THE USE OF HORTICULTURAL THERAPY IN WORK WITH CHILDREN AND YOUTH WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

The article reveals the problem of social support for children and young people with special educational needs. The necessity of application of horticultural therapy as a special direction of psychosocial, labor and pedagogical rehabilitation of children and young people with special educational needs by involving them in work with plants is substantiated. It is proved that the use of horticultural therapy makes it possible to effectively implement the process of rehabilitation and adaptation of children and teenagers with special educational needs, to provide social assistance to the family raising such children, to reveal additional possibilities of the child’s personality through his interaction with the plant world, to enrich child’s social and adaptive experience, to develop the emotional and volitional sphere. The technology is based on the child's interaction with nature as a process of constant empathy and complicity.Working with plants, a child feels this tiny part of the beautiful nature. By taking care of flowers, children overcome their isolation, insecurity and simply enjoy life. This very moment is very important in rehabilitation.The foreign experience of using horticultural therapy is analyzed. On the basis of the theoretical analysis of foreign and domestic works horticultural therapy is justified as an effective technology in working with children and young people with special educational needs.The main indicators of the effectiveness of the technology are: improvement of somatic and psychoneurological health; increasing level of cognitive activity, formation and development of communication skills; improvement of motor skills; formation of basic knowledge and skills of caring for indoor and garden plants in children; increasing level of parental competence in building effective interaction with the child.Using horticultural therapy technology in the process of working with children and youth with special educational needs provides correction and development of fine motor skills, cognitive, emotional-volitional and personal spheres; promotes the social status of children with special educational needs by including them in socially useful activities; promotes the all-round harmonious development of children and youth, stabilizes their psychological state, further helps them to realize themselves in society. Keywords: horticultural therapy, children and youth, special educational needs, social support, rehabilitation, technology, socialization, adaptation.