Involvement of students with special educational needs in extracurricular activities
On 20 April 2021 we conducted the second workshop on the project with 14-year-old students from “St. Paisii Hilendarski” Secondary School, Plovdiv. It took place in a classroom at the school. The workshop was attended by students with special educational needs, including children with autism spectrum disorders.
At the beginning, Ms. Ikimova and Ms. Grudeva recalled the goals and the objectives of the project. Then the workshop began. The students had to prepare materials for the Easter charity school bazaar. The students with special educational needs got involved with great interest and desire. Their task was to draw pictures and color Easter eggs. They participated together with the other students in that extracurricular activity, constantly receiving the support of their classmates. We met our expectations, as the joint work gave excellent results. The children with special educational needs felt part of the whole class, communicating, discussing their ideas (as far as possible) and visibly having fun. If any of them deviated from the task, other students from the class drew their attention to the activity. The working atmosphere was calm and pleasant.
That showed us that the inclusion process was successful, which increased the possibility of students with special educational needs to achieve the necessary social progress.
All activities were carried out in accordance with the preventive measures against the spread of Kovid – 19.