VERBAL AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION OF STUDENTS WITH SEVERE AND PROFOUND DISABILITIES

The article aims to study ways of achieving human rights by offering everyone a voice, a communicational tool which will allow accessibility and access to quality education for all, regardless of the degree of disability. The main objective of the present study was to describe the profile of communication and study the use of verbal and nonverbal language at students with severe and profound disabilities. The research was conducted on a group of 60 students with severe and profound disabilities, aged 9-15 years old. The proposed objectives were to identify the level of development of verbal language to students with severe and profound disabilities; to highlight arguments justifying the need to use non-verbal communication, to identify the strengths and resources of students; to identify the presence, frequency of nonverbal communication, the palette of manifestations, all ways of expression of students with disabilities. The methodology used was a mixture of observation, communicational scales, case study and correlation analysis. Nonverbal communication mostly consists of behavioral manifestations of meeting some basic needs as receiving water, food, and pause. Lack of alternative ways of providing effective communication and social adequate tools of understanding and participating will lead to undesirable, provocative, and socially inadequate behavior.