Magutina A.A. Applying Alternative Means of Communication When Teaching Communication to Children with Limited Health Abilities

Abstract: The author of the present article views one of the most important issues of special pedagogics, i.e. teaching communication to children with limited health abilities. The rationale of the present article is caused by the fact that today there is a growing number of children with such development disorders when they either have no speech or have serious speech impediments. It is difficult to work with such children because both children and adults working with them cannot really understand each other. Therefore, the subject of the present research is the process of developing speech skills using alternative means of communication. In her research Magutina provides a brief review of alternative means of communication that are used in the course of correctional activities with children suffering from limited health abilities. Based on the analysis of a particular case, the author also reveals aspects of practical activity aimed at teaching speech skills to children with serious speech impediments. The author bases her research on the provisions and researches of such Russian scientists as L. S. Vygotsky, A. A. Leontiev, G. L. Zaytsev, L. B. Baryaeva, and such foreign authors as J. Van Dyke, Glenn Doman, Margaret Yalker, etc. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author attempts to combine various means of alternative communication in the process of practical work with children who suffer from serious speech impediments. The author's approach allows both to achieve positive results because it takes into account individual abilities of each child and to use this or that mean of alternative communication with others. The main conclusions of the present research are as follows: when teaching children with serious speech impediments whose communication is either difficult or impossible for certain reasons, it is necessary to use alternative means of commnication; alternative means of commnication allows such children to adjust to the time and changing activities and acts as an additional means of communication; it is necessary to allow a child to choose a certain alternative means of communication taking into account his developmental peculiarities; and combination of several means of alternative communication unables a child to develop his speech abilities at different levels of the language system.

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