| Abstract [eng] |
Sensory integration is critical to a person’s quality of life, especially recently when professionals and parents are often confronted with children with autism spectrum disorders, which are characterized by sensory specialties. During speech therapist's assistance it is significant that therapist would take into account sensory peculiarities for every autistic child and then appropriate assistance methods would be selected. The object of this thesis is the peculiarities of sensory information processing and language development interfaces for children who have autism spectrum disorders and receive speech therapist assistance. The aim of this thesis is to reveal sensory links between information processing features and the development and education of language, speech and communication by providing assistance to children with autism spectrum disorders. The study was conducted using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. A case study was chosen for the qualitative study. There was an analysis of secondary data, PPT documents for the assessment of autistic children and a questionnaire survey of 7 children's parents and speech therapists, focusing on the child's capabilities, difficulties, sensory peculiarities. The method of questionnaire survey was used in the quantitative research. The questionnaire was developed on the basis of the “Checklist of Sensory Process Disorders: Signs and Symptoms of Dysfunction”. Parents of children with autistic spectrum disorder and speech therapists were asked to fill the questionnaire which is compiled of the following key structural parts: 1. Demographics. 2. How children with autism spectrum features process sensory information. 3. Child's language, speaking and communication skills and development. It has been found that the proper processing of sensory information consists of various environmental stimuli and contributes to high-quality personal functioning. In sensory integration difficulties, children often avoid certain stimuli, activities, environments, or vice versa, that result in unusual sensory experiences. In the conducted study it was observed that parents and speech therapists emphasize similar sensory tendencies for tactile, vestibular, and taste sensations. Furthermore it was observed that sensory peculiarities are not reflected in the documents of pedagogical psychological services, which present the conclusion and recommendations of the child's assessment. Research shows that speech therapists combine language and sensorial integration techniques interdependently, depending on the needs of the child during the exercise. |
