Lecture
The educational and cognitive activity of a person with special educational needs is not always possible or effective when traditional means are used. Therefore, specific means of instruction and upbringing must be applied.
The means of instruction must correspond to the principles of special education. In this connection, the value of using one means or another
is determined by how far it makes learning maximally
accessible and manageable for the students.
The teacher's word is a means of conveying knowledge to students. The speech
of a teacher-defectologist is subject to special requirements. Speech must sound intelligible, clear, and natural. A teacher at special educational institutions must possess a high culture of speech.
The use of musical means of upbringing has become widespread in the system of special education. In all types
of educational institutions, both during and outside of class time,
there exist various forms of organizing work with children, based on
the use of a variety of musical means.
Visual-art means serve not only as a rich source of knowledge about the surrounding reality, about the world of colors and images,
but also as a way of expressing one's feelings, impressions, and emotions, of one's
inner world.
Handicraft, as a form of decorative and applied art, develops
motor skills and coordination of movement, forms work skills, introduces children to the culture and art of their people, region, and country, and acquaints them with the art
of artistic crafts, broadening their outlook and vocabulary.
Artistic-speech activity helps children with disorders improve their speech skills, overcome fear and insecurity in using speech, develops the ability to feel the beauty of language and of the poetic and literary word, spiritually enriches children, and arouses their interest in literary reading.
Theatrical-play activity. The main language of theatrical
art is action; its chief features are dialogue and play. Introduction to
the world of theatre makes it possible to cultivate positive personal qualities,
moral and ethical foundations, and to develop mental functions (attention, imagination, speech, memory).
The use of the arts promotes the correction and compensation of developmental disorders, the activation of cognitive interests,
introduction to spiritual culture, mastery of various forms of social
life, and, ultimately, the social adaptation of a person with disabilities, their active participation in social, cultural, and leisure activities within the social environment.
In the special-education process, a wide variety of printed material is widely used: books, manuals, journals, workbooks, with a special role belonging to textbooks.
Textbooks published for various categories of children with developmental disorders have their own specifics. Their content and structure are modified depending on the nature and severity of the disorders in
the students, their age, and the nature of the subject.
In the process of special education, visual teaching aids are widely used. In selecting them, one should strive for the naturalness of the objects and items offered for observation and study;
ensure a visually active nature of familiarization and study
using all preserved analyzers, including touch, smell, and taste. Perceived sensory-visual images and features
of objects and phenomena must be reinforced in words. For most
categories of children with developmental disorders, mastering speech presents great difficulty, so quite often in the practice of special
education, means of verbal visualization are used: notes made on the board; a vocabulary list, diagrams of speech utterances placed on
a flannel board or felt board.
Technical teaching aids (TSO) have become fairly widespread in the system of special education. Their use plays
an important role in correcting and compensating for children's developmental deficits.
In organizing the correctional-educational process, a variety of audiovisual means are used: films, filmstrips, opaque-projector slides, transparencies, multimedia tools, etc.;
as well as means that correct manifestations of the defect: sound-amplifying
equipment for individual and collective use (in teaching persons with hearing impairment), magnifying glasses, eyeglasses, monoculars and binoculars, needle-threading devices, canes to enable independent movement (for persons with visual impairment).
Static screen aids (diagrams, drawings, blueprints, transparencies, etc.), shown using a variety of projection
equipment, are used to activate students' perception of learning material.
In the practice of teaching children with developmental peculiarities, a variety of audiovisual means and computer
programs are used. Visualization (the ability to see) of speech, made possible by the use of technical devices that convert incoming
speech signals into various kinds of images: dynamic
graphs, articulation profiles, etc., makes it possible not only to determine the nature of the defect but also to use this equipment for practicing correct pronunciation.
Computer tools can be used for more effective
development of reading and writing skills, and for teaching mathematics and a foreign
language.
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