Teaching autistic children to read

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Editor: Anna Nurullina

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Learning to read can represent serious problem for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the right pedagogical approach can solve it. If teachers and parents in the learning process rely on strengths child and take into account his interests, then mastering this important learning skill will be much easier.

FIVE TIPS FOR TEACHING AN AUTIC CHILD TO READ

In order to determine whether a child has an autistic disorder, there are certain diagnostic criteria, the most indicative of which are impairments in communication and social interaction, as well as behavioral problems. These three main factors directly affect reading ability and are important to keep in mind as you work on this skill. In addition, it is important to remember that the best pedagogical approach should always be individual.

USE YOUR CHILD'S INTERESTS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES.

Children with ASD often have unusual interests and passions. Trains, timetables, math facts or credit cards can be a real source of joy for them. These special interests also provide a great opportunity to capture your child's attention. Try the following ideas for using your student's tendencies to your advantage.

1. When starting to work with your child, collect several items related to his preference. For each item, make a card, write on it the first letter of the item's name and glue this card to it. Every time your child wants to pick up an object, ask him or her what letter the object's name begins with. After that, move on to writing whole words on the cards.
2. Write a short informational story about your child's special interests and passions. Include a few facts that the child does not know along with details that he is familiar with. Teach your child to read this story.
3. Choose books to work on topics that interest your child. For example, if he is interested in weather phenomena, use books about natural disasters, types of clouds, and so on.
4. Reward your child for his achievements with objects or information related to his hobbies. For example, once a child has learned to read ten words, he or she can choose a new card with a word written - the name of the object he or she desires.

DO NOT ALLOW SENSORY OVERLOAD OR DESTABILIZATION.

According to Psychology Today, most people with autism suffer from sensory disintegration. This disorder affects a person's ability to perceive and process any external information, such as other children talking, a dog barking on the street, or a strange smell. In addition, due to sensory impairments, children often make stereotypical, repetitive movements: clapping their hands, swaying, spinning. This is one of the diagnostic criteria for autism. Sensory impairments make it very difficult for a child to concentrate on any task, including reading.

The following ideas can help your child regulate sensitivity and focus on reading.

1. Practice in a calm, neutral environment. The room should be dimly lit. Any external stimuli, for example, it is better to remove posters or paintings on the walls. Work while sitting on the floor together and talk to your child in a low voice.
2. Try to determine whether your student's sensory system is being overtaxed or whether the child's sensitivity is reduced. It is possible that he has both problems. An occupational therapist can help you solve these problems by suggesting appropriate aids - weighted vests, vibrating pencil attachments, chewing tubes - anything that can help your child focus on activities.
3. Many autistic children learn better through movement. Why not? Try practicing while swinging on a swing. Another option is a swivel chair. Movement can promote concentration.
4. Take frequent breaks to allow your child to regain sensory balance. For example, work for ten minutes and then take a five-minute break for sensory stimulation. Although such frequent breaks in classes may seem illogical, over time you will see for yourself that the child learns much more effectively this way.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT TEACHING METHODS AND MATERIALS.

Standard textbooks for reading and educational programs may be great for regular schoolchildren, but children with ASD cannot learn using traditional methods. According to a study conducted in Medical University Pennsylvania State University, most autistic people have very strong visual perception. However, each child is individual and some special students experience significant difficulties with visual learning, as they better perceive information auditorily or kinesthetically through the senses. It is very important to identify the dominant way of knowing from the very beginning, so that you can select the right materials and structure the activities with your special student in such a way as to get the maximum benefit and pleasure from them. If you are not sure which channel of perception is the child’s main one, try different approaches and alternative techniques.

The following companies produce educational materials for children with autism:

Reading Mastery is a specialized product of McGraw Hill for the production of textbooks. Teachers rate the quality of their materials very highly.

PCI Education offers reading materials for both speaking and non-speaking autistic people.

Special Reads is an educational program for children with Down syndrome, but the manufacturer claims that it is very effective for autistic students.

USE ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY

Many parents and professionals who teach children with disabilities special needs, we have seen from our own experience that the use of computer programs makes it possible to teach a child to read more effectively. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities reported research that found that autistic children made better progress and enjoyed their activities more when they used computer programs.

Consider the following computer programs for teaching reading.

1. Kidspiration is a visual learning game designed to improve vocabulary and reading comprehension.
2. Click N' Read Phonics is a fun visual game that teaches children how to form whole words from letters and syllables.
3. Computhera is a program specifically designed to teach autistic children to read.

EVERY CHILD IS SPECIAL.

Since autism is a spectrum of disorders, each child with this diagnosis learns differently. This means that methods that work well with one student may not work with another. The most effective reading programs and the most successful teachers aim to overcome the individual difficulties of a child with autism, as well as to identify and use his/her strengths, and experimentally select the most appropriate teaching method for a special student.

When considering how to effectively communicate literacy concepts to children with autism, I always first determine that we are in the same context. I assume that most parents reading this article are interested in teaching reading to a child under the age of seven, although some of the ideas described here may help older children as well.

I will also assume that all readers are aware of the autism triad and its varied implications for children. Additionally, I think it is important to note that people with autism very often present a clinically messy picture. Many of them have a range of other difficulties that significantly influence their experiences, their understanding of the world and therefore their learning style and needs.

Some children with autism have ADD or ADHD. Some have dyspraxia or dyslexia. There are many combinations of disorders associated with autism. They all play a role in describing, identifying and understanding each child's learning needs.

In my experience, every parent knows best the strengths and weak sides your child. Perhaps they are supported by specialists who helped you clarify the picture, or maybe not.

Most parents understand their child's learning style and needs better than anyone else. You may find it helpful to observe other children in your family or non-autistic children of friends who are going through different developmental milestones at expected times. This helps you better determine what your child with autism can't do, what they can do well, and where developmental gaps exist. It is important to determine where your child's reading abilities are in development. Below is a checklist before and during learning to read: Mark the items on this list that your child can do repeatedly in everyday situations. The first gap you find is the skill you need to address. Okay, that's what you'll do first. What to do next?

If your child enjoys books or books related to their special interest, such as Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs or Pokemon, then of course these are the books you should use to develop their enjoyment of reading and books. Read these books to your child, even if you have to do it many times.

It is best to set aside special time in your child's schedule for reading books. At home, it's best to use a picture schedule to show your child what activities are waiting for him now, including activities with books. There are special computer programs that will allow you to make excellent symbols for such a visual schedule. Under each symbol you must place the corresponding word. Use a strip of sticky tape to attach symbol and word cards to schedule sequences of activities throughout the day.

Research from the University of Southampton has found that children with special needs may find it easier to learn to read if they learn to use labeled symbols - this helps them begin to associate words with symbols. With these captioned pictures, some children can learn to read individual words. And having a simple visual schedule helps a child with autism understand what is happening now and what will happen next. This reduces anxiety, increases the perception of information, contributes to the child’s calmness and increases his self-esteem.

Children with autism often do not develop finger pointing skills at expected developmental stages. This is a very important skill to incorporate by looking at specific pictures and words in a book with your child. You can shape your child's fingers into a pointing shape and say, "(Child's name) points to the train."

You may have to repeat this over and over again in the most different situations. Your child may resist initially, but you keep trying while maintaining a positive and calm tone of voice. Repeat what happened using an approving tone and language. For example, you could say: “Peter pointed out the train so well, well done.”

Initially, your child may not like to just sit next to you and look at a book. Don't give up and encourage your child to sit next to you and look at the book. This means that you must make it very clear to your child what you want from him. Use short and clear sentences. For example: “Peter is looking at a book with his mom/dad.” Do not vary the language or replace words with others. Decide which phrase you will use in each specific situation and say exactly that. Agree with all family members on what language to use with your child, and stick to that language at all times.

This consistency and certainty in language helps the child learn all skills. Short and clear sentences, uncomplicated and consistent speech, calm and even tone - all these are necessary elements that contribute to the assimilation of information. This type of language should be used throughout the day and not just when learning to read.

You may first have to hold your squirming, screaming, struggling baby to teach him to look at a book. This is very important: when you sit and hold your child despite his protests, you are teaching him very important skills that can open the door to education for him. It's easier to do this while the child is still very young. Teaching study skills (sit quietly and concentrate) to a large 7-8 year old child will be extremely difficult and sometimes dangerous. Resistance on the part of the child will decrease when the child begins to enjoy the activity.

Language and tone of speech are of paramount importance. Even if the child begins to resist and scream, continue to smile, say kindly and confidently, “look good at the book, Peter, well done.” If your child does what you want him to do, reward him right away. Remember to point and say, “Peter, look at the dog. Looked good, Peter, well done.”

Always give your child a small reward if he completes an exercise and looks at the book. You know better than anyone what kind of reward might interest your child. This could be a food reward: one chip, a raisin, a piece of cookie, or something else that the child really likes. The main thing is that the child begins to associate this activity with praise and rewards. Nothing can change a child's behavior more than his own interest. The need to please you may be a weak motivator for a child, but the need to please himself is a very strong motivator. We are all like that.

Perhaps you should address a previous stage of development before attempting to teach your child to read books. After all, literacy—among other things—requires an understanding of spoken language and visual symbols. People with autism have difficulty understanding the meaning of the full range of language. For the purposes of this article, we can only briefly mention this. If we look at reading preparation, we must ensure that our children understand the meaning and meaning of the language we use with them every day.

During chronologically sequential development, children crawl, explore their surroundings, and pick up various items. Parents or guardians name these items as soon as the child picks them up. This process is repeated over and over again, and the child begins to understand that certain sounds that other people make are associated with a certain object, such as a car. They begin to understand the meaning of these sounds. Now, when someone says “car”, they have an image of a car in their mind’s eye. They understood the meaning and meaning of a certain part of the language.

Children with autism do not have this natural process and do not make multiple connections between different pieces of information the way non-autistic children do. We must teach them words gradually, naming objects and activities in the same way over and over again. The process of repeated naming should become a natural part of everyday situations in a child's life. Research shows that children with language impairments of any kind learn best in natural, structured situations. For example, when a child has lunch or takes a break to drink. Show your child the cup: “Look, Peter’s cup. Mom/Dad pours juice into a cup. Peter drinks. You're drinking well, Peter, well done."

Recreate similar everyday situations using soft toys/dolls. During these losses, use the same language. “Look, a bear’s cup.” Pretend you're feeding juice to a train, dinosaur, or other child's favorite toy. Repeat the same situation as in the child’s life, accompanying it with the same language. This helps develop the child's symbolic play skills and also leads to the development of social skills.

Take photos of similar everyday situations with your child, as well as losses with his favorite toy. Make a book from these photos. A camera and a laminator are indispensable tools for you. But if you don't have them, use existing photos, glue, cards and tape. Sew and lace the book. Such homemade books about your home life will make direct sense to the child and will improve their language, comprehension, book handling and learning skills.

Remember, children with speech impairments need to have everything repeated to them thousands of times in order for them to learn.

Make books for your child about your home, family members, pets, objects, activities and events during which the child was present. Add simple printed text to each page. Start with one word for each picture. A good start- the name of the child himself. Then you can add words such as mom, dad, sibling's name, favorite objects, toys, or pet names. While reading a book like this, always encourage finger pointing.

Tell your child what to point to: “Peter, point to Ben.” Give it to your hand the required form, point the finger at him and praise him. "Well done, Peter." Then ask to point to the corresponding word: “Point to the word “Ben.” Place his finger on the word and praise him. Such actions will have to be repeated many times.

Make a set of cards with the same photos and individual words-signatures. Let each photo first have a corresponding word. Say at the same time: “Peter, it says Ben, look at Ben.” Guide your child's hand, connecting the word and the photo. Say: “Very good, Peter, word Ben, picture with Ben.” Increase the number of photographs and their corresponding words one at a time as the child progresses. Always use as much verbal praise as possible, if necessary, reward the child with some kind of reward that is very meaningful to him for each correct action. This will help the child associate the experience with personal pleasure. Do this even if the entire book session encounters strong or moderate resistance from the child. During work, the child should always achieve success, even if you “drag” him throughout the entire task. Make sure the task is realistic and that it is appropriate to the child's level of knowledge and understanding.

If the child has learned over time to correctly select pictures and words, then you can try using only words without pictures, saying: “Peter, give mommy/daddy the word Ben.” Gradually increase the number of words. If a child is successful in these tasks, he or she can likely be taught to read using a whole word approach, together with phonics awareness to support development at the next stage.

Remember that children with autism only learn things that are personally meaningful to them or that are related to meaningful experiences. They will understand the connection and meaning writing, if you use words that are meaningful and related to that particular child.

Checklist before learning to read

Can give the correct item when asked by an adult when there is no choice

Can give the correct item when asked by an adult, choosing from two items

Can give the correct item when asked by an adult, choosing from several different items

Can spontaneously point to objects

May point to objects when asked by an adult

Can choose the correct photo in response to an adult's request

Can identify two identical photographs

Can identify the word under a photo

Can choose a word for a photo when there is no choice

Can find a word for a photo when given a choice of two words

Can match a photo to a word given a choice of three words

Can match a photo to a word given a choice of four words

Can match a photo to a word when given a choice of more than four words

Reading Learning Checklist

Can look at a picture and talk about it

Can point to a specific item in the picture upon request

Can answer “what” questions about a picture

Can answer “why” questions about a picture

Can answer “who” questions about a picture

Demonstrates understanding that the text has a specific meaning

Can show and repeat text that has just been read

Can determine the character's name in the text

Can identify individual words in text

Can identify some words in a text using phonics clues

Can use syllable division to decode words

Can use suffixes to decode words

Can find different words in a text if they are chosen randomly and out of context

Can answer questions directly related to the text

Can remember the sequence of a story and retell it in his own words

A technique that allows you to develop both expressive and impressive speech in children with early childhood autism of groups I and II (according to the classification of O. S. Nikolskaya). Much attention is paid to creating motivation for communication. This method was used successful work for 10 years, not only with autistic children, but also with children suffering from sensory and motor alalia. The book also includes a chapter describing activities with children aged two to three years. This is the age period when the beginning of targeted work on speech is especially effective. For speech therapists and other specialists working with “special” children.

Download:

Preview:

L. G. Nurieva

Development

speeches

in autistic

children

Moscow

"Terevinf"

2003

UDC 615.851

BBK 74.3

H90

Nurieva L. G.

H90 Speech development in autistic children: Methodological developments. - M.: Terevinf,

2003.- 160 p.

I5ВN 5-901599-11-Х

The book outlines the author's methodology that allows the development of both expressive and impressive speech in children with early childhood autism of groups I and II (according to the classification of O. S. Nikolskaya). Much attention is paid to creating motivation for communication. This method was used to successfully work for 10 years not only with autistic children, but also with children suffering from sensory and motor alalia.

The book also includes a chapter describing activities with children aged two to three years. This is the age period when the beginning of targeted work on speech is especially effective.

For speech therapists and other specialists working with “special” children.

UDC 615.851

BBK 74.3

Published as part of a joint project“A special child.

Initiative of IGO Europe and Russia to help children with multiple developmental disabilities" of the International Catholic BureauChild (B1SE), Initiative "Ivanushka"(Germany) and the Center for Curative Pedagogy (Moscow)

with financial support from the European Commissions

(TACIS-LIEN program).

I5ВN 5-901599-11-Х © Terevinf Publishing House, 2003

Introduction

In the course of their work, speech pathologists often encounter children who do not use active speech as a means of communication. Non-speaking (mute) children may have normal hearing or severe hearing loss, their speech organs may be organically severely damaged or have no visible pathologies, intellectual level their development is sometimes very high, and sometimes significantly reduced. In each specific case, the cause of pathological speech development is determined by the doctor, relying both on his professional experience and on the results of an objective examination of the child. If the examination does not show organic disorders of the speech-motor and speech-hearing apparatus, and there are no visible prerequisites for gross underdevelopment thought processes, but the child has pronounced features of the emotional-volitional sphere, he may be diagnosedearly childhood autism(RDA).

Currently, early childhood autism is considered as a variant of severe dissociated dysontogenesis. Childhood autism manifests itself in different forms, with various levels intellectual and speech development (Lalaeva R.I., Serebryakova, 2001). Non-verbal autistic children have the most profound affective disorders, sharp decline mental tone, severe impairments of voluntary activity, purposefulness, they do not feel the need to communicate with the outside world. Modern instrumental capabilities (EEG, computed tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.) make it possible to identify existing morphological and biochemical changes that underlie brain dysfunction in autism (Gilberg K., Peters T., 1998). The connection between speech disorders and the pathology of certain brain structures is obvious. Yes, one of the reasons complete absence speech, the child may have damage to the lower parietal parts of the brain (Burlakova M.K., 1997). With such localization of focal symptoms, the precise spatial organized activity articulatory apparatus, caused by a violation not of the spatial factor itself, but of unformed reverse afferentation. In severe cases, the child is unable to pronounce not only words, but also individual speech sounds. When performing movements of the tongue, lips and other organs of the articulatory apparatus, he fails to find their desired position. Moreover, in these cases, the same organs freely perform any “involuntary” movements (children eat, swallow, lick soiled lips, etc. without difficulty, and can spontaneously vocalize individual sounds perceived as speech).

A neurologist or speech therapist can determine a violation of the voluntary activity of the articulatory apparatus in a child. However, parents themselves can suspect articulatory apraxia in autism in a 3-4 year old child based on some fairly pronounced signs. Outwardly, the child stands out for his immersion in oral autostimulation: he licks everything, stuffs his fists into his mouth and rather rudely tries to push his fingers as deep as possible into the oral cavity; Often the baby brutally bites loved ones, making no distinction between them and inanimate objects. He is also impaired in other types of voluntary movements, so it is extremely difficult to teach him any everyday skills. Early speech development such a child usually has a number of features: if the first words do appear after babbling, then they are in no way connected with the immediate environment (for example, “light bulb”, “turtle”), even the sound of the word “mother” is not a reaction to approach mother to baby.

Gradual enrichment may occur up to 2-2.5 years active dictionary the child due to words that are pronounced by others with strong passion (often these are swear words), or lines from poems and songs flash in the baby’s speech. However, all these words or short phrases are not aimed at the child’s communication with loved ones, and during the transition to the active period of speech acquisition, he begins to lose even this small lexicon. As a result, by the age of three, the baby has only limited involuntary vocalizations (2-3 sounds), screams, and “mumbling” disappears, in which “fragments” of words could be distinguished. At the same time, significant disorders of the affective and motor spheres may be observed: fears and anxiety appear, the formation of complex motor operations with objects is disrupted, muscle tone decreases, facial expressions are impoverished, the child does not strive for contact, But and does not reject him, goes into the arms of everyone,without expressing any emotion.

Correction of speech disorders in children with a similar course of development should begin as early as possible, since a very long period of systematic work by a whole team of specialists (psychologist, speech therapist, music therapist, social teacher) is required. Even under conditions of complex, targeted work, it is very difficult to form developed communicative speech in a non-speaking child.

This book presents methodological developments that can be useful when working with those non-verbal children who havewhich it was not possible to evoke sounding speech using methods of emotional disinhibition (SobotovichE. F., 1981), the use of onomatopoeia (Rumyantseva O. A., StaroselskayaN. E., 1997) and during holding therapy sessions (Liebling M. M., 2000) (the essence this method consists in the fact that one of the parents (usually the mother) hugs the child tightly, talking to him affectionately. At first, the child resists, sometimes even shows aggression, but then he calms down and, feeling the special closeness of the adult, internally “opens up”).

Chapter 1

Main stages of work

Working with children suffering from early childhood autism is very long and painstaking. The efforts of a specialist involved in the formation of the speech of a child whose vocalizations appear only at the level of a monotonous set of sounds (“a-a”, “uh”, “mm”) should be aimed at the development of the most intact brain structures. Replacing verbal abstract images with visual ones greatly facilitates the learning of an autistic child who has the type of thinking of “literal” perception. Real objects, pictures, printed words are used at all stages of working with it. Building a visual sequence is the main condition for the success of classes with non-speaking children. The sooner we begin learning to read, the greater the chance of inducing echolalic repetition of speech sounds in the child. In parallel, special work is being carried out to overcome articulatory apraxia, the presence of which can serve as a serious obstacle to the successful development of speech. But the depth of autistic disorders does not allow us to immediately begin to educate the child’s understanding of the speech addressed to him and the development of the pronunciation aspect of speech. Before starting work on speech function, special preliminary stages of work are required.

First stage. Primary contact

The adaptation period of working with a child most often extends over several months, so the formation of interaction between the student and the teacher can begin already in the 2-3rd lesson, after establishing formal contact with the child. Formally established contact assumes that the child has felt that the situation is “non-dangerous” and is ready to be in the same room with the teacher. During this time, means are determined that can attract the child’s attention (vestibular - swinging on a swing, tactile - tickling, sensory - rattles and food). Those that will be used in the future for encouragement in the classroom are selected.

Second phase. Primary Study Skills

If a child has a pronounced negative reaction to lessons at the table, it is better to first lay out the material prepared for the lesson (mosaics, beads, puzzles, pictures, etc.) where he feels more comfortable, for example on the floor. The picture or toy that the child paid attention to should be moved to the table and, as it were, forgotten about it. Most likely, the child will casually approach the table and pick up already familiar objects. Gradually, the fear will disappear, and it will be possible to conduct classes at the table.

The role of mother in the classroom

Often the presence of the mother in class is necessary for the child. For her help to be effective, the mother must master the techniques of interacting with the baby. At the table, the child can sit on his mother's lap, which gives him a feeling of security. First, the mother takes the child's hands in hers and acts together with him. You need to learn to sensitively detect the beginning of independent movement of the child’s hands and give him more freedom. Gradually, the mother’s help comes down to nudging the baby’s elbow so that he begins to act independently.

As the emotional contact between the student and the teacher strengthens, the role of the mother in the lesson will begin to decrease. The baby will no longer sit on his lap, but next to his mother. Then the mother can move to the far end of the room (it happens that the child asks the mother to go out the door). This means that he feels comfortable and confident in class.

Organization of classes and workplace

Properly organized workplace develops the necessary educational stereotypes in the child. The material prepared for work is placed to the left of the child, the completed task is to the right. Remove didactic material and transfer it to right side The student must study the table independently or with little assistance. At first, the child is asked only to observe how the teacher completes the task. The student is only required, at the end of each element of the work, to put the didactic material into boxes or bags. After the child has completed this action, he should be rewarded in a previously determined way. This keeps the child engaged in a structured activity and leaves the table with a positive sense of accomplishment.

Working on basic communication skills

As a replacement for the “eye to eye” gaze, first, a fixation of gaze is developed on the picture, which the teacher holds at the level of his lips. If the child does not respond to the appeal, you need to gently turn him by the chin and wait for his gaze to glide over the presented material. Gradually, the time of fixation of the gaze on the picture will increase and be replaced by a look into the eyes.

At this stage, a minimum number of verbal instructions are used: “Take”, “Put down”. The accuracy of their implementation is important for further training. Paired pictures or objects are suitable as stimulus material. It is advisable that the child fixes his gaze on the picture until it is handed over to him. This can be achieved in a simple way: Along with the picture, the teacher holds a treat in his hand. The child detects the approach of a tasty piece (with a card) and receives it if he keeps his gaze on the picture for a sufficient time.

Third stage. Working on the pointing gesture and “YES”, “NO” gestures

Spontaneous use of “yes”, “no” and pointing gestures by children suffering from severe forms of autism may arise by the age of 7-8 years, or may not appear at all, which makes communication with these children extremely difficult. Special training allows you to formulate these gestures and introduce them into the child’s daily communication with loved ones.

During classes, the teacher regularly asks the student questions:

“Have you laid out the pictures?” “Did you put the pictures away?”, prompting him to nod his head affirmatively. If the child does not do this on his own, you should lightly press the palm of your hand on the back of his head. As soon as the gesture began to work, even with the help of the teacher’s hands, we introduce the “no” gesture. First we use the same questions, but ask them until the task is completed. Then gestures “yes” and “no” are used as answersto various questions.

At the same time, the pointing gesture is practiced. To the verbal instructions “Take”, “Put” we add one more: “Show”. The teacher recordsThe child's hand is in the gesture position and teaches him to clearly place his finger on the desired object or picture.

Despite some mechanicalness in the use of gestures, it is necessary to encourage their use by the child, since this minimum set of non-verbal communication allows parents to determine the child’s wishes, thereby eliminating many conflict situations.

When working with puzzles, wooden frames and other constructive praxis tasks, the verbal instruction is used: “Move.” When a child fits pieces of a mosaic or puzzle (with the help of an adult), the word “Move” is repeated until the piece fits neatly into place. At this moment, you need to run the child’s hand along the assembled field, determining the absence of gaps and bulges, while repeating: “It turned out smooth.” The evenness and smoothness of the working material serves as a criterion for correct assembly, after which the child is encouraged.

Fourth stage. Reading training

It is advisable to teach reading in three areas:

Analytical-synthetic (letter-by-letter) reading;

Syllabic reading;

Global reading.

The lesson is built on the principle of alternating all three directions, since each of these types of reading uses different language mechanisms of the child. Using analytical-synthetic reading techniques, we give the child the opportunity to focus specifically on the sound side of speech, which creates the basis for turning on the onomatopoeic mechanism. Syllable-by-syllable reading helps to work on the consistency and pronunciation of pronunciation. Global reading is based on the good visual memory of an autistic child and is most understandable to him, since the graphic image of a word is immediately associated with a real object. However, if you teach a child only global reading techniques, quite soon there comes a time when mechanical memory ceases to retain the accumulating volume of words. With normal speech development, the child performs all analytical work on isolating the phoneme as the main component of the unit of oral speech independently. To isolate a separate letter from a word and correlate it with a specific sound, such a child also does not require significant help from an adult. In conditions of pathological development of speech, the baby is not able to carry out such a complex analysis of speech units on his own, therefore, without special training, he will not be able to move from photographic “guessing” words to true reading.

Global reading

Education global reading allows you to develop the child’s impressive speech and thinking before mastering pronunciation. In addition, global reading develops visual attention and memory.

The essence of global reading is that a child can learn to recognize entire written words without isolating individual letters. To do this, words are written in block letters on cardboard cards. Better to use cardboard white, and the font is black. The height of the letters is from 2 to 5 centimeters.

When teaching global reading, it is necessary to observe gradualism and consistency. The words that we want to teach a child to read should denote objects, actions, and phenomena known to him. This type of reading can be introduced no earlier than the student is able to correlate an object and its image, select paired objects or pictures.

TYPES OF JOBS:

7. Reading automated engrams (the child’s name, the names of his loved ones, the names of pets).It is convenient to use a family photo album as a teaching material, providing it with appropriate printed inscriptions. The inscriptions are duplicated on individual cards. The child learns to select the same words, then the captions to photographs or drawings in the album are closed. The student is required to “learn” from memory the required inscription on the card and place it on the picture. The closed word is opened and compared with the selected signature.

2. Reading words. Pictures are selected based on all the main lexical topics(toys, dishes, furniture, transport, domestic and wild animals, birds, insects, vegetables, fruits, clothing, food, flowers) and are provided with signatures.

A good place to start is with the topic "Toys". First, we take two signs with words different in spelling, for example “doll” and “ball”. You cannot take words that are similar in spelling, for example “bear”, “car”.

We begin to put signs on toys or pictures ourselves, saying what is written on them. Then we invite the child to place the sign next to the desired picture or toy on his own.

After memorizing two signs, we begin to gradually add the next ones.

The order of introducing new lexical topics is arbitrary, since we mainly focus on the child’s interest.

3. Understanding written instructions.Sentences are made that use different nouns and the same verb.

Subjects of proposals:

Body diagram (“Show your nose”, “Show your eyes”, “Show your hands”, etc. - it’s convenient to work in front of a mirror here);

Room layout (“Go to the door”, “Go to the window”, “Go to the closet”, etc.). By presenting the cards, we draw the child’s attention to the different spellings of the second words in sentences.

4. Reading sentences.Sentences are made for a series of plot pictures in which one character performs different actions.

The cat is sitting.

The cat is sleeping.

The cat is running.

You can use tablets when studying colors, when determining size and quantity.

Global reading makes it possible to find out how much a non-speaking child understands spoken speech, allows him to overcome a negative attitude towards classes, and gives him self-confidence.

Syllable reading

In order to compile a sufficient number of syllable tables, you need to know the main types of syllables:

Open: consonant + vowel (pa, mo);

Closed: vowel + consonant (ap, om).

In the table, one consonant letter can be taken in combination with various vowels (pa, po, pu...) or one vowel with different consonants (am, ap, ak...).

TYPES OF JOBS:

1. Reading syllabic tables from open syllables.Tables are made according to the lotto principle with paired pictures.

The child selects a syllable on a small card and places it on the corresponding syllable on big map. At the same time, the teacher clearly pronounces what is written, making sure that the child’s gaze at the moment of pronouncing is fixed on the adult’s lips.

2. Reading syllable tables composed of closed syllables.Plastic vowels and consonants are selected and placed on top of the written letters. Vowels are pronounced drawlingly, and the corresponding plastic letters move to the consonants, i.e. “go to visit them.”

N N

U M o M

U P O P

K K

T T

3. Reading syllabic tables, where the letters are written at a considerable distance (10-15 cm) from each other.A thick thread or elastic band is smoothly stretched between the letters (elastic bands are usually more popular with children, but if its “clicking” scares the child, it is better to use a thread).

N-A M-O

The child presses the tip of the elastic band, tied into a knot, with a finger or palm to the consonant letter, and with the other hand pulls the free end of the elastic band to the vowel letter. The teacher sounds the syllable: while the rubber band is stretching, a consonant sound is pronounced for a long time; when the rubber band clicks, a vowel is added (for example: “mmm-o”, “nnn-a”).

Analytical-synthetic reading

First of all, we develop the skill of sound-letter analysis of the beginning of a word. Becoming this skill requires large quantity exercises, so you need to make a sufficient number of teaching aids so that the classes are not monotonous for the child.

TYPES OF JOBS:

1. On a large card with clear pictures (various lotto cards can be used), the child lays out small cards with the initial letters of the names of the pictures.First, we provide him with significant assistance: we clearly name the letters, holding the card so that the child sees the movements of the lips; with the other hand we show the picture on a large map. Continuing to pronounce the sound, we bring the letter closer to the child (so that he can track the movement of the letter with his eyes, you can use a piece of treat, as when working with paired pictures), then we give the card with the letter to the student (he eats the treat at the moment of transfer). Using the teacher’s hint in the form of a pointing gesture, the child places the letter on the corresponding picture. Over time, he must learn to independently arrange all the letters into the right pictures.

The reverse version of the game is possible: the initial letters of words are printed on a large card, indicating pictures on small cards.

2. Small cards with block letters are made (approximately 2x2 cm). In the corner they are stitched with a stapler using two or three paper clips.The child uses a magnet to “catch a fish,” that is, letters, and we clearly pronounce them.This exercise helps the child fix his gaze on the letter longer and allows him to expand the range ofhis voluntary actions.

3. We select pictures for certain sounds. On landscape sheets we print the letters chosen for study in large quantities. We place two letters in different corners of the table.The child lays out the pictures offered to him, the names of which begin with the sounds corresponding to the letters.Initially, you can support the child’s hands and help him find the right “house”.

It is better to select pairs of letters that indicate as much as possible

more contrasting sounds.

4. There must be an allowance that the child can take at any time andtreat him the way he wants.Such a tool could be an alphabet album, in which we gradually sketch pictures of a certain sound. It is better to draw in such a way that the child sees the process of filling out the pages, while discussing and discussing the drawings with him. Since the album can quickly wear out, you don’t need to spend a lot of time on drawings and, if necessary, restore damaged pages.

When the child learns to hear the beginning of a word, work can begin to form a sound-letter analysis of the end of the word.

TYPES OF JOBS:

1. Pictures are drawn on a large map, the names of which end with a certain sound. Next to the picture there is a “window” with the last letter of the word written large.We highlight the end of the word with our voice, the child places the plastic letter on the one printed in the “window”.

Notes: for the exercise, you cannot use paired voiced consonants (B, V, G, 3, D, Zh), since they are deafened at the end and the sound does not coincide with the letter; You cannot use iotated vowels (Ya, E, Yo, Yu) since their sound also does not correspond to the letter designation.

2. Place the corresponding word under the picture. We pronounce it clearly, highlighting the last sound.The child finds the desired one among several plastic letters and places it on last letter in a word.

Complex exercises

Exercises that combine elements of global and letter-by-letter reading are very useful. Cards are produced (convenient format - half album sheet) with pictures and corresponding words. The words are printed in a font that is the same size as the height of the plastic letters. The child looks at the word under the picture and places the same plastic letters on top. The teacher reads the word clearly. Then the word assembled from the letters is moved from the card to the table, the name of the picture printed on paper is covered, and the child is asked to determine under which picture there is the same word as the one on his table. First, the child makes a choice from two cards, then from 3-4. When a choice is made, the word under the picture is revealed and compared with the example on the table. Words are selected according to the principle of increasing the number of letters:

The first cards use onomatopoeic words from one letter (“a” - the cry of a child, “u” - the hum of a train, “o” - a plaintive moan, “e” - a reproachful exclamation, “f” - a bursting balloon, “t” - a knock wheels, “v” - the howling of the wind, “r” - the growl of a dog, “b-b” - the kettle is boiling and rattling the lid, “s” - water is pouring from the tap, “w” - the hissing of a snake, etc.);

Two-letter words (“ia”, “na”, “ga-ga”, “no”, “pi-pi”, “bi-bi”, “me”, “be”, “ku-ku”, “ gu-gu", "doo-doo", "tu-tu", "ay-ay", "oh-oh", etc.);

Three-letter words (“ball”, “bah”, “drip”, “qua”, “rak”, “poppy”, “dai”, “bam”, “lac”, “house”, “floor”, “ cat”, “juice”, “bom”, “crowbar”, “catfish”, “moss”, “current”, “nose”, “tsok”, “goal”, “wasp”, “tom”, “bow” , “bug”, “bough”, “blow”, “shower”, “knock”, “smoke”, “cheese”, “puff”, “quack”, “meow”, “tyaf”, “ball”, etc. .P.);

Four-letter words (“duck”, “bridge”, “Misha”, “sleigh”, “fish”, “fishes”, “vase”, “vases”, “goat”, “goats”, etc.) .

If necessary, you can take words of 5-6 letters, but usually this is not required, since at the stage of working with words of four letters the child already masters the first reading skills.

 Introduction

 Chapter 1 Main stages of work

 Chapter 2 Training using smells

 Chapter 3 Development of articulatory praxis

 Chapter 4 Features of working on the structure simple sentence

 Chapter 5 Formation of grammatical structure of speech

 Chapter 6 Techniques for working on the expansion of phrases, on the natural sound of speech

 Chapter 7 Formation of monologue speech

 Chapter 8 Organization of classes for children aged 2.5-3 years

 Afterword

 Application

Introduction

In the course of their work, speech pathologists often encounter children who do not use active speech as a means of communication. Non-speaking (mute) children may have normal hearing or severe hearing loss, their speech organs may be severely organically damaged or have no visible pathologies, their intellectual level of development is sometimes very high, and sometimes significantly reduced. In each specific case, the cause of pathological speech development is determined by the doctor, relying both on his professional experience and on the results of an objective examination of the child. If the examination does not show organic disorders of the speech-motor and speech-auditory apparatus, and there are no visible prerequisites for gross underdevelopment of thought processes, but the child has pronounced features of the emotional-volitional sphere, he may be diagnosed early childhood autism(RDA).

Currently, early childhood autism is considered as a variant of severe dissociated dysontogenesis. Childhood autism manifests itself in different forms, at different levels of intellectual and speech development (Lalaeva R.I., Serebryakova, 2001). Non-speaking autistic children are distinguished by the most profound affective disorders, a sharp decrease in mental tone, severe impairments of voluntary activity, purposefulness, and they do not feel the need to communicate with the outside world. Modern instrumental capabilities (EEG, computed tomography, nuclear magnetic resonance, etc.) make it possible to identify existing morphological and biochemical changes that underlie brain dysfunction in autism (Gilberg K., Peters T., 1998). The connection between speech disorders and the pathology of certain brain structures is obvious. Thus, one of the reasons for the complete absence of speech in a child may be damage to the lower parietal parts of the brain (Burlakova M.K., 1997). With such localization of focal symptoms, the precise spatially organized activity of the articulatory apparatus is disrupted, caused not by a violation of the spatial factor itself, but by unformed reverse afferentation. In severe cases, the child is unable to pronounce not only words, but also individual speech sounds. When performing movements of the tongue, lips and other organs of the articulatory apparatus, he fails to find their desired position. Moreover, in these cases, the same organs freely perform any “involuntary” movements (children eat, swallow, lick soiled lips, etc. without difficulty, and can spontaneously vocalize individual sounds perceived as speech).

A neurologist or speech therapist can determine a violation of the voluntary activity of the articulatory apparatus in a child. However, parents themselves can suspect articulatory apraxia in autism in a 3-4 year old child based on some fairly pronounced signs. Outwardly, the child stands out for his immersion in oral autostimulation: he licks everything, stuffs his fists into his mouth and rather rudely tries to push his fingers as deep as possible into the oral cavity; Often the baby brutally bites loved ones, making no distinction between them and inanimate objects. He is also impaired in other types of voluntary movements, so it is extremely difficult to teach him any everyday skills. Early speech development in such a child usually has a number of features: if the first words do appear after babbling, then they are in no way connected with the immediate environment (for example, “light bulb”, “turtle”), even the sounding word “mother” is not reaction to the mother approaching the baby.

Up to 2-2.5 years, a gradual enrichment of the child’s active vocabulary may occur due to words that are pronounced by others with strong passion (often these are swear words), or lines from poems and songs flash in the child’s speech. However, all these words or short phrases are not aimed at the child’s communication with loved ones, and during the transition to the active period of speech acquisition, he begins to lose this small vocabulary. As a result, by the age of three, the baby has only limited involuntary vocalizations (2-3 sounds), screams, and “mumbling” disappears, in which “fragments” of words could be distinguished. At the same time, significant disorders of the affective and motor spheres may be observed: fears and anxiety appear, the formation of complex motor operations with objects is disrupted, muscle tone decreases, facial expressions are impoverished, the child does not strive for contact, but does not reject it, goes into everyone’s arms without expressing no emotions at all.

Correction of speech disorders in children with a similar course of development should begin as early as possible, since a very long period of systematic work by a whole team of specialists (psychologist, speech therapist, music therapist, social teacher) is required. Even under conditions of complex, targeted work, it is very difficult to form developed communicative speech in a non-speaking child.

This book presents methodological developments that can be useful when working with those non-speaking children in whom it was not possible to evoke sound speech using methods of emotional disinhibition (Sobotovich E. F., 1981), the use of onomatopoeia (Rumyantseva O. A., Staroselskaya N. E., 1997) and in sessions of holding therapy (Liebling M. M., 2000) (the essence of this method is that one of the parents (usually the mother) holds the child tightly to him, affectionately with him talking about this. At first, the child resists, sometimes even shows aggression, but then he calms down and, feeling the special closeness of the adult, internally “opens up”).

To teach autistic children to read and write, the “global reading” technique was modified. This technique was originally developed for deaf children (see B. D. Korsunskaya. Raising a deaf preschooler in the family. - M.: Pedagogika, 1971). It introduced some traditional methods of working on developing the ability to identify sounds and letters in a word, developing graphic skills and teaching the beginnings of writing.

The first stage of work, during which the child must gradually get used to the learning situation, begins with looking at photographs from a family album. The mother and the child go through photographs taken in the summer at the dacha, on vacation, during memorable events, holidays - photographs of family members, the child himself, including those taken when he was very young. The mother comments on the pictures, telling the child in detail about what he sees in the photograph. Together they seem to relive pleasant moments, and it is important that both mother and child enjoy it.

Then photographs of the child himself and his family members are selected. Mom (or a teacher instead) prepares signs for all photographs with the inscriptions: “ME”, “MOM”, “DAD”, “GRANDMOTHER”, “GRANDFATHER”, “SISTER”, “BROTHER”.

The lesson is held in a comfortable environment for the child - not necessarily at the table, but on the sofa or on the floor. The mother places photographs in front of the child on the left, and signs with inscriptions on the right (at the beginning of classes, no more than five photographs are used and, accordingly, no more than five signatures. Then their number can be increased to 7-10). She takes one photo and puts it in the middle, then finds a sign for this photo and puts it under the photo, commenting: “Look, this is our dad (points to the photo). And here it says: “Dad” (points to the sign).” Mom does the same with all the other pictures.

Later, when the child gets used to such an organization of the lesson, the mother performs this task with the child’s hands. She takes it left hand, chooses it the desired photo and places it in the middle (in the center of the child’s visual field). Then right hand The child's mother takes the desired sign and places it under the photo. At the same time, she explains: “This is a photograph of my grandmother. But it says: “Grandma.” After several joint lessons, the child learns how to work with photographs and signs, and can complete some of the tasks independently.

During the lesson, the mother is next to the child. If he needs help, she can either take the necessary photo or signature with his hand, or simply tell him what needs to be done now.

At this stage of training we use simple words, the pronunciation of which coincides with their spelling (for example, the word “house”), since in this case it will be easier for the child to cope with the task.

At the first stage, the child must master the concepts of “card” and “inscription-plate”. To do this, mom can specially sign some household items, for example, make labels for products, stickers on jars of cereals. You can simply go with your child to the kitchen - “check the supplies” and show him bags of sugar, salt, cereals, pasta, while reading the labels on them. You can “clean up” the bookshelf where children’s books and magazines are stored by reading the titles of the books; You can also lay out records and filmstrips, showing the child the labels on them and reading the inscriptions. On the street, you need to draw the child’s attention to signs with street names and read the names of shops. Then at home, mom can draw a walking route, signing in the right places: “Pharmacy”, “Groceries”, etc.

The second stage can begin with the design of an album, where the mother pastes all the photographs and captions to them (or simply signs them). Then 7–10 pictures are selected with images of objects familiar to the child (the pictures must be made in the same style) and signs are prepared with the inscriptions: “CUP”, “SPOON”, “MILK”, “JUICE”, “TABLE”, “CHAIR” , “CAR”, “DOLL”, “DOG”, “SHIRT”, etc. Classes are conducted according to the same scheme as at the first stage.

Please note that for children of the third and fourth groups, the first stage is optional. You can immediately study with them using pictures, including in the set 2-3 photographs of loved ones and the child himself. With these children it is also possible to do without manipulating their hands, since most of them will be able to complete the task themselves after the teacher shows several times how to do it.

Gradually, the set of pictures and signs needs to be increased. This can be done in two ways. The first is to consistently master the categories of objects, that is, offer the child pictures and captions for them on the topic “Transport”, then, when he has mastered them, take the topic “Clothing”, then “Food”, etc. The second method - offer him several pictures from different topics. At the same time, it is important to take into account the interests and affections of the child and choose topics that interest him.

Working with an album. At the same time as working on the pictures, the mother (or the teacher instead) begins working on the album. On each page of the album a new letter is mastered. First, the mother writes this letter herself, then asks the child to write it - with paint, a felt-tip pen, a pencil, or a pen. Then objects are drawn: first those whose names begin with a given letter, then those whose names have a given letter in the middle, and finally those whose names end with a given letter. If the child can, then he draws the desired object himself at the request of the teacher, or the teacher draws with the child’s hand. You can not draw an object, but cut out a picture of this object from some magazine and paste it into an album.

Then the picture (drawing) is signed in block letters, and the mother can write the word herself, leaving space for the child to write the desired letter (or she writes this letter with the child’s hand).

First, we study the letters “A”, “M”, “P”, “U”, “B”, “D”. Then we add the letters that make up the names of the child, mother, and father. Then we move on to the remaining vowels: “O”, “I”, “E”, “I”, etc., then come the remaining consonants: “K”, “L”, “T”, “R”, “Sh” ", etc. A page is allocated for each letter in the album. The placement of letters, pictures, words is as follows:

So, the letter being studied is written large at the top left, and the rest of the space is occupied by pictures with captions. For the letter and for each word, we first draw a line on which they will then be written. This is done so that the child gradually gets used to writing along the line without going beyond it. However, we can make the letters themselves in words of different sizes, different color so that the child does not stereotypically “get stuck” on the image of the letter that the teacher wrote for him for the first time. We need the child to recognize this letter in different books, magazines, on signs, etc. Therefore, we ensure that he begins to understand that each letter can be depicted in different ways: it can be red, and blue, and plasticine, and cut out of paper, etc., and not just the way mom draws it.

If it is difficult for a child to immediately write a printed letter, we either pre-set dots, and the child writes the letter, connecting these dots with lines, or we give him a stick and, moving his hand, “write” this letter in the air (this makes it easier for the child to learn the necessary movement).

Many children really enjoy such activities when they are carried out in a playful way with their parents. For example, a teacher and a mother with a child, or a mother, father and a child, take sticks, then take turns drawing their own letter in the air and making up stories about it (of course, adults tell the story for the child or help him with this). “My letter O really loves donuts and all kinds of sweets,” dad begins. “She’s very big, she waddles around and says, ‘Oh-oh.’” “And my letter “O,” my mother picks up, “is not fat at all, but thin and really likes to sing “O-o-o”” (draws her letter in the air). “And Vasya’s letter “O” is still very small,” mother continues and with Vasya’s hand she draws “his” letter in the air. Then dialogues are conducted on behalf of the letters - about how they are friends with each other, visit each other, what they like to do, etc.

A child can master writing letters using a stencil. The stencil is placed on a sheet of paper, the child traces it with a pencil, and then runs his finger over it and over his letter, thereby mastering its “motor image.”

In general, the work in the album proceeds in the following sequence:

1) the new letter is written first by the adult, and then by the child himself (or by the adult with his hand);

2) objects are drawn whose names contain the letter being studied. The child either draws this object himself, at the request of an adult, or completes some detail in his drawing;

3) the drawn objects are signed. The child, at the request of an adult, writes a familiar letter in a word (if necessary, writing a letter is first practiced using the exercises we have indicated).

You can play with the letters you have studied: sculpt them from plasticine, cut them out of colored paper with scissors, from candy wrappers, lay them out from counting sticks, mosaic elements. At the same time, we fantasize, come up with what the letter looks like: “N” - like a ladder, stretched upward, “O” - like a cucumber, “T” - like an antenna, “M” - mother’s letter, looks like a swing, “P” - dad's letter - on a football goal; You can build houses for letters. In the evening, the mother leafs through the album with the child and comments, fantasizes, adding new details to the story.

1-2 lessons are allocated for learning one letter. The teacher tries to highlight this letter with his voice and intonation so that the child masters its sound. Gradually, the child begins to understand that all letters sound differently.

Thus, the album becomes a “piggy bank” of all the child’s impressions related to learning letters: what he knows, can do, what he likes, what he is pleased to remember and talk about.

By the end of the second stage, the child can already find and take the desired picture from a number of others, can choose a signature plate and put it under the corresponding picture. In other words, he now recognizes the right word and reads it in its entirety. In addition, the child identifies words and can write printed letters, and sometimes short words.

Other options for working with the album are also possible. So, for example, when learning a new letter, an adult and a child draw objects in the album in which this letter is at the beginning, end, or middle of the word. They then write the names of these items on separate strips of paper. A slot is made under each drawing in the album, where the child will insert inscriptions in subsequent lessons. At the bottom of the page you can glue an envelope in which these inscriptions will be stored.

The next step is for the teacher and the child to look at the objects they drew in the album, then take out the inscriptions from the envelope, after which the child must select the corresponding inscription for each picture and insert it into the slot under the picture. Then we ask the child to read the inscriptions one by one and write them again on strips of paper (i.e., we make duplicate inscriptions). And finally, we teach the child to correlate what he wrote with the inscription in the slot. The adult comments on all the child’s actions, teaches him to find mistakes in the words he wrote and correct them.

Another step is working with duplicates. In front of the child, we cut the duplicate into separate letters with scissors (it turns out to be a “scattered word”) and teach the child to assemble this word. We explain to him that each letter has its own place in the word, that if any letter is lost, it will be difficult for us to understand what word is written and what it means.

Very important point The thing to pay attention to is the difference in the pronunciation of a word and its spelling. The mother explains to the baby that many words need to be written differently from the way we pronounce them (“For example, the word “milk”, in which we write three letters “o”, is pronounced “ma-la-ko”)). In this way, we help the child pronounce the word, understand its meaning, and then remember its spelling.

Preparing a child's hand for writing. Let's now say a few words about the development of a child's graphic skills. Some children find it very difficult to hold a pen correctly and write lines and letters. They therefore need special training to prepare their hands for writing. It’s better to play out the whole activity, use game commentary for tasks, for example, “Help the mouse get to the cheese” or “Help the fish swim away from the shark”:

The child draws straight and wavy lines, draws zigzags, serpentine paths, hatches figures, traces them along the contour, connects dots, etc.

Together with the teacher, the child puts together a pattern, a house, a path, a ship, a car, a Christmas tree, a fence, from sticks. All this helps him hold a pen more confidently and acquire the necessary graphic skills for writing.

In addition, to prepare a child's hand for writing, you can use letter stencils by asking him to first trace the letter and then shade it. Working with plasticine, construction sets, and mosaics also develops a child’s hand. Together with his mother, he can sculpt letters from plasticine, clay, dough - and even lay out entire words. Well-known techniques such as finger exercises and hand massage also help develop fine motor skills.

Of course, an autistic child may not accept any of these techniques. For example, a massage may be unpleasant for him, but in this case it is not worth insisting on. If the child still “accepts” the massage, then we begin by stroking and kneading the fingers and hands, directing the massage movements from the fingertips to the elbow joint. (For more information about preparing a child’s hand for writing, see the book: Triger R.D., Vladimirova E.V., Meshcheryakova T.A. I’m learning to write. - M.: Gals-Plus, 1994.)

Another one important task, which we must solve at the second stage of work, is to teach the child to hear the sound composition of a word and be able to reproduce it, that is, convey it in writing. In other words, we teach the child to analyze the composition of a word.

Working with magnetic alphabet letters. We begin working with the magnetic alphabet at the moment when the child already understands that the written word can be read out loud, pronounced, or “voiced.” The teacher needs to prepare a story picture (it is best to choose or draw it based on the child’s interests) and discuss its content with the child (the teacher himself will tell the story, and the child can make additions). At the next lesson, the teacher places a picture in front of the child and next to it a magnetic alphabet. The teacher begins a story based on the picture, for example: “The cat wanted to eat fish. He began to get ready to go fishing. I took out my backpack and started packing it.”

Then the teacher names the objects that are drawn in the picture, or provokes the child to name them: “First the cat put ...” (points to the milk carton in the picture). – Child: “Milk.” – Teacher: “Let’s put together the word “MO-LO-KO”. Let’s take the letter “M” (takes the letter “M” from the magnetic alphabet), then “O” (takes “O”), “M” and “O” - it will be “MO”. “LO” - take “L” and “O” (the teacher takes these letters with the child’s hand or the child himself, at the request of an adult). “KO” – take “K” and “O”. It turned out “MOLO-KO”.

Thus, work on word analysis is underway.

Teacher: “What else did the cat put in? He put...” (points to sugar). – Child: “Sugar.” Then, at the request of the teacher, he puts together the word “SUGAR” from the letters of the magnetic alphabet. The teacher can help - put the letters of the word “sugar” in front of him, and the child himself will lay them out in the right sequence.

In subsequent lessons, the child must look for the necessary letters on his own, but if he has difficulties, the teacher puts the desired letter with his hand. After the word is posted, the teacher asks to read it out loud. In case of difficulties, you need to read for the child: “You got the word “sugar”.” This is how the child gets acquainted with the “sounding word” and learns to analyze it.

At this stage, the child learns to compose phrases and read whole sentences. When working on phrasal speech, you need to use your favorite children's books, fairy tales - preferably simple ones, such as “Turnip”, “Kolobok”, “Teremok”, etc. Having learned to work with them, the child transfers his experience to other books. But it happens that these fairy tales have become uninteresting to the child - then it will be easier if he himself names his favorite book.

Work on the phrase is carried out simultaneously in two directions: 1) based on materials from your favorite book; 2) using the child’s own experience.

Let's look at these areas in a little more detail.

1) The teacher prepares tablets with inscriptions reflecting the content of the text. Unlike the first two stages, it is no longer a word that is written on the sign, but a whole phrase. At first, these are five short phrases (of two or three words), then the phrases become longer and their number increases to seven to ten. The teacher tells the child a fairy tale, for example, “Teremok”, then stops, opening a suitable picture in the book: “Now we will tell you what the animals did. Here is a frog,” and he selects a sign with the phrase “Here is a frog” and places it near the picture. The following dialogue is then possible.

Teacher: “What does she have?”

Child: “Pies.” (The teacher finds a sign with the phrase “She has pies” and places it next to the previous one.)

Teacher: “Pies for whom? Probably for a mouse." (A sign with the words “Pies for the Mouse” is selected and added to the previous ones.)

Teacher: “The mouse has...”

Child: "...Broom." (A sign with the phrase “The mouse has a broom” is selected and placed with the previous ones.)

Teacher: “The mouse is sweeping...”

Child: "...Floor". (The teacher adds a sign “The mouse sweeps.”)

Thus, the child, knowing the content of the fairy tale and seeing in front of him a picture illustration for it, simultaneously hears a sample phrase and sees in what order the tablets with phrases are laid out. It will be more convenient for the child if the book with pictures lies in the upper corner of the table, and the signs are arranged in a column next to the book (but not in the order in which they should be laid out when retelling), and the lower part of the table directly in front of him is free - we are on it When composing a story, we gradually lay out the signs in a line.

In the following lessons, we ask the child to lay out these phrases independently (if necessary, the teacher suggests where the required sign is, or lays it out with the child’s hand). So the whole fairy tale is laid out on tablets with phrases. Then, when we move on to another fairy tale, the teacher mainly tells it, and the child independently works with the tablets in a way that has already been mastered. If he experiences difficulties, the teacher provides him with the necessary help.

2) At the same time, we work on the phrase, using the experience of the child himself, that is, composing stories about himself, about his life. First, the teacher and the child draw on a large piece of paper some story from the child’s life (about a walk, about how they prepared dinner for dad, or about how they bought and decorated a Christmas tree with the whole family). Everything in the picture is signed with words and in short phrases, and the teacher begins to write the phrases, and the child completes them the last word. For example, the teacher writes: “The Christmas tree was very...” - the child adds: “...beautiful.” The teacher pronounces those phrases that are being written and those that have already been written.

Then ten tablets are prepared with phrases based on the content of the picture. During the lesson, the child looks at the drawing, tells (with the help of the teacher) the story depicted and lays out the signs. For example:

Me, mom and dad went to pick up the Christmas tree.
We took the sled.
Everyone chose a Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree was very beautiful.
The Christmas tree was placed on a sled.
Dad was bringing the Christmas tree home.
The Christmas tree was placed on the floor.
Mom brought toys.
My mother and I decorated the Christmas tree.
I hung a star.

So, the work proceeds in two steps: first we create a drawing and sign it (or give this task to the mother at home), and then during the lesson we lay out signs with phrases with the child. Instead of drawings, you can use photographs in which a child bathes in a river, plays with a cat, celebrates his birthday, etc. It is useful to alternate working with a drawing and a fairy tale.

“Completing reading” in books and filmstrips. At this stage of working with an autistic child, to develop reading skills, it is convenient to use his tendency to complete unfinished things. You can sit with him on the floor or sofa and read him a story or watch a filmstrip.

When reading a fairy tale, it is advisable that the font in it be large. The adult reads the beginning of the sentence, pauses, and the child finishes reading the last word. To make it easier for him to find the right place in the book, an adult moves his finger along the text while reading. For example, the teacher reads: “The wolf wanted to eat...”, and the child finishes reading: “... fish.” To “finish reading” it is also good to use poetry (A. Barto, S. Marshak, S. Mikhalkov, K. Chukovsky). Work on filmstrips is also carried out: the adult scrolls through the film, reads the sentences and pauses at the end, and the child reads the ending.

It is important that when “finishing reading” the child hears himself and realizes his role in reading. It is still difficult to read the entire text aloud to a child - this is not necessary to demand from him. Some words may cause him difficulty, the combination of some preposition and word may also be unfamiliar to him. An adult, when he provokes a child to finish reading two or three words at the end of a phrase, must take all this into account.

In order for the child to move on to reading several words in a row, and then entire phrases, the teacher first moves his finger along the lines of the text, and then asks the child to “help”: “Now follow, please.” So we move on to alternating reading: for example, the teacher (or mother) reads two sentences, and the next two are read by the child. Then we carefully teach him to read on his own, constantly introducing playful moments into the lessons. For example, we tell the child that “today we will read for the poor hare who twisted his leg” or “today we are sailing on a ship, and you, the captain, will read in the captain’s voice.” You can fantasize: “How would you read if you were Carlson?” You can practice reading in the morning and surprise your dad in the evening; or read to your grandmother on the phone - “How happy she will be!”

It happens that a child categorically refuses to read. In such cases, he should not be scolded or forced to read, since persistent negativity towards his studies can be reinforced. You need to put off reading for a while and let yourself “miss” it. If the teacher feels that the child’s refusal is not entirely serious, you can still try to organize him to read, having first found some suitable explanation for his behavior: “Your throat is probably dry, you need to drink some water, then we will read everything right away,” or: “It’s true, now it’s only five minutes to twelve, and you and I always start reading at exactly twelve o’clock.” Maybe the child is tired of the book and needs to take another one to read.

Throughout the third stage of learning to read, work with the album continues. At the request of the mother, the child independently signs album pictures with words and short phrases. Work with the magnetic alphabet also continues. The child can gradually create phrases consisting of several words. You can play as follows: the adult makes up the beginning of the phrase, and the child finishes it. For example, the teacher lays out from the magnetic alphabet: “The bun was round...”, and the child finishes: “... and small.” Or: “The fox was red...”, and the child completes: “... and cunning.” In this case, the adult helps the child in every possible way (he can suggest a letter, take part in its search).

We continue to develop the child’s graphic skills: together we draw sticks, ovals, circles, lines, and sign the drawings in block letters. In addition, we practice shading objects and making figures out of sticks. Usually at this stage of work the child already has better control of his hand; the lines he draws turn out smoother, “softer”.

This stage involves mastering writing and counting skills. The skills previously acquired by the child are now reinforced. The material for reading, laying out words and phrases becomes more difficult. The child chooses the book himself and can ask questions about the content of the text. At the same time, two new types of work appear: 1) mastering copybooks; 2) learning to count.

Let's look at them in more detail.

1) When starting to work with copybooks, you need to remember that the child must write in them independently. This is difficult, so preliminary work is carried out on a draft. The teacher, the child himself, and the teacher can write in the rough notebook using his own hand. It must be remembered that the child may get used to the fact that the teacher writes with his hand and require constant support. Therefore, we immediately agree that we help his hand only when we practice on the draft, and only he himself writes completely in the copybooks.

Classes are conducted in the usual recipes for primary school. We monitor the child’s posture, how he holds his hand, how he sits, what position his legs are in, since the posture itself can help organize the child in classes, or, on the contrary, can relax him and distract his attention.

We master writing letters in the sequence suggested in the copybook. When we just started teaching a child to read, we first introduced him to the “most important” letters for him, i.e., those with which he most often encountered (with which his name begins, the names of loved ones, the names of necessary objects , favorite toys). When teaching an autistic child to write, this sequence may no longer be followed: after all, he already knows the letters and reads them. Now the main thing for us is to teach him to independently write in capital letters a word he has read, heard or invented by himself.

When learning a new capital letter, the teacher first shows it to the child in copybooks, and then writes it in a draft: first a large one, then a small one. After this, we ask the child to write the letters first in the draft (large and small), and then in the copybook. If the letter does not work out, you can first write it in the draft dotted. Then the child learns to write syllables and words. During the writing process, the teacher helps the child: organizes him, suggests what needs to be done, but tries to reduce hand support to a minimum. One new letter is mastered in two or three lessons, and it is written both in syllables and in combinations with letters already mastered by the child, and if possible, then in words. When mastering writing, you should not rush - you need to consolidate the skills of correctly writing letters and connecting them correctly.

If a child does not want to write in the copybook at all or writes scribbles (due to fatigue, poor health), then you should not force him to do this, thus creating negativism towards writing. If the letters come out poorly and the child is annoyed, we can “blame it” on the fact that the pen we are writing with “got naughty today.” We promise the child that next time we will write “not with this green naughty pen, but with a red excellent pen.” In order for the child to have an incentive to write, we play up his situation, saying, for example, that today we will write a letter to the child’s favorite toy, or to one of his relatives. New details must be constantly introduced into the existing stereotype of an activity, creating variety. These seemingly little things actually regulate the child’s behavior.

2) The basis for teaching an autistic child to count is a method similar to “global reading”. The teacher prepares a set of cards with numbers: numbers are written on paper squares on top, and their names (in words) below:

In addition, we will need cards with images of objects in different quantities(one apple, two cherries, three boats):

First, we introduce the child to numbers within ten. The teacher lays out pictures with images of objects to the left of the child, and to the right of him - a number row. Then he takes a picture with the image of one nut, commenting: “This is one nut,” and puts a card with a number under it. The same is true for other numbers. In subsequent classes, we practice this manipulation either with the child’s hands, or he does it himself according to the teacher’s instructions.

Next, we remove pictures with images of objects and instead use counting sticks, chips, and cardboard figures. The child, at the request of the teacher, takes the desired number and places the same number of chips or sticks next to it. The teacher, as it were, “voices” the child’s actions: “I took the number three and put three sticks,” and then asks the child to independently count the number of objects and name the corresponding number. It is important that the child understands that, for example, the number “1” can mean one stick, one car, and one cup. Numbers are written in a large squared notebook, and the corresponding number of objects is drawn next to them.

Children really like it when they are asked riddles like: “How many sticks are in my hand?” or “How many fish did I draw?” We explain to the child that ten objects can be called a ten (“ten sticks are a ten”).

Then we introduce the child to mathematical signs: “+”, “-”, “=”. This is done using signs that show these signs and their names below. When we explain to a child the meaning of signs, we always do it with examples, due to specific task so that the child learns mathematical operations not only formally, but also understands their content and practical meaning. Therefore, for example, we tell a child that if we add one more apple to one, we will get two apples (and not “equal to two apples”).

We teach counting using objects (toys, chips, figurines) or pictures with their images. For example, the teacher places in front of the child a picture with the image of one mushroom, and next to it a card with a “+” sign, saying: “Look, you and I have one mushroom. I put another one. Will … ". If the child does not answer, the teacher says: “There will be two mushrooms. I'll add one more mushroom. Will … ". By adding one mushroom at a time, we reach 10, and then we try to master subtraction: “There were 10 mushrooms, we ate one. Left… That’s right, nine mushrooms.” It is essential that the teacher teaches the action in both objective and symbolic form and pronounces all the actions performed together with the child.

Practice with counting sticks is also useful. The teacher asks the child to build a fence. The child puts down one stick, another one, then the next one, etc., counting them as he does so. Then the “wind blows” and the fence gradually “breaks”: first they remove one stick, then another, etc. It is also worth making with your child a model of the natural series in the interval from zero to ten in the form of, for example, a ladder with ten steps:

Such a ladder allows the child to grasp the order of constructing the natural series (the fact that each number is one more than the previous one).

Then we introduce him to the composition of the number. To do this, we make a house out of sticks or a construction set on the plane of the table, in the window of which we put the number “2”. We lay out cards near the house:

We play out this situation: “Two people live in a house - grandparents.”

When we repeat the same actions with the number “3”, then, in order to beat the new situation, we comment: “A child and two adults live in the house. Just three." At the same time, next to the house we lay out the following cards:

So we go through the composition of all numbers up to 10. In a large-squared notebook, you can ask the child to draw the following:

Studying the composition of a number is very important so that in the future the child understands the meaning of arithmetic operations, therefore, if you cannot master this topic “on the fly,” you should analyze it in detail, using visual material. You can use sets of sticks, wooden figurines (Christmas trees, houses, mushrooms), sets geometric shapes(squares, circles, rectangles, triangles).

The teacher asks the child to sort a certain number of objects into two groups. For example, if the composition of the number “5” is being studied, the child places five apples on two plates. The teacher asks the child to arrange a given number of objects different ways. New concepts are introduced into the child’s vocabulary: “arrange,” “arrange differently.” Then the teacher explains to the child that 5 is 3 and 2; 5 is 4 and 1. The child, at the request of the teacher, first lays out these examples using pre-prepared cards with the inscriptions: “5”, “this”, “3”, “and”, “2”; “5”, “this”, “4”, “and”, “1”. After a few lessons, the sign with the word “this” is replaced by a sign with the sign “=”, and the sign with “and” is replaced with “+”. When the child has mastered laying out these examples, we teach him to write them down in a large square in his math notebook. Next to the example you can draw a picture:

It is important that the child learns to lay out different materials, since autistic children tend to approach tasks in a stereotypical manner, requiring the use of the same objects (for example, only apples and plates) and not completing the task on others. Therefore, we ask the child to either arrange gifts for two children, then carrots for two hares, then put toy cars in two garages, then arrange cups on two shelves, etc. This is how we consistently master with the child the composition of all numbers up to ten.

At the next stage of work, the teacher introduces the child to the concept of “add to...” and teaches how to add to a given number of objects what is missing up to a given number. You can act out a “treat for toys”: the teacher offers to distribute, for example, four candies to the “guest” toys, while there are six toys. The child treats his “guests” and realizes that there is not enough candy. The teacher explains: “There are many guests, but there are few sweets, not enough. Need to add. How much will you add? If the child gives the correct answer, the teacher can, together with him, lay out the resulting example from the tablets (for which signs are prepared with the inscriptions “MUST ADD ...”, “WILL ADD TO ...” and tablets with numbers). Then in a notebook the child writes down relevant examples, such as: 6=4+2. Or you can draw five castles " in and three keys and ask the child to add the required number of keys. In a notebook, the child writes down relevant examples, say, like this:

If a child makes a mistake, then you need to ask him to complete a task using subject material. For example, the teacher shows the child two bags (envelopes, boxes) and says that he put eight cubes in two bags. The child must guess how many cubes are in each bag.

Next we move on to solving examples and problems within ten. For this purpose, a counting set of plastic or wooden numbers is used. We lay out on the table in front of the child: 1 + 1 - and ask him to put down the answer number. Then we put: 1 + 2, 2 + 2, etc. If the child makes a mistake, the teacher verbally repeats the example again and waits for the child’s answer. If he doesn’t answer, you need to encourage him: “Well, of course, there will be four, you forgot a little.” At the same time, we practice writing numbers in a notebook, and later we teach the child to correctly write down examples and answers. In your notebook you can offer the following tasks:

Let us give examples of two tasks.

1) The bunny has four carrots:

Of these he ate two carrots:

How many carrots are left?

2) Each tree should have eight branches. How many branches need to be drawn?

We introduce the child to the signs “=”, “>”, “<». Учим его сравнивать два числа и узнавать, на сколько одно число больше или меньше другого. Например, пять больше трех на два. Чтобы это установить, нужно из пяти вычесть три. Для того чтобы ребенку было легче усвоить сравнение двух чисел, мы соотносим одно количество предметов с другим (четыре пирамидки и три пирамидки). В тетради записываем примеры на сравнение:

So, we taught the child to operate with numbers, perform simple arithmetic operations, and solve problems, i.e. the child has mastered the skills of counting within ten. Next, we can introduce him to his second, third, fourth, and fifth decades, using the work methods we have already described.

We described our version of mastering primary school skills with an autistic child. Each teacher can complement it and creatively develop it. We saw our task primarily as identifying the difficulties characteristic of teaching autistic children and showing ways to overcome them. For example, when working with autistic children, we usually rely on the principle “from the general to the specific, from the whole to the part.” In addition, for the successful education of such children, it is necessary to take into account their own interests, play out tasks, constant commentary on all our actions, and the absence of coercion or “pressure.” We believe that all autistic children are teachable and have a great need for learning, and although this often requires a lot of time and patience on the part of adults, such children can achieve wonderful results, surprising and delighting us.

When we started working with Lera, she was five years old. The girl was very detached and passive, did not react at all to speech addressed to her, and she also did not have her own speech. Lera did not pay attention to her mother’s departure and arrival, did not look at her, and calmly remained without her. The girl generally did not have a sufficient reaction to living things; she could often use a person as an object (for example, as a support to climb up, or as a “device” to get the desired object). She didn’t look at his face, avoided looking him in the eyes. Lera did not fulfill the requests, but allowed herself to be passively led by the hand. The girl really liked music; she could spend the whole day wearing headphones, listening to tape recordings. Her only speech manifestations were songs in her own “bird” language, in which the motive of famous pop songs was guessed, but only Lera’s mother could make out individual words similar to “real” ones. Sometimes the girl moved to the music in front of the mirror or danced with her own shadow.

Entering the study room, Lera, as a rule, sat down at the table and began sorting felt-tip pens or magnetic alphabet letters by color. Another favorite pastime of hers was cutting out pictures from magazines and pasting them onto paper. Together with the teacher, Lera happily smeared plasticine on a board or cardboard.

At some point we noticed that she was very sensitive to rhythm (musical, color, speech, motor). The rhythm attracted her attention, she “immersed” herself in it, enjoying it. Of course, we immediately tried to use this in our work. It all started with a swing, when the rhythm of movement was superimposed on the rhythm of a poem, phrase, song that the teacher sang. Lera looked carefully at the teacher’s mouth and tried to repeat the movements of her mouth, sometimes reproducing the melody.

Using Lerino's passion for color rhythms (the girl loved to sort small objects by color, down to shades), we tried to interest her in drawing. At first, the teacher depicted different color patterns, rhythmically combining colors in different combinations. The girl was ready to watch what was happening for hours, immersing herself in the magic of the pattern. Almost always the teacher accompanied her drawing with some melodic song. Gradually Lera began to sing along, and in this situation, sometimes very indistinctly, but still reproduced the words of the song. We had several favorite songs, and Lera quickly learned them from beginning to end.

Drawing became our favorite pastime; at home, the girl also began to draw with her mother. We depicted various shapes and colored them rhythmically, then we began to draw various objects: houses, flowers, trees and, finally, we moved on to people. The main characters in our drawings were Lera herself, her mother, and father. The subjects were very different, and she drew, brightly colored and signed the pictures and commented on what was happening, so far only as a teacher. Sometimes the teacher’s hand “froze” while coloring, and Lera, unable to bear the pause, took this hand holding a felt-tip pen and tried to manipulate it, painting the drawing further or finishing the line. When the teacher’s hand “didn’t dare” to choose any felt-tip pen by color, Lera herself put the appropriate one into this hand. So the girl began to show the first signs of purposeful activity.

Sometimes the teacher’s hand “stopped listening,” and Lera wanted to continue drawing so much that we managed to switch roles. Now the teacher manipulated the girl’s hand holding a felt-tip pen. Lera allowed her to draw anything with her hand, and even sign the drawings (characters and objects were designated with separate words). If the girl was in a bad mood, we returned to the previous stage, when she was only a spectator. (It was always felt whether Lera was ready to enter the “field of activity” of the teacher and obey him or not.) Gradually we developed stereotypes of drawings and letters (it was important for the girl to learn, first of all, the sequence of movements necessary to draw an object or write a letter) . This gave Lera the opportunity to show her inner activity. The teacher’s hand no longer guided the girl’s hand, but simply lay on top. So Lera began to draw and write on her own (of course, only those drawings and words that had already been drawn and spelled out “a million times”).

While drawing, we began to tell fairy tales, “live” different scenes from Lera’s life, get acquainted with the seasons, holidays, etc. We have already begun to sign our drawings with short phrases. At home, Lera’s mother continued this work, following the teacher’s recommendations; the only difference was that Lera and her mother had different subjects for their drawings: “How Lera walked and splashed through puddles”, “How Lera and her mother went to a kiosk to buy chewing gum”, etc. In classes we gradually began to introduce our drawings of numbers, master counting.

...Joint drawing is convenient because it allows you to work on the development of motor skills, speech, and gradually practice elements of educational skills. In addition, such activities give the child the opportunity to alternate passive perception with active action...

At the same time, work was going on with the girl’s speech activity. She bought more " greater intensity also due to the fact that Lera’s parents conducted holding therapy with her. Both at home and in classes with the teacher, Lera began to repeat rhythmic phrases, songs, and then just phrases and words. It is interesting that in this case, work on disinhibiting speech and learning to draw, read and write went on simultaneously, helping each other.

Now, a year and a half later, work with the girl continues. We work a lot with the mirror. We look at Lera there, and then draw a large portrait of her (what are her eyes? nose? mouth? ears?). Lera can already name the parts of her face in the drawing herself, without repeating after the teacher. We began to depict the surrounding objects, carefully comparing the amount of detail and color. Lera herself chooses the necessary felt-tip pen, draws the objects herself (although the teacher’s hand, as a rule, continues to lie on Lera’s hand, but no longer controls it at all). Sometimes, if Lera is in a bad mood, she may refuse any activities; she does not want to read, write, count, or listen to books read. But we take this calmly, and when this happens, we return to “passive perception”, without requiring activity from the girl, or we come up with new forms of work, for example, we draw letters and words on cards that look like maps. Lera loves the last activity very much - she then does not part with these cards for a long time, constantly sorting through them.

Lera began to observe the children, which we immediately used in our work: we began to introduce her to group training sessions, in the hope that the girl would be interested in doing something by imitation, but without requiring her independent, purposeful activity for now.

At home with her mother, Lera learns new poems and songs, listens and finishes (during the pauses that her mother leaves her) short stories and fairy tales. My favorites are still “stories about Lera,” which the mother writes and draws together with the girl. There are a lot of such stories now, and they became especially varied after the summer holidays (“How Lera swam with a dolphin,” “Train Ride,” etc.). Now Lera is already listening to fairy tales with continuations: “The Adventures of Dunno”, “Thumbelina”. She often asks her mother to draw illustrations for these fairy tales, and she wants them to be exactly the same as in the book. Spontaneous appeals appeared in Lera’s speech, although quite often her mother needs to specifically ask her: “Tell me what you want?” Then Lera answers her, but, as a rule, very quietly.

And the most important thing is that now, after a year and a half, we can already see Lera’s desire to communicate with adults, with children, we see that she has begun to use speech, that she has become active in classes, especially in music, dance, and drawing lessons.

Agrammatism– violation of the grammatical structure of oral or written speech.

Activation- awakening activity.

Alalia- the absence or limitation of the ability to use speech, which arose before the time of its natural appearance and is not caused by hearing or intellectual impairment.

Amimic– completely or partially devoid of facial expressions.

Autostimulation(lit. self-irritation) – persistent stereotypical extraction of sensory sensations with the help of surrounding objects and one’s body.

Affect– an innate, elementary, pre-cultural form of experience. Every mental phenomenon has two aspects: intellectual and affective.

Verbal– verbal; having a verbal form.

Vestibular sensations– sensations associated with changes in body position in space.

Vital- associated with the preservation of life.

Vocalization- seemingly incoherent pronunciation or singing of individual sounds and syllables.

Generalized– not aimed at anything specific; of a general nature.

Overdiagnosis– “exaggerated” diagnosis, i.e. interpretation of individual alarming development trends as an established pathology.

Overcompensation– pathological-looking behavior of a child aimed at replenishing (compensating) for his missing qualities.

Hospitalism– caused by a chronic lack of communication (for example, due to a long stay in a hospital setting), a temporary change in the mental state and behavior of the child, expressed in symptoms similar to those of autism.

Deprivation(lit. deprivation) – a mental state that arises as a result of prolonged dissatisfaction of basic mental needs.

Scarcity– insufficiency.

Dysontogenesis– violation of individual development.

Cognitive– relating to cognition or the intellectual sphere in general.

Communication– communication in any form.

Compensatory– replenishing.

Mechanical movements– lack of smoothness of movements combined with their stereotypicality.

Mutism– a complete absence of purposeful speech communication with the possibility of accidentally pronouncing individual words or even phrases.

Unarticulated- unclearness, blurredness (of speech).

Neurotic– caused by neurosis (i.e., a mental disorder caused by an external traumatic influence).

Negativism- resistance without reasonable grounds.

Neuroinfection- an infection that affects the nervous system. Neuroinfection causes, for example, encephalitis.

Partial– partial, relating to a limited area.

Pathogenic– pathogenic.

Pervasive– all-pervasive.

Field behavior- the child’s unconscious behavior, determined by objects that accidentally appear in his field of perception.

Arbitrary(in relation to attention, behavior, etc.) – consciously regulated, aimed at achieving a specific goal.

Psychodrama- reproduction of an impression similar to a traumatic one, with a gradual build-up of tension, a climax and a successful resolution at the end.

Sensitivity– increased sensitivity.

Sensory- related to the sense organs.

Sensorimotor– combining sensory and motor (motor) qualities.

Symbiosis- joint inseparable existence.

Symbiotic connection– a symbiotic relationship that does not involve meaningful communication and emotional interaction.

Chants– accentuation of individual syllables and words with stress and intonation.

Somatic– bodily; relating to the body.

Stereotyping– transformation into a stereotypical form.

Stereotypes– stable forms of monotonous actions.

Tactile– relating to sensations of touch and pressure.

Etiology– causes of illness or developmental disorder.

Echolalia– involuntary repetition of sounds, syllables, words of someone else’s speech.

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