adaptive potential, ensuring psychological safety and integrity of children with ASD.

The article deals with the content of the work teachers in preschool educational establishments are engaged in regarding children with special educational needs. Teachers are offered a number of health-saving pedagogical technologies of an express correctional orientation. Health-saving (correctional) educational technologies can be used in group work with all types of children, not just with those involved in adaptive educational programs. Besides, some of the technologies described below can be offered selectively to a special needs child taking into account his/her specific characteristics. The health-saving (correctional) educational technologies will also be beneficial and available to every participant in the educational process: psychologists, teachers, educators, music instructors, social pedagogues, physical culture instructors and specialists involved in implementing adaptive curricula, and groups with a compensatory or combined focus. Most of the health-saving (correctional) educational technologies listed in this article are available to a special needs child’s parents for use in the home. Application of these technologies does not require that they should have some specialized training in defectology. Mastering these (remedial) pedagogical technologies will enhance the level of pedagogical competence among parents of children with special needs and will help to improve the mental, speech and motor development of a child with special educational needs.

In this article the problem of diagnosis of autism is raised. Diagnoses of autism are often mistakenly set for children with developmental delays, suffering from systemic disorders of speech and secondary autistic behavioral manifestations arising from the early damage of the central nervous system. Examples of the application of techniques of neuropsychological correction of a child with autism spectrum disorders are provided. Neuropsychological data provided led to the conclusion that the diagnosis of autism needed to be clarified. After a course of rehabilitative training a positive trend in mental functioning of a child was discovered. After the second diagnostics it was concluded that the child had secondary autistic traits associated with the delayed language development and general executive functions, which needed to be corrected through the development of mental functions. The article highlights the importance and possibilities of neuropsychology in the differential diagnosis of mental functioning in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.

Background. Communicative and speech development of a child with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is one of the primary tasks in working with non-speaking children, since their subsequent development, behavior, and well-being in society depend on their communication capabilities.

Objective. Formation of basic communication skills in non-speaking children by teaching reading using the global text perception method and subsequent mastering of printing on tablets or computers used as alternative and additional means of communication (AAC).

Sample. The study involved 3 non-verbal children with autism aged 5 years: 2 girls and 1 boy.

Methods. The following methods were used: the method “Global Reading” by G. Doman, methodological developments by L.G. Nuriyeva “Speech Development of Autistic Children”, PECS alternative communication system. The work was based on the principle of “from simple to complex”. To determine the level of development of children and to build a further plan for correctional work, speech therapy diagnostics were carried out using the first component of the VB-MAPP methodology “Assessment of Developmental Areas “ (listener behavior, request skill (mand), verbal speech, visual perception, echo skill). At each stage of training, an intermediate assessment of skills was carried out using pedagogical supervision and parent surveys.

Results. The children demonstrated positive dynamics in the formation of the ability to read whole words at once, bypassing the stage of syllabic analysis. Two of the three subjects showed the first signs of active sound speech in the form of repetitions of heard words (echolalia). One child began to spontaneously vocalize individual syllables, writing words by hand. In addition to improving reading skills, the project participants began to effectively apply the ability to type on electronic devices to solve everyday communication problems and express their own desires.

Conclusions. The method of sequential teaching of global reading, typing and dialogue skills has been shown to be an effective way to develop communication skills and intellectual abilities in children with ASD. It is assumed that a non-verbal child with autism will be able to fully express their thoughts using typing as an AAC.