Keywords: adaptive physical education (APE), cross-country skiing, intellectual disabilities (ID).

Introduction. The scientific relevance of applying a sports-specific approach in APE for schoolchildren with intellectual disabilities is based on the premise that the content, means, and organizational forms of the educational process should not only be adapted to the special educational needs of the students but also structured around the holistic mastery of an accessible type of motor activity [1]. Unlike the fragmented use of individual exercises, the sports-specific approach allows building instruction based on a specific sport, which enhances the systematicity, attractiveness, and pedagogical effectiveness of the entire adaptive physical education process [1, 2]. Cross-country skiing is an accessible means of APE.

Objective of the study: to determine the features of using cross-country skiing in APE for schoolchildren with intellectual disabilities based on a sports-specific approach.

Methodology and organization of the study. A methodology based on cross-country skiing was developed and implemented in the APE process for 5th–9th grade schoolchildren with ID at the Mamadysh boarding school for children with disabilities. It is aimed at correcting psycho-physical development deficits, expanding individual motor capabilities, and ensuring the social adaptation of the participants.

Results of the study and their discussion. Distinctive features of the methodology include: a focused, comprehensive application of cross-country skiing tools considering the direction of pedagogical impacts (corrective-developmental, sports-educational, cognitive, health-recreational, educational, and socio-cultural) in both curricular and extracurricular forms of classes; sequential (with increasing complexity) mastery of skiing techniques (stances, gliding steps, turns, braking, and ascents); the use of special methodological techniques aimed at stimulating and activating the cognitive and motor activity of schoolchildren with ID; the implementation of ski orienteering with gradual route complication; and regular participation of students in sports and physical culture events.
To achieve functional control, develop the emotional-volitional sphere, and enhance self-reflection skills, the schoolchildren kept self-monitoring diaries, additionally recording their mood to further establish cause-and-effect relationships between events and emotional responses. The adaptation difficulties in society characteristic of this category necessitated the use of special tools: paired exercises with elements of peer evaluation of exercise quality (rotating pairs); and professionally oriented exercises (acting as an assistant coach, preparing sports equipment, preparing the ski track, etc.), which helps to unlock the professional potential of the students.
Conclusion. The features of using cross-country skiing in APE for schoolchildren with ID based on a sports-specific approach lie in the phased mastery of specific sports techniques, mandatory visual aids and repeatability of learning, strict individualization of the load, a high degree of safety, as well as the utilization of the corrective-developmental, emotional-volitional, social, and motivational potential of sports activities.
The work was carried out within the framework of the state assignment of the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation 777-00035-26-01 (R&D registration number 1025031400153).

References

1. Parfenova L.A., Glazkova G.B., Gerasimov E.A. Otsenka effektivnosti sportivno-vidovogo podkhoda v fizicheskom vospitanii uchashchikhsya srednego shkolnogo vozrasta s otkloneniyami v sostoyanii zdorovya [Assessment of the effectiveness of the sports-specific approach in physical education of middle school-age students with health deviations]. Chelovek. Sport. Meditsina [Human. Sport. Medicine]. 2020. V. 20. No. 2. Pp. 132-138. DOI: 10.14529/hsm200216. EDN: LWSBPQ.
2. Tsukhlov N.A., Burtseva E.V., Parfenova L.A. Funktsionalno-tsifrovoy podkhod v adaptivnom fizicheskom vospitanii detey s narusheniyami intellektualnogo razvitiya, zanimayushchikhsya futbolom [Functional-digital approach in adaptive physical education of children with intellectual development disorders engaged in football]. Teoriya i praktika fizicheskoy kultury [Theory and Practice of Physical Culture]. 2026. No. 3. Pp. 86-88.