Speech and language are not only means of communication for schoolchildren, but also a way for children to comprehend and understand knowledge acquired during the education process and through adulthood. Unless proper educational approaches are utilised by teachers, speech therapists, and, of course, parents, children suffering from speech and language disorders may often experience difficulties and obstacles in comprehending the knowledge they have acquired, and establishing meaningful peer relations. As a result, children suffering from speech and language disorders require that their learning environment (the institution, the learning process, and the grading system) be adapted to meet their specific needs. The key person in establishing changes in the classroom is the teacher. For this reason, this thesis focuses on the approaches taken by elementary school teachers in dealing with children with speech and language disorders. Given the theme of the thesis, the theoretical section roughly outlines the concepts of integration and inclusion, the differences between them, and a short description of how inclusion is reflected in the educational process. We also describe the relevance of social integration for persons with special needs, including children with speech and language disorders. The next steps are defining persons with special needs, and defining speech and language disorders, where emphasis is put solely on the disorders appearing most often in the schooling process with children who have been officially recognised by the state as suffering from speech and language disorders. The thesis also exposes the significance of individually oriented programs, additional assistance from speech therapists, and the role played by cooperation between the parents and speech therapists in contact with the child. The survey performed included 40 elementary school teachers from the Koroška region teaching the first period, from the first to the fifth grade. The aim of the thesis is to establish how primary school teachers approach pupils with speech and language disorders and pupils with special needs already included in a specialised programme and receiving additional help. The research focused on gaining insight into how teachers cooperate with pupils, speech therapists, and the parents of pupils with speech and language disorders, and which methods, forms, and special work practises are being considered when dealing with pupils with these types of disorders and deficiencies. We believe that the information gathered will serve as a guideline in improving the success of the cooperation with teachers, and give the ability to better guide their efforts in working with these pupils in the future. The survey was conducted in the form of a questionnaire, and the results are presented with descriptive statistics in the empirical part of the thesis. Our survey has revealed that teachers tend to adapt their methods of preparing and managing their classes, that they put care into making sure their pupils are not late to class, and that they make up for the material that they have missed while attending their individual speech therapy courses. We were able to determine that teachers are more likely to cooperate with parents of children with speech and language disorders. The survey also reveals that teachers are actively involved in preparing and evaluating individually oriented programs, and that they benefit from actively working with speech therapists in better understanding pupils with speech and language disorders. As a result, these pupils then receive a more suitable treatment in class, and find it easier to comprehend and express the material covered. All respondents indicated that the pupils with speech and language disorders are able to cope with the demands of the curricula, and are well received by their classmates. One of the concerns expressed by the respondents was the insufficient amount of time that speech therapists are present, suggesting that that each school should have one on staff, or that one could be present at the school several times a week. This would enable teachers to be in contact with the specialists more often in order to exchange opinions or point out difficulties in teaching pupils with speech and language disorders. Teachers have pointed out the lack of knowledge and experience and the acquisition thereof as one of the difficulties in teaching and adapting the education process.
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