Tools of teaching a foreign language to children with autism

The paper deals with the problems of searching for the effective tools of teaching English to children with autism spectrum disorder. Today, one of the biggest challenges is the introduction of inclusive education to Russian schools. According to the new social realia and Federal State Educational Standard requirements, researches conducted in this field of teaching methods are of high relevance. English teachers lack theoretical knowledge and practical skills of how to teach students with ASD in a general school environment. The paper aim is to design a set of exercises adapted for teaching the special schoolchildren and to test their effectiveness in some English skills formation. Among the research methods applied we should highlight the following: study, analysis, and critical review of the research papers in the methods of foreign languages teaching, pedagogics and psychological fields; observation of the student, testing, data collection and analysis were used as empirical methods. In the literature review part, the study of the works of Russian and foreign scholars has shown that the use of methods, techniques and tools applied in the classroom should be correlated with the mental characteristics of children with ASD. Moreover, the adapted exercises are supposed to teach autistic students some foreign language skills and awake their interest to learning the subject. The research results are presented in a designed series of exercises to teach elementary-school students with ASD English skills. The tasks were tested while teaching English to a student of School No. 74 named after the Hero of the Soviet Union V.P. Kudashov in Togliatti. The effectiveness of the materials and the correctness of the methods chosen were proved. The research results can be used in theory and practice of teaching English; EFL teachers can introduce the designed exercises in class at the elementary school level.