TRAINING OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION TO WORK WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDERS

The article reveals the specifics of training future specialists in special education for training, education and development of children with autism spectrum disorders. It has been determined that autism is formulated as a complex disorder that affects a person's social interaction, communication, and behavior. Its main feature is the absence or limited ability to establish interpersonal contacts and interact with peers and adults. An important problem today is the training of pedagogical personnel to work with this category of children. The purpose of the article is to clarify the specifics of training future special education specialists to work with children with ASD. The task of the research: to find out the specifics of the training of students of higher education in the specialty 016 Special education to work with children with ASD, to reveal individual innovative teaching methods in the process of studying the discipline "Psychological and pedagogical support of children with autism spectrum disorders in the educational space". The research methods were analysis, synthesis, observation, and generalization. It is noted that the training of future special education specialists to work with children with special educational needs is carried out comprehensively, taking into account various nosologies. In the educational process for the bachelor's degree, a significant part of the credits is assigned to the mastery of the discipline "Psychological and pedagogical support of children with disorders of the autistic spectrum in the educational space." An educational environment for the professional training of future specialists in special education to work with children with special needs has been created, which includes: lecture-practical classes, pedagogical practice, work in a scientific group, etc. A description of individual components has been carried out. The lecture-practical course is aimed at the formation of integral, general and special (professional) competences. Emphasis is placed on lectures involving the use of innovative teaching methods. The method of visualization became the basis of conducting a traditional lecture, a lecture "together", a lecture-reflection, etc. Students' independent work included search and research activities, with the implementation of projects of various types. It was found that the use of interactive learning technologies in practical, seminar classes makes it possible to unite students in groups and cover a significant part of tasks. Among the innovative methods: creation of mental maps, "search for information", "own position", "pedagogical chain". It is noted that those seeking higher education learn modern technologies and methods of working with children with ASD: ABA (based on the principle of strengthening desirable behavior and excluding undesirable behavior through the use of positive and negative reinforcers); TEACCH (use of icons, visual aids, structuring of the child's environment); sensory integration (improvement of sensory information processing and reduction of hyper- or hyposensitivity) etc.