Literacy of children with autism spectrum disorder with associated mental disabilities: a case study

V magistrski nalogi smo se osredotočili na razvijanje sporazumevanja pri otrocih z motnjo avtističnega spektra s pridruženo motnjo v duševnem razvoju. Želeli smo ugotoviti učinkovitost pomoči pri sporazumevanju otrok, ki so vključeni v individualiziran program knjižničarstva, ki se izvaja v posebnem programu vzgoje in izobraževanja v ZUDV Dornava. V teoretičnem delu so predstavljeni pojmi sporazumevanje, opismenjevanje, motnja avtističnega spektra, motnja v duševnem razvoju. V empiričnem delu sta predstavljeni kvantitativna in kvalitativna raziskava o razvijanju predopismenjevalnih in opismenjevalnih zmožnostih pri otrocih z MAS z motnjo v duševnem razvoju. V kvantitativni raziskavi so sodelovali trije otroci, ki obiskujejo posebni program vzgoje in izobraževanja. Z različnimi metodami in oblikami dela smo z njimi načrtno razvijali posamezna področja, kot so poznavanje črk, fonološko zavedanje, orientacija in grafomotorika, interes za branje/poslušanje, sposobnost predvidevanja, saj je potreba po sporazumevanju z drugimi ena osnovnih človekovih potreb. Sposobnosti izražanja potreb in želja, zahtevanja pomoči, odzivanja na pogovor drugih so pomembne pri vseh, saj nam dajejo možnost, da obvladamo svoje okolje, in so sredstvo, da se iz okolja čim več naučimo. V kvalitativni raziskavi je sodelovalo šest učiteljic, ki s temi učenci vsakodnevno delajo. Zanimalo nas je, kako poteka njihova verbalna komunikacija, katere metode in oblike dela pri svojem delu uporabljajo, katero vrsto pomoči najpogosteje uporabijo, kaj menijo o individualiziranem programu knjižničarstvo, ki otrokom omogoča dodatno razvijanje sporazumevalnih veščin. Rezultati analize so pokazali, da so učenci z načrtnim in s strukturiranim, ponavljajočim se delom napredovali. Intervjuvanke so potrdile, da je individualiziran program kakovosten in učencem pomaga pri boljšem sporazumevanju z okoljem.In the master\u27s thesis, we focused on developing communication in children with autism spectrum disorder with associated mental disability. We wanted to determine the effectiveness of helping children who are included in the individualized librarianship program, which is implemented in the special education program at the Institute for the Education Work and Care, to learn how to communicate. The theoretical part presents the concepts of communication, literacy, autism spectrum disorder and mental disability. The empirical part presents a quantitative and qualitative research on the development of pre-literacy and literacy skills in children with autism spectrum disorder with mental disabilities. The quantitative research involved three children attending a special education program. With various methods and forms of work, we systematically developed individual areas with them, such as letter knowledge, phonological awareness, orientation and graphomotor skills, interest in reading/listening, the ability to anticipate, as the need to communicate with others is one of the basic human needs. The ability to express needs and desires to ask for help, to respond to the conversation of others is important for everyone, as it gives us the opportunity to master our environment and represents a way to learn as much as possible from the environment. Six teachers who work with these students on a daily basis participated in the qualitative research. We were interested in how their verbal communication takes place, what methods and forms of work they use in their work, what kind of help they most often use, and what they think about the individualized librarianship program that allows children to further develop communication skills. The results of the analysis showed that students progressed through planned and structured, repetitive work. The interviewees confirmed that the individualized program is of high quality and helps students improve their communication with the environment