Symptoms and methods of raising children with mental retardation. Determination of the ZPR in children: symptoms and methods of treatment What characterizes the ZPR

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Mental retardation in a child is a specific condition that implies a slow rate of formation of individual mental functions, namely the processes of memory and attention, mental activity, which are late in formation compared to the established norms for a certain age stage. This ailment is more often diagnosed in children at the preschool stage, during testing and checking them for mental maturity and readiness for learning, and is manifested by limited views, lack of knowledge, inability to mental activity, immaturity of thinking, prevalence of gaming, children's interests. If signs of underdevelopment of mental functions are found in children who are at the senior school age stage, then it is recommended to think about their presence. Today, the slow development of the functions of the psyche and the methods of corrective influence of such a state are an urgent neuropsychiatric problem.

Causes of mental retardation in a child

Today, the problems of mental retardation all over the world are recognized by psychologists as one of the most pressing problematic issues of a psychological and pedagogical orientation. Modern psychology distinguishes three key groups of factors that provoke a slow rate of formation of individual processes of the psyche, namely, the features of the course of pregnancy and the passage of the birth process itself, factors of a socio-pedagogical nature.

The factors associated with the course of pregnancy usually include viral diseases suffered by women, for example, rubella, severe toxicosis, drinking alcohol, smoking, exposure to pesticides, intrauterine oxygen starvation of the fetus, Rh conflict. The second group of factors provocateurs include injuries sustained by infants during the birth process, asphyxia of the fetus or its entanglement with the umbilical cord, premature detachment of the placenta. The third group covers factors that depend on the lack of emotional attention and the lack of psychological impact on infants from the adult environment. This also includes pedagogical neglect and limitation of life for a long time. This is especially felt by children under 3 years old. Also, in early childhood, the lack of a standard for inheritance provokes a lag in the development of children.

A positive favorable emotional climate of family relations, in which the baby grows and lends itself to educational influence, is the foundation for its normal physical formation and mental development. Constant scandals and excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages lead to inhibition of the emotional sphere of the baby and slowing down the pace of its development. At the same time, excessive guardianship can provoke a slow pace of the formation of mental functions, in which the volitional component is affected in children. In addition, constantly ill babies are often affected by this disease. Developmental inhibition can often be observed in crumbs that have previously suffered various injuries that have affected the brain. Often, the occurrence of this disease in babies is directly associated with a delay in their physical development.

Symptoms of mental retardation in a child

It is impossible to diagnose the presence of developmental inhibition in newborns in the absence of obvious physical defects in them. Often, parents themselves attribute far-fetched virtues or non-existent successes to their children, which also makes diagnosis difficult. Parents of babies should carefully monitor their development and sound the alarm if they start sitting or crawling later than their peers, if by the age of three they are not able to build sentences on their own and have too little vocabulary. Often, primary disorders in the formation of individual mental processes are noticed by educators in a preschool institution or teachers in a school institution when they discover that one student is more difficult than peers to learn, write or read, there are difficulties with memorization and with speech function. In such situations, it is recommended that parents show the baby to a specialist, even if they are sure that his development is normal. Since the early detection of symptoms of mental retardation in children contributes to the timely start of corrective action, which leads to the further normal development of children without consequences. The later parents sound the alarm, the more difficult it will be for children to learn and adapt to their peers.

Symptoms of mental retardation in children are often associated with pedagogical neglect. In such babies, the developmental delay is determined primarily by social reasons, for example, the situation in family ties.

Children with mental retardation are often characterized by the presence of different types of infantilism. In such babies, the immaturity of the emotional sphere comes to the fore, and defects in the formation of intellectual processes go into the background and do not appear so noticeably. They are subject to repeated mood swings, in the classroom or in the game process they are characterized by restlessness, the desire to throw out all their inventions into them. At the same time, it is quite difficult to captivate them with mental activity and intellectual games. Such kids get tired faster than their peers and are not able to concentrate on completing the assignment, their attention is dispersed to more entertaining, in their opinion, things.

Children with mental retardation, which is observed primarily in the emotional sphere, often have problems with learning in a school institution, and their emotions, corresponding to the development of young children, often dominate obedience.

In children with a predominance of developmental immaturity in the intellectual sphere, everything happens the other way around. They are practically non-initiative, often overly shy and shy, subject to a number of different. These features hinder the development of independence and the formation of the personal development of the crumbs. In these kids, the game interest also prevails. Often they are quite hard to experience their own failures in school life or in the educational process, it is not easy to get along in an unfamiliar environment, in a school or preschool institution, they get used to the teaching staff for a long time, but at the same time they behave there and obey.

Qualified specialists can diagnose mental retardation in children, establish its type and correct children's behavior. In the course of a comprehensive examination and examination of the crumbs, the following factors should be taken into account: the pace of his activity, psycho-emotional state, motor skills and features of errors in the learning process.

Diagnose mental retardation in babies if the following characteristic features are observed:

They are not capable of collective activity (training or play);

Their attention is less developed than that of their peers, it is problematic for them to concentrate to master complex material, and it is also difficult not to be distracted during the teacher's explanations;

The emotional sphere of babies is very vulnerable; at the slightest failure, such children tend to withdraw into themselves.

From this it turns out that the behavior of children with mental retardation can be identified by their unwillingness to take part in group play or educational activities, unwillingness to follow the example of an adult, to achieve set goals.

In diagnosing this disease, there is a risk of error, due to the fact that the immaturity of the development of the crumbs can be confused with his unwillingness to perform tasks that are not appropriate for his age, or to engage in uninteresting activities.

Treatment of mental retardation in a child

Modern practice proves that children with mental retardation can study in a regular general education institution, and not in a specialized correctional school. Parents and teachers should understand that the difficulties in teaching children with immaturity in the development of mental processes at the beginning of school life are not the result of their laziness or dishonesty, but have objective, serious reasons that will be successfully overcome only with joint efforts. Therefore, children with a slow pace of formation of mental processes need comprehensive joint assistance from parents, teachers and psychologists. Such assistance is: a personal approach to each crumb, regular classes with specialists (a psychologist and a teacher of the deaf), in some cases, drug therapy. For drug treatment of mental retardation in children, neurotropic drugs, homeopathic remedies, vitamin therapy, etc. are used. The choice of drug depends on the individual characteristics of the baby and on comorbid conditions.

It is difficult for most parents to accept that their child, due to the peculiarities of their formation, will grasp everything more slowly than surrounding peers. Parental care and understanding, combined with qualified specialized assistance, will help create a favorable positive environment for learning and provide targeted education.

So, the corrective impact will be most effective if the parents follow the recommendations below. The jointly directed work of teachers, the close environment of the crumbs and psychologists is the foundation for successful learning, development and education. A comprehensive overcoming of the immaturity of development found in the baby, the characteristics of his behavior and the difficulties provoked by them consists in analysis, planning, forecasting and joint actions.

Corrective work with children with mental retardation throughout its entire length should be permeated with the influence of a psychotherapeutic nature. In other words, the baby should have a motivational focus on classes, notice their own successes and feel joy. The baby needs to develop a pleasant expectation of success and the joy of praise, the pleasure of the actions performed or the work performed. Corrective influence includes direct and indirect psychotherapy, individual sessions and group therapy. The purpose of correctional education is the formation of mental processes in a child and the enhancement of his practical experience in combination with overcoming the underdevelopment of motor skills, speech and sensory functions, etc.

Specialized education of children with developmental inhibition is aimed at preventing possible secondary anomalies that may arise due to the timely undefeated lack of readiness of children for the educational process and life in society.

In the process of working with children suffering from developmental inhibition, it is necessary to use short-term game tasks to develop positive motivation. In general, the performance of game tasks should interest the kids and attract them. Any tasks should be feasible, but not too simple.

The problems of delaying the mental development of children often lie in the fact that such kids show unpreparedness for schooling and interaction in a team, as a result of which their condition is aggravated. That is why for successful correction it is necessary to know all the features of the manifestations of the disease and to influence the kids in a complex way. At the same time, parents are required to be patient, interested in the result, understanding the characteristics of their own children, love and sincere concern for children.

Doctor of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and cannot replace professional advice and qualified medical assistance. At the slightest suspicion of mental retardation in a child, be sure to consult a doctor!

The work of Clara Samoilovna and Viktor Vasilievich Lebedinsky (1969) is based on the etiological principle, which makes it possible to distinguish 4 variants of such development:

1. ZPR of constitutional origin;

2. ZPR of somatogenic origin;

3. ZPR of psychogenic origin;

4.ZPR of cerebro-organic origin.

In the clinical and psychological structure of each of the listed options for mental retardation, there is a specific combination of immaturity of the emotional and intellectual spheres.

1.ZPR constitutional origin

(HARMONIC, MENTAL and PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL INFANTILISM).

This type of mental retardation is characterized by an infantile body type with childish plasticity of facial expressions and motor skills. The emotional sphere of these children is, as it were, at an earlier stage of development, corresponding to the mental makeup of a younger child: the brightness and liveliness of emotions, the predominance of emotional reactions in behavior, play interests, suggestibility and insufficient independence. These children are tireless in the game, in which they show a lot of creativity and invention, and at the same time quickly become fed up with intellectual activity. Therefore, in the first grade of school, they sometimes have difficulties associated both with a small focus on long-term intellectual activity (they prefer to play in the classroom) and an inability to obey the rules of discipline.

This "harmony" of the mental appearance is sometimes violated in school and adulthood, because. immaturity of the emotional sphere makes social adaptation difficult. Unfavorable living conditions can contribute to the pathological formation of an unstable personality.

However, such an "infantile" constitution can also be formed as a result of mild, mostly metabolic-trophic diseases suffered in the first year of life. If at the time of intrauterine development, then this is genetic infantilism. (Lebedinskaya K.S.).

Thus, in this case, there is a predominantly congenital-constitutional etiology of this type of infantilism.

According to G.P. Bertyn (1970), harmonic infantilism is often found in twins, which may indicate the pathogenetic role of hypotrophic phenomena associated with multiple pregnancy.

2. ZPR of somatogenic origin

This type of developmental anomalies is caused by long-term somatic insufficiency (weakness) of various origins: chronic infections and allergic conditions, congenital and acquired malformations of the somatic sphere, primarily the heart, diseases of the digestive system (V.V. Kovalev, 1979).

Prolonged dyspepsia during the first year of life inevitably leads to a developmental delay. Cardiovascular insufficiency, chronic inflammation of the lungs, kidney disease are often found in the anamnesis of children with somatogenic developmental disorders.

It is clear that a poor somatic condition cannot but affect the development of the central nervous system, delaying its maturation. Such children spend months in hospitals, which naturally creates conditions for sensory deprivation and also does not contribute to their development.

Chronic physical and mental asthenia inhibits the development of active forms of activity, contributes to the formation of personality traits such as timidity, timidity, self-doubt. The same properties are largely determined by the creation of a regime of restrictions and prohibitions for a sick or physically weakened child. Thus, to the phenomena caused by the disease, artificial infantilization is added, caused by the conditions of overprotection.

3. ZPR of psychogenic origin

This type is associated with unfavorable upbringing conditions that prevent the correct formation of the child's personality (incomplete or dysfunctional family, mental trauma).

The social genesis of this developmental anomaly does not exclude its pathological nature. As you know, unfavorable environmental conditions that arise early, long-acting and have a traumatic effect on the child's psyche, can lead to persistent shifts in his neuropsychic sphere, disruption of autonomic functions first, and then mental, primarily emotional, development. In such cases, we are talking about the pathological (abnormal) development of the personality. BUT! This type of mental retardation should be distinguished from the phenomena of pedagogical neglect, which are not a pathological phenomenon, but are caused by a lack of knowledge and skills due to a lack of intellectual information. + (Pedagogically neglected children, meaning “pure pedagogical neglect”, in which the lag is due only to social reasons, domestic psychologists do not include in the category of ZPR. Although it is recognized that a prolonged lack of information, the lack of mental stimulation during sensitive periods can lead the child to reduce potential opportunities for mental development).

(It must be said that such cases are recorded very rarely, as well as the developmental disorder of somatogenic origin. There must be very unfavorable conditions, somatic or microsocial, in order for these two forms of developmental disorder to occur. Much more often, we observe a combination of organic CNS insufficiency with somatic weakness or with the influence unfavorable conditions of family education).

ZPR of psychogenic origin is observed, first of all, with abnormal personality development according to the type of mental instability, most often caused by the phenomena of gopuopeky - conditions of neglect, in which the child does not develop a sense of duty and responsibility, forms of behavior, the development of which is associated with active inhibition of affect. The development of cognitive activity, intellectual interests and attitudes is not stimulated. Therefore, the features of pathological immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere in the form of affective lability, impulsivity, increased suggestibility in these children are often combined with an insufficient level of knowledge and ideas necessary for mastering school subjects.

Variant of abnormal personality development like "family idol" due, on the contrary, to overprotection - an incorrect, pampering upbringing, in which the child does not instill the traits of independence, initiative, and responsibility. Children with this type of mental retardation, against the background of general somatic weakness, are characterized by a general decrease in cognitive activity, increased fatigue and exhaustion, especially during prolonged physical and intellectual stress. They get tired quickly, they need more time to complete any training tasks. Cognitive and educational activities suffer SECONDARY due to a decrease in the overall tone of the body. This type of psychogenic infantilism, along with a low capacity for volitional effort, is characterized by features of egocentrism and selfishness, dislike for work, and a focus on constant help and guardianship.

Variant of pathological personality development neurotic type It is more often observed in children whose families have rudeness, cruelty, despotism, aggression towards the child and other family members. In such an environment, a timid, timid personality is often formed, whose emotional immaturity is manifested in insufficient independence, indecision, low activity and lack of initiative. Unfavorable conditions of upbringing also lead to a delay in the development of cognitive activity.

4. ZPR of cerebro-organic origin

This type of ZPR occupies the main place in this polymorphic developmental anomaly. It is more common than other types of CRA; often has great persistence and severity of disturbances both in the emotional-volitional sphere and in cognitive activity. It is of the greatest importance for the clinic and special psychology due to the severity of the manifestations and the need (in most cases) for special measures of psychological and pedagogical correction.

The study of the anamnesis of these children in most cases shows the presence of mild organic insufficiency N.S. - RESIDUAL CHARACTER (remaining, preserved).

Abroad, the pathogenesis of this form of delay is associated with "minimal brain damage" (1947), or with "minimal brain dysfunction" (1962) - MMD. → These terms emphasize the NON-EXPRESSION, CERTAIN FUNCTIONALITY OF CEREBRAL DISORDERS.

Pathology of pregnancy and childbirth, infections, intoxication, Rh factor incompatibility between mother and fetus, prematurity, asphyxia, trauma during childbirth, postnatal neuroinfections, toxic-dystrophic diseases and injuries of the NS in the first years of life. - The causes are to some extent similar to the causes of oligophrenia.

COMMON for this form of mental retardation and oligophrenia- is the presence of the so-called EASY BRAIN DYSFUNCTION (LDM). ORGANIC CNS DAMAGE (RETARDATION) AT THE EARLY STAGES OF ONTOGENESIS.

Terms close in meaning: “minimal brain damage”, “mild infantile encephalopathy”, “hyperkinetic chronic brain syndrome”.

Under LDM- refers to a syndrome that reflects the presence of mild developmental disorders that occur mainly in the perinatal period, characterized by a very diverse clinical picture. This term was adopted in 1962 to refer to minimal (dysfunctional) brain disorders in childhood.

FEATURE OF ZPR- is a qualitatively different structure of intellectual insufficiency in comparison with u / o. Mental development is characterized by uneven disturbances of various mental functions; while logical thinking m.b. more preserved compared to memory, attention, mental performance.

In children with LIMITED CNS LESION, a multidimensional picture of cerebral insufficiency is much more often observed, associated with immaturity, immaturity and, therefore, greater vulnerability of various systems, including vascular and cerebrospinal fluid.

The nature of dynamic disorders in them is more severe and more frequent than in children with mental retardation of other subgroups. Along with persistent dynamic difficulties, there is a primary deficiency in a number of higher cortical functions.

Signs of a slowdown in the rate of maturation are often found already in early development and concern almost all spheres, in a significant part of cases up to the somatic. So, according to I.F. Markova (1993), who examined 1000 primary school students of a special school for children with mental retardation, a slowdown in the pace of physical development was observed in 32% of children, a delay in the formation of locomotor functions in 69% of children, a long delay in the formation of skills neatness (enuresis) - in 36% of cases.

In tests for visual gnosis, difficulties arose in the perception of complicated variants of subject images, as well as letters. In praxis tests, perseverations were often observed when switching from one activity to another. In the study of spatial praxis, poor orientation in the "right" and "left", mirroring in writing letters, and difficulties in differentiating similar graphemes were often noted. In the study of speech processes, disorders of speech motor skills and phonemic hearing, auditory memory, difficulties in constructing a detailed phrase, and low speech activity were often found.

Special studies of LDM showed that

RISK FACTORS ARE:

Late age of the mother, height and body weight of a woman before pregnancy, beyond the age norm, first birth;

Pathological course of previous pregnancies;

Chronic diseases of the mother, especially diabetes, Rh conflict, premature birth, infectious diseases during pregnancy;

Psychosocial factors such as unwanted pregnancy, big city risk factors (daily long commute, city noises, etc.)

The presence of mental, neurological and psychosomatic diseases in the family;

Low or, conversely, excessive (more than 4000 kg.) Weight of the child during childbirth;

Pathological childbirth with forceps, caesarean section, etc.

DIFFERENCE FROM U/O:

1. The massiveness of the lesion;

2. Time of defeat. - ZPR is much more often associated with later ones,

exogenous brain damage affecting the period,

when the differentiation of the main brain systems is already in

largely advanced and there is no danger of their rude

underdevelopment. However, some researchers suggest

and the possibility of genetic etiology.

3. Delay in the formation of functions is qualitatively different than with

oligophrenia. In cases with ZPR - you can observe the presence

temporary regression of acquired skills and their subsequent

instability.

4. Unlike oligophrenia, children with mental retardation lack inertia

mental processes. They are capable of not only accepting

to use help, but also to transfer the learned skills to the mental

activities in other situations. With the help of an adult, they can

carry out the intellectual tasks offered to them at close to

normal level.

5. The predominance of later terms of the defeat causes along with

with phenomena of IMMUNITY almost constant PRESENCE

DAMAGE N.S. → Therefore, unlike oligophrenia, which

often occurs in the form of uncomplicated forms, in the structure of the ZPR

OF CEREBRAL-ORGANIC GENESIS- almost always present

a set of encephalopathic disorders (cerebroasthenic,

neurosis-like, psychopathic), testifying to

damage to N.S..

CEREBRAL-ORGANIC INSUFFICIENCY first of all, it leaves a typical imprint on the structure of the mental retardation itself - both on the features of emotional-volitional immaturity, and on the nature of cognitive impairment

Data from neuropsychological studies have revealed a certain THE HIERARCHY OF COGNITIVE DISORDERS IN CHILDREN WITH CEREBRAL-ORGANIC GENESIS. Yes, in more mild cases it is based on neurodynamic insufficiency, associated primarily with the EXHAUSTIBILITY of MENTAL FUNCTIONS.

With a greater severity of organic brain damage, more severe neurodynamic disorders, expressed in the inertia of mental processes, are joined by PRIMARY DEFICIENCY OF INDIVIDUAL CORTICAL-SUBCORTICAL FUNCTIONS: praxis, visual gnosis, memory, speech sensorimotor. + At the same time, a certain PARTIALITY, MOSAICITY OF THEIR VIOLATIONS is noted. (Therefore, some of these children experience difficulties mainly in mastering reading, others in writing, others in counting, etc.). PARTIAL INSUFFICIENCY OF CORTIC FUNCTIONS, in turn, leads to underdevelopment of the most complex mental neoplasms, including voluntary regulation. Thus, the hierarchy of disorders of mental functions in mental retardation of cerebral-organic genesis is the reverse of that which exists in oligophrenia, where the intellect suffers primarily, and not its preconditions.

1. EMOTIONAL-volitional immaturity is represented by organic infantilism. With this infantilism, children lack the liveliness and brightness of emotions typical of a healthy child. Children are characterized by a weak interest in evaluation, a low level of claims. There is a high suggestibility and rejection of criticism in his address. Game activity is characterized by the poverty of imagination and creativity, certain monotony and originality, the predominance of the component of motor disinhibition. The desire to play itself often looks more like a way of avoiding difficulties in tasks than a primary need: the desire to play arises precisely in situations where purposeful intellectual activity and lesson preparation are necessary.

Depending on the prevailing emotional background, one can distinguish II MAIN TYPES OF ORGANIC INFANTILISM:

1) UNSTABLE - with psychomotor disinhibition, a euphoric shade of mood and impulsiveness, imitating childish cheerfulness and spontaneity. Characterized by a low ability for volitional effort and systematic activity, the absence of persistent attachments with increased suggestibility, poverty of the imagination.

2) BRAKE - with a predominance of a low mood background, indecision, lack of initiative, often timidity, which may be a reflection of congenital or acquired functional insufficiency of the vegetative N.S. type of neuropathy. In this case, there may be a violation of sleep, appetite, dyspepsia, vascular lability. In children with organic infantilism of this type, asthenic and neurosis-like features are accompanied by a feeling of physical weakness, timidity, inability to stand up for themselves, lack of independence, and excessive dependence on loved ones.

2. COGNITIVE DISORDERS.

They are caused by insufficient development of the processes of memory, attention, the inertia of mental processes, their slowness and reduced switchability, as well as the deficiency of individual cortical functions. There is instability of attention, insufficient development of phonemic hearing, visual and tactile perception, optical-spatial synthesis, motor and sensory aspects of speech, long-term and short-term memory, hand-eye coordination, automation of movements and actions. Often there is a poor orientation in the spatial concepts of "right - left", the phenomenon of mirroring in writing, difficulties in differentiating similar graphemes.

Depending on the predominance of phenomena in the clinical picture, either emotional-volitional immaturity, or cognitive impairment ZPR of CEREBRAL GENESIS can be subdivided

on the II MAIN OPTION:

1. organic infantilism

Its various types represent a milder form of mental retardation of cerebral-organic origin, in which functional disorders of cognitive activity are caused by emotional-volitional immaturity and mild cerebrosthenic disorders. Violations of cortical functions are dynamic in nature, due to their insufficient formation and increased exhaustibility. Regulatory functions are especially weak in the control link.

2. ZPR with a predominance of functional disorders of cognitive activity - with this variant of ZPR, damage symptoms dominate: pronounced cerebrasthenic, neurosis-like, psychopathic-like syndromes.

In essence, this form often expresses a state that is borderline with u / o (of course, the variability of the state in terms of its severity is also possible here).

Neurological data reflect the severity of organic disorders and a significant frequency of focal disorders. There are also severe neurodynamic disorders, deficiency of cortical functions, including local disorders. Dysfunction of regulatory structures is manifested in the links of both control and programming. This variant of ZPR is a more complex and severe form of this developmental anomaly.

CONCLUSION: The presented clinical types of the most persistent forms of mental retardation basically differ from each other precisely in the peculiarity of the structure and the nature of the ratio of the two main components of this developmental anomaly: the structure of infantilism and the peculiarities of the development of mental functions.

P.S. It should also be noted that within each of the listed groups of children with mental retardation there are variants that differ both in severity and in the characteristics of individual manifestations of mental activity.

CLASSIFICATION OF ZPR L.I. PERESLENI and E.M. Mastyukova

II TYPE ZPR:

1) Type BENIGN (NON-SPECIFIC) DELAY- is not associated with brain damage and is compensated with age under favorable environmental conditions, even without any special therapeutic measures. This type of mental retardation is due to a slow maturation of brain structures and their functions in the absence of organic changes in the central nervous system.

Benign (non-specific) developmental delay manifests itself in a certain delay in the formation of motor and (or) psychomotor functions, which can be detected at any age stage, is relatively quickly compensated and is not combined with pathological neurological and (or) psychopathological symptoms.

This type of mental retardation is easily corrected by early stimulation of psychomotor development.

It can manifest itself both in the form of a general, total retardation in development, and in the form of partial (partial) delays in the formation of certain neuropsychic functions, especially often this applies to a lag in the development of speech.

Benign nonspecific retention may be a familial trait and is often seen in physically debilitated and preterm infants. It can also take place with insufficient early pedagogical influence.

2) Type SPECIFIC (or CEREBRAL-ORGANIC) DEVELOPMENT REST- associated with damage to brain structures and functions.

Specific or cerebro-organic developmental delay is associated with changes in the structural or functional activity of the brain. Its cause may be disorders of intrauterine brain development, fetal hypoxia and asphyxia of the newborn, intrauterine and postnatal infectious and toxic effects, trauma, metabolic disorders and other factors.

Along with severe diseases of N.S., which cause developmental delay, most children have mild neurological disorders, which are detected only during a special neurological examination. These are the so-called signs of MMD, which usually occur in children with cerebral-organic mental retardation.

Many children with this form of mental retardation already in the first years of life show motor disinhibition - hyperactive behavior. They are extremely restless, constantly on the move, all their activities are not purposeful, they cannot complete any work they have begun. The appearance of such a child always brings anxiety, he runs, fusses, breaks toys. Many of them are also characterized by increased emotional excitability, pugnacity, aggressiveness, and impulsive behavior. Most children are not capable of playing activities, they do not know how to limit their desires, they react violently to all prohibitions, and are stubborn.

Many children are characterized by motor clumsiness, they have poorly developed fine differentiated movements of the fingers. Therefore, they hardly master the skills of self-service, for a long time they cannot learn how to fasten buttons, lace up their shoes.

From a practical point of view, the differentiation of specific and non-specific developmental delay, i.e. essentially, pathological and non-pathological delay, is extremely important in terms of determining the intensity and methods of stimulating age-related development, predicting the effectiveness of treatment, learning and social adaptation.

Delay in the development of certain psychomotor functions SPECIFIC FOR EACH AGE STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT.

Yes, during the period NEWBORN - such a child does not form a clear conditioned reflex to time for a long time. Such a baby does not wake up when he is hungry or wet, and does not fall asleep when he is full and dry; all unconditioned reflexes are weakened in him and are called after a long latent period. One of the main sensory reactions of this age is weakened or does not appear at all - visual fixation or auditory concentration. At the same time, unlike children with CNS lesions, he does not show signs of dysembryogenesis, malformations, including minimally expressed ones. He also has no violations of crying, sucking, assimilation of muscle tone.

Aged 1-3 MONTHS such children may show some lag in the pace of age development, the absence or a weakly expressed tendency to lengthen the period of active wakefulness, a smile when communicating with an adult is absent or manifests itself inconsistently; visual and auditory concentrations are short-lived, humming is absent or only a few rare sounds are observed. Progress in its development begins to be clearly outlined by 3 months of life. By this age, he begins to smile and follow a moving object. However, all these functions can manifest themselves inconsistently and are characterized by rapid exhaustion.

At all subsequent stages of development, benign developmental delay is manifested in the fact that the child in his development goes through stages that are more characteristic of the previous stage. However, ZPR can manifest itself at each age stage for the first time. For example, a 6-month-old child with this form of developmental delay does not give a differentiated reaction to acquaintances and strangers, the development of babbling may also be delayed, and a 9-month-old child may be insufficiently active in communicating with adults, he does not imitate gestures, he has weak game contact is developed, babble is absent or weakly expressed, intonation-melodic imitation of a phrase is not manifested, it can hardly capture or not capture small objects with two fingers at all, or it does not respond clearly enough to verbal instructions. The slow pace of motor development is manifested in the fact that the child can sit, but does not sit down on his own, and if he sits, he does not make attempts to stand up.

benign developmental delay 11-12 MONTHS It manifests itself most often in the absence of the first babble words, weak intonational expressiveness of voice reactions, indistinct correlation of words with an object or action. A delay in motor development is manifested in the fact that the child stands with support, but does not walk. The retardation in mental development is characterized by the weakness of repeated actions and imitative games, the child does not confidently manipulate with two hands, does not grasp objects with two fingers sufficiently.

Nonspecific developmental delay in the first THREE YEARS OF LIFE most often manifests itself in the form of a lag in the development of speech, insufficiency of play activity, a lag in the development of the function of active attention that regulates the function of speech (the child's behavior is poorly controlled by the instruction of an adult), insufficient differentiation of emotional manifestations, and also in the form general psychomotor disinhibition. It can also be manifested by a lag in the development of motor functions. At the same time, in the FIRST MONTHS OF LIFE, the pace of normalization of muscle tone, the extinction of unconditioned reflexes, the formation of rectifying reactions and balance reactions, sensory-motor coordination, voluntary motor activity and especially fine differentiated movements of the fingers lag behind.

B 4. PSYCHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF ZPR

Mental retardation (or ZPR for short) is characterized by a lag in the formation of mental functions. Most often, this syndrome is detected before admission to school. The child's body realizes its capabilities in slow motion. The delay in mental development is also characterized by a small stock of knowledge in a preschooler, the scarcity of thinking and the inability to engage in intellectual activity for a long time. For children with this deviation, it is more interesting to just play, and it is extremely problematic for them to focus on learning.

Mental retardation captures not only the psychological aspects of the personality. Violations are observed in different types of activity, physical and mental.

Mental retardation is an intermediate form of disorders in the development of the baby. Some mental functions develop more slowly than others. There is damage or defective formation of individual areas. The degree of underformation or the depth of damage present may vary from case to case.

• problems during pregnancy (past infections, injuries, severe toxicosis, intoxication), fetal hypoxia recorded during the gestation period;
• prematurity;
• birth trauma, asphyxia;
• diseases in infancy (trauma, infection, intoxication);
• genetic predisposition.

Social reasons:

• long-term isolation of the child from society;
• frequent stresses and conflicts in the family, in the garden, situations that cause psychological trauma.

There is a combination of a number of factors. Two or three causes of mental retardation may be combined, resulting in aggravation of disorders.

Types of ZPR

ZPR of constitutional genesis

This type is based on hereditary infantilism, affecting the mental, physical and psychological functions of the body. The emotional level with this type of developmental delay, as well as the level of the volitional sphere, are more reminiscent of the levels of primary school age, which means they occupy an earlier stage of formation.

What is the general characteristic of this species? It is accompanied by a wonderful mood, easy suggestibility, emotional behavior. Vivid emotions and experiences are very superficial and unstable.

ZPR of somatogenic genesis

This species is associated with somatic or infectious diseases in a child, or chronic diseases of the mother. Mental tone in this case decreases, emotional developmental delay is diagnosed. Somatogenic infantilism is supplemented by various fears that are associated with the fact that children with developmental delay are not confident in themselves or consider themselves inferior. The uncertainty of a preschooler is caused by multiple prohibitions and restrictions that take place in the home environment.

Children with developmental delay should have more rest, sleep, be treated in sanatoriums, as well as eat right and receive appropriate treatment. The health status of young patients will influence the favorable prognosis.

An unhealthy family environment and constant bans can also cause a child's mental retardation.

ZPR of psychogenic origin

This type is caused by frequent stressful situations and traumatic conditions, as well as poor education. Environmental conditions that do not correspond to the favorable upbringing of children can worsen the psychoneurological state of a child with developmental delay. Vegetative functions are among the first to be violated, and then emotional and psychological ones.

A species that involves a partial violation of some body functions, which is combined with the immaturity of the nervous system. The defeat of the central nervous system is of an organic nature. The localization of the lesion does not affect the further impairment of mental activity. The defeat of the central nervous system of such a plan does not lead to mental disability. It is this variant of mental retardation that is widespread. What are the symptoms for him? It is characterized by pronounced emotional disturbances, and the volitional aspect also suffers extremely. A noticeable slowdown in the formation of thinking and cognitive activity. This type of developmental delay is generally characterized by a slowdown in the maturation of the emotional-volitional level.

ZPR of cerebral-organic genesis is characterized by impaired development of the emotional-volitional sphere

Features of the manifestation of ZPR

Physical development

In children with developmental delay, it is always quite difficult to diagnose the syndrome. This is especially difficult to understand in the early stages of growth. What are the characteristics of children with mental retardation?

For such children, a slowdown in physical education is characteristic. The most frequently observed signs of poor muscle formation, low muscle and vascular tone, growth retardation. Also, children with developmental delay learn to walk and talk late. Playful activity and the ability to be neat also come with a delay.

Will, memory and attention

Children with mental retardation have little interest in their activities or work being evaluated, praised, they do not have the liveliness and emotional perception inherent in other children. Weakness of will is combined with monotony and monotony of activity. The games that children with developmental delay prefer to play are usually completely uncreative, they lack fantasy and imagination. Children with developmental delay quickly get tired of work, because their internal resources are instantly depleted.

A child with mental retardation is characterized by poor memory, inability to quickly switch from one type of activity to another, and slowness. He cannot fix attention for a long time. As a result of a delay in a number of functions, the baby needs more time to perceive and process information, visual or auditory.

One of the most striking signs of developmental delay is that the child is unable to force himself to do something. The work of the emotional-volitional sphere is inhibited, and, as a result, there are problems with attention. It is difficult for the child to concentrate, he is often distracted and cannot "collect his strength" in any way. At the same time, an increase in motor activity and speech is likely.

Perception of information

It is difficult for children with developmental delay to perceive information in whole images. For example, it will be difficult for a preschooler to identify a familiar object if it is placed in a new place or presented in a new perspective. The abruptness of perception is associated with a small amount of knowledge about the world around. The speed of perception of information also lags behind and orientation in space is difficult.

Of the features of children with mental retardation, one more thing should be highlighted: they remember visual information better than verbal information. Passing a special course on mastering various memorization techniques gives good progress, the performance of children with mental retardation becomes better in this regard compared to children without deviations.

Special courses or correctional work of specialists will help improve the memory and susceptibility of the child.

Speech

The child lags behind in the development of speech, which leads to various problems in speech activity. Distinctive features of the formation of speech will be individual and depend on the severity of the syndrome. The depth of the ZPR can affect speech in different ways. Sometimes there is some delay in speech formation, which practically corresponds to the level of full development. In some cases, there is a violation of the lexical and grammatical basis of speech, i.e. in general, underdevelopment of speech functions is noticeable. An experienced speech pathologist should be consulted to restore speech activity.

Thinking

Considering the issue of thinking in children with mental retardation, it can be noted that the greatest problem for them is the solution of logic tasks offered in verbal form. Developmental delay also occurs in other aspects of thinking. Approaching school age, children with developmental delays have poor ability to perform intellectual actions. They cannot, for example, generalize, synthesize, analyze or compare information. The cognitive sphere of activity in case of mental retardation is also at a low level.

Children suffering from mental retardation are much worse than their peers are savvy in many matters related to thinking. They have a very meager supply of information about the world around them, have a poor idea of ​​spatial and temporal parameters, their vocabulary also differs significantly from that of children of the same age, and not for the better. Intellectual work and thinking do not have pronounced skills.

The central nervous system in children with developmental delay is immature, the child is not ready to go to the first grade at the age of 7. Children with mental retardation do not know how to perform basic actions related to thinking, are poorly oriented in tasks and cannot plan their activities. Teaching children with mental retardation to write and read is extremely problematic. Their letters are mixed, especially those that are similar in spelling. Thinking is inhibited - it is very difficult for a preschooler to write an independent text.

Children with developmental delays who enter a regular school become underachieving students. This situation is extremely traumatic for an already damaged psyche. As a result, there is a negative attitude towards all learning in general. A qualified psychologist will help to solve the problem.

Creation of favorable conditions

For the complex development of the child, it is necessary to create external favorable conditions that would contribute to successful learning and stimulate the work of various parts of the central nervous system. It is important to create a developing subject environment for classes. What does it include? Developing game activities, sports complexes, books, natural objects and more. Communication with adults will also play an important role. Communication should be meaningful.

For such children, it is extremely important to get new impressions, communicate with adults and friendly-minded peers.

The game is the leading activity for a child of 3-7 years old. Practical communication with an adult who would teach a child to manipulate this or that object in a playful way is of paramount importance for children with mental retardation. In the process of exercises and classes, an adult helps the child to learn the possibilities of interaction with other objects, thereby developing his thought processes. The task of an adult is to stimulate a child with a developmental delay to learn and explore the world around him. You can consult a psychologist for advice on these issues.

Educational games

Corrective classes for children with mental retardation should be diversified with didactic games: nesting dolls and pyramids, cubes and mosaics, lacing games, Velcro, buttons and buttons, inserts, musical instruments, playing devices with the ability to extract sounds. Also, sets for comparing colors and objects will be useful, where different-sized homogeneous things that are different in color will be presented. It is important to "provide" the child with toys for role-playing games. Dolls, cash register, kitchen utensils, cars, home furniture, animals - all this will be extremely useful for full-fledged activities and games. Children are very fond of all kinds of activities and exercises with the ball. Use it for rolling, tossing or teaching your child to throw and catch the ball in a playful way.

Play with sand, water and other natural materials should often be referred to. With such natural "toys" the child really likes to play, besides, they do an excellent job of forming tactile sensations using the play aspect.

The physical education of a preschool child and his healthy psyche in the future directly depend on the game. Active play and exercise on a regular basis will be excellent methods for teaching a child to control his body. It is necessary to do exercises constantly, then the effect of such exercises will be maximum. Positive and emotional communication during the game between the baby and the adult creates a favorable background, which also contributes to the improvement of the nervous system. Using imaginary characters in your games, you help your child to show imagination, creativity, which will contribute to the formation of speech skills.

Communication as a development aid

Talk to your child as often as possible, discuss every little thing with him: everything that surrounds him, what he hears or sees, what he dreams about, plans for the day and weekends, etc. Build short, clear sentences that are easy to understand. When talking, consider not only the quality of words, but also their accompaniment: timbre, gestures, facial expressions. When talking to your child, always make eye contact and smile.

Mental retardation involves the inclusion of listening to music and fairy tales in the correctional training program. They have a positive effect on all children, regardless of whether they have any disabilities or not. Age also does not matter, they are equally loved by children of 3 and 7 years old. Their benefits have been proven by years of pedagogical research.

Books will help you develop your speech in the process of learning. Children's books with bright pictures can be read together, studying the drawings and accompanying them with voice acting. Encourage your child to repeat what they heard or read. Choose the classics: K. Chukovsky, A. Barto, S. Marshak - they will become faithful assistants in the formation of the child's personality.

Mental and motor development is the main indicator of the health of the baby. Each baby develops in its own way, but despite this, there are general trends in the formation of the emotional, cognitive, motor activity of the child. When a baby encounters developmental difficulties or an inability to learn new knowledge, skills and abilities, then we are talking about mental retardation (or abbreviated as ZPR). Early detection of lagging is difficult due to the individual development schedule of children, but the earlier a problem is detected, the easier it is to correct it. Therefore, each parent should have an idea about the main factors, symptoms of developmental disabilities, methods of therapy.

Developmental delay is a disorder of an adequate pace of psychomotor, mental and speech development. When lagging behind, some mental functions, such as the ability to think, memory, level of attention, etc., do not reach an adequate degree of severity, established for a particular age period. The diagnosis of ZPR is reliably made only at preschool or primary school age. When the baby grows up, and the delay still cannot be corrected, then we are talking about serious violations, for example, mental retardation. The delay is more often detected when children are placed in school or in the primary grade. The child has a lack of the basic stock of knowledge in the first grade, infantilism of thinking, dominance of the game in activity. Children are not able to engage in intellectual work.

The reasons

There are several reasons for the occurrence of the RPD. They are divided into factors of a biological or social type. Biological reasons include:

1. Negative course of pregnancy. This includes severe toxicosis, infection, intoxication and trauma, fetal hypoxia.
2. Prematurity, asphyxia, or birth injury.
3. Infectious, toxic or traumatic diseases transferred in infancy.
4. genetic factors.
5. Violations of constitutional development, somatic diseases.
6. Disorders of the central nervous system.

The social causes that give rise to ZPR include:

1. Obstacles that limit the active life of the baby.
2. Unfavorable conditions of upbringing, psychotraumatic situation in the life of the child, his family.

ZPR occurs due to disorders of the nervous system, hereditary diseases, as well as many social causes. Therefore, it is important to remember that the features of the correction of mental retardation depend on how quickly the causes of the delay are eliminated.

The main types of ZPR

The typology of CRA forms is based on the reasons for its occurrence. Stand out:

1. Violation of the mental development of the constitutional type. Children are characterized by bright, but unstable emotions, they are dominated by play activities, immediacy and a high emotional background.
2. Somatogenic mental retardation. The occurrence of this form is provoked by somatic diseases transferred at an early age.
3. A delay of a psychogenic nature, that is, a delay due to negative conditions of upbringing, insufficient care or, conversely, overprotection. A feature of this form of mental retardation is the formation of an emotionally immature personality.
4. Mental retardation as a result of improper functioning of the nervous system.

Knowledge of the types of CRA facilitates the diagnosis, allows you to choose the best methods for correcting the disease.

Symptoms

With mental retardation, violations of the cognitive sphere are of a minor nature, but they cover mental processes.

• The level of perception in a child with mental retardation is characterized by slowness and inability to form a holistic image of the subject. Auditory perception suffers the most, so the explanation of new material to children with mental retardation must necessarily be accompanied by visual objects.
• Situations that require concentration and stability of attention cause difficulties, since any external influences switch attention.
• Children with mental retardation are characterized by hyperactivity along with attention deficit disorder. The level of memory in such children is selective, with weak selectivity. Basically, the visual-figurative type of memory works, the verbal type of memory is underdeveloped.
• Figurative thinking is absent. The kid uses thinking of an abstract-logical type, but only under the guidance of a teacher.
• It is difficult for a child to draw conclusions, compare, generalize concepts.
• The speech of the child is characterized by the distortion of sounds, limited vocabulary, the complexity of constructing phrases and sentences.
• ZPR is often accompanied by a delay in speech development, dyslalia, dysgraphia, dyslexia.

In the sphere of emotions in children with a developmental delay, emotional instability, lability, a high level of anxiety, restlessness, and affects are observed. It is difficult for children to express their emotions, they are aggressive. Children with mental retardation are closed, rarely and little communicate with their peers. In communication, they experience uncertainty, prefer loneliness. In children with mental retardation, play activity dominates, but it is monotonous and stereotyped for them. Children do not follow the game rules, they prefer a monotonous plot.

The main feature of the retardation of mental development is that it is possible to compensate for the lag only in conditions of special training and correction.

Education under normal conditions for a child with mental retardation is not recommended. Special conditions required.

Diagnosis

The lag is not diagnosed in children at birth. Babies do not have physical defects, so parents most often do not notice developmental delays, because they always highly appreciate the potential of their baby. The first signs begin to notice when children go to preschool or school. Usually, teachers immediately notice that such children do not cope with the academic load, they do not master the educational material well.

In some cases, a delay in the development of emotions is clearly expressed, and intellectual impairment is not expressed. In such children, emotional development is at the initial stage of formation and corresponds to the mental development of a young child. At school, such children have difficulty following the rules of behavior, with an inability to obey and follow generally accepted rules. For such children, play remains the predominant type of activity. Moreover, thinking, memory and attention reach the norm in development - this is the main feature of such children. In other cases, there are obvious deficiencies in intellectual development. They have no problems with discipline, they are assiduous, but it is difficult for them to master the curriculum. Memory and attention are at a low level, and thinking is primitive.

It is possible to diagnose a developmental delay only using a comprehensive psychological and pedagogical examination, in which psychotherapists, speech pathologists, psychologists and speech therapists participate. A feature of the approach is that the level of development of mental processes, motor activity, motor skills is assessed, errors in the field of mathematics, writing and speech are analyzed. Parents should contact a specialist when the first symptoms occur. Each stage of development corresponds to the norms, it is necessary to pay close attention to their violation. Deviations from the norm:

1. At the age of 4 months to 1 year, the child has no reaction to the parents, no sounds are heard from him.
2. At 1.5 years old, the baby does not pronounce elementary words, does not understand when he is called by name, does not understand simple instructions.
3. At the age of 2 years, the child uses a small set of words, does not remember new words.
4. At 2.5 years old, the child's vocabulary is no more than 20 words, he does not compose a phrase and does not understand the names of objects.
5. At the age of 3, the child does not compose sentences, does not understand simple stories, cannot repeat what was said. The kid speaks quickly or, conversely, draws out words.
6. At the age of 4 years, the baby does not have a coherent speech, does not operate with concepts, concentration of attention is reduced. Low level of auditory and visual memorization.

Pay attention to the emotional sphere. Usually these children have hyperactivity. Children are inattentive, quickly get tired, they have a low level of memory. They also have difficulty communicating with both adults and peers. Symptoms of ZPR can also manifest themselves in violations of the central nervous system (central nervous system). Here it is advisable to conduct a study using electroencephalography.

Complications and consequences

The consequences are mainly reflected in the personality of the child. When measures are not taken in time to eliminate the lag in development, then it, in turn, leaves an imprint on the future life of the child. If the problem in development is not corrected, then the child's problems are exacerbated, he continues to separate from the team, becomes even more isolated in himself. When adolescence sets in, the child may develop an inferiority complex and low self-esteem. This, in turn, causes difficulties in communicating with friends and the opposite sex.

The level of cognitive processes also decreases. Written and oral speech is distorted even more, there are difficulties in mastering household and work skills.

In the future, it will be difficult for children with mental retardation to master any profession, enter the workforce and establish a personal life. In order to avoid all these difficulties, the correction and treatment of developmental delay must begin with the appearance of the first symptoms.

Treatment and correction

Correction must begin as soon as possible. Treatment should be based on an integrated approach. The earlier it starts, the more likely it is that the delay can be corrected. The main methods of treatment include:

• microcurrent reflexology, i.e. a method of influencing electrical impulses on working points of the brain. The method is used for CRA of cerebro-organic origin;
• ongoing consultations with defectologists and speech therapists. Speech therapy massage, articulatory gymnastics, methods of developing memory, attention, thinking are used;
• drug therapy. It is prescribed only by a neurologist.

Additionally, work with a child psychologist is necessary, especially if the delay is caused by social factors. You can also use alternative methods, such as dolphin therapy, hippotherapy, art therapy, as well as many psychological and pedagogical developmental classes. The main role in the correction is played by the participation of parents. Creating a prosperous atmosphere in the family, proper upbringing and support of loved ones will help the child gain self-confidence, reduce emotional stress and achieve effective results in treatment, and the prognosis will be favorable.

Rules for raising a child with mental retardation

• Relationship with mother. For a child, relations with his mother are extremely important, because it is she who supports him, tells him what to do, cares and loves. That is why the mother should be an example, support for the sake of the child. If the child does not receive all this from the mother, then resentment and stubbornness arise in him. That is, the child, by such behavior, signals the mother that he urgently needs her adequate assessment and attention.
• Don't push the child. Whatever the baby does, whether it is eating porridge, collecting a designer or drawing, it is important not to rush him. Otherwise, you will cause stress in him, and this, in turn, will negatively affect his development.
• Annoying parents. Seeing him, the child can fall into a stupor, and not even do simple actions: the baby subconsciously feels disappointment and anxiety, loss of security.
• Connection . An important step is to create a strong emotional connection with the child and help him translate his fears from the category of “fear for himself” into “fear for others”. Teach your little one compassion - first at the "inanimate" level (for toys, book characters), and then for people, animals and the world in general.
• Fear - no. Freedom from fear allows the child to develop intellectually, as the barrier of fear disappears.
• Skills are important. Find out what your child is great at and develop it in him. You can't teach a fish to fly, but you can learn to swim. This is what you have to do.

Prevention

Prevention of developmental delay in a child involves accurate planning of pregnancy, as well as the prevention of negative impact on the child of external factors. During pregnancy, it is necessary to try to avoid infections and various diseases, as well as to prevent them in a child at an early age. The social factors of development cannot be ignored either. The main task of parents should be to create positive conditions for the development of the baby and a prosperous atmosphere in the family.

A child needs to be engaged and developed from infancy. Much attention in the prevention of mental retardation is paid to the creation of an emotional-physical connection between parents and the baby. He should feel confident and calm. This will help him develop correctly, navigate in the environment and adequately perceive the world around him.

Forecast

The lag in the development of the child is surmountable, because with proper work with the baby and correction of development, positive changes will appear.

Such a child will need help where ordinary children do not need it. But children with mental retardation are learnable, it just takes more time and effort. With the help of teachers and parents, the child will be able to master any skills, school subjects, and after school go to college or university.

Reading time: 3 min

Children with mental retardation (mental retardation) are included in a special group of persons mixed in terms of the degree of psychophysiological development. Psychiatrists refer to mental retardation as a class of mild mental developmental disorders. ZPR today is considered a common type of mental pathology at an early age. The presence of inhibition in the development of mental processes should be spoken of only on the condition that the individual has not yet gone beyond the boundaries of the primary school period. In cases where the symptoms of ZPR are observed in the phase of the senior school period, one should already speak of or infantilism. The deviation, expressed in the delay in mental formation, occupies a position between abnormal development and the norm.

Toddlers with slow development are inherently afraid of new, unexpected experiences that inevitably appear in their lives due to changes in learning conditions. They feel an increased need for approval and attention. Some children may show when changing their usual conditions, some show a peculiar reaction to punishment (they may begin to sway or sing). Such a reaction can be regarded as excessive compensation in a traumatic situation. Such children are characterized by increased sensitivity to rhythmic influences, the need for such actions and a love of music. The kids love to attend music lessons. They are able to quickly master various dance moves. Due to the influence of the rhythm, such children quickly calm down, their mood becomes even.

Children with mental retardation have pronounced difficulties with adaptive behavior, which can manifest itself in various forms. Limited opportunities for self-care and learning social skills, along with severe behavioral deficiencies, are characteristic features of children with mental retardation. Pain in response to criticism, limited self-control, inappropriate behavior, aggressiveness, and often self-mutilation can all be observed. Behavioral problems are determined by the degree of developmental delay - the deeper the level of developmental delay, the more pronounced the violation of behavioral responses.

Thus, a pathological condition, expressed in a delay in the formation of mental processes, can be considered as a polysymptomatic type of changes in the intensity and nature of the development of children, which covers diverse combinations of disorders and their symptoms. Despite this, in the mental status of children with mental retardation, a number of key features should be highlighted, presented below.

The sensory-perceptual sphere is represented by the immaturity of various analyzer systems and the inferiority of visual-spatial orientation. Disorder of the psychomotor sphere includes an imbalance in motor activity, impulsivity, difficulty in mastering motor skills, and various disorders of motor coordination. Mental activity is represented by the predominance of the simplest mental operations, a decrease in the degree of logic and abstractness of thinking, difficulties in the transition to abstract-analytical configurations of mental activity. In the mnemonic sphere, there is a dominance of mechanical memorization over abstract-logical memory, a predominance of direct memory over indirect memorization, a decrease in memory volume, and a significant decrease in involuntary memorization. Speech development is represented by a limited vocabulary, a slowdown in the assimilation of the grammatical structure, difficulties in mastering written speech, and deficiencies in pronunciation. The emotional-volitional sphere is represented by general immaturity, infantilism. The predominance of game motivation, the desire for pleasure, the inability of motives and interests are observed in the motivational sphere. In the characterological sphere, there is a noticeable increase in the likelihood of various accentuations of characterological qualities and psychopathic manifestations.

Working with children with mental retardation

Methods of influence and corrective work with children with mental retardation should strictly correspond to the key positions of formation in a particular age period, based on the features and achievements characteristic of this age period.

In the first place should be corrective work with children with mental retardation, aimed at correcting and further development, compensation for such processes of the psyche and its neoplasms that began to form in the previous age interval and which represent the foundation for development in the subsequent age interval.

Correctional and developmental work with children with mental retardation should create conditions and organize them in order to maximize the effective development of the functions of the psyche, which are especially intensively developed in the current period.

The program for children with mental retardation, ideally, should be focused on creating the prerequisites for further successful development at the next age interval, on harmonizing the development of the baby's personality at the current age stage.

When building a strategy for corrective work aimed at development, it will be no less important, as L. Vygostsky believed, to take into account the zone of the nearest formation. Under such a zone of development, one can understand the difference between the degree of complexity of the tasks set, accessible to the baby with its independent resolution, and that which he can achieve with the help of adults or comrades in a group.

Corrective work with children with mental retardation should be built taking into account periods of development that are the most optimal for the formation of a certain quality or mental function (sensitive periods). Here you need to understand that with the inhibition of the formation of mental processes, sensitive periods can also shift in time.

There are several important areas of correctional work with sick children. The first direction has a health character. After all, the full formation of children is possible only under the condition of his physical development and health. This direction also includes the tasks of streamlining the lives of babies, i.e. creation of normal conditions for their further optimal life, the introduction of a reasonable daily routine, the creation of the best motor schedule, etc.

The next direction can be considered a corrective-compensatory effect using neuropsychological techniques. The current level of development of children's neuropsychology makes it possible to achieve significant results in the work of a corrective nature with the cognitive activity of children. With the help of neuropsychological techniques, school skills such as reading, writing and counting are successfully aligned, various behavioral disorders, such as focus or control, can be corrected.

The next area of ​​work includes the formation of a sensory-motor sphere. This direction is of particular importance when working with students who have deviations in sensory processes and defects in the musculoskeletal system. To develop the creative abilities of children with delayed formation of mental processes, stimulation of sensory development is very important.

The fourth direction is the stimulation of cognitive processes. The system of psychological influence and pedagogical assistance in the full formation, alignment and compensation of defects in the development of all mental processes can be considered the most developed today.

The fifth direction is work with emotional processes. Increasing emotional awareness, which implies the ability to understand the feelings of other individuals, expressed in the adequate manifestation and control of their own emotions, is important for absolutely all babies, regardless of the severity of the pathology.

The last direction will be the development of activities that are characteristic of a certain age category, for example, gaming or productive activities, educational activities and communication.

Teaching children with mental retardation

By the time learning begins, children with a slow development of mental processes, as a rule, have not fully formed core mental operations, such as analysis and synthesis, generalization and comparison.

Children with mental retardation are not able to navigate the tasks, they do not know how to plan their own activities. If we compare them with mentally retarded kids, then their learning ability will be an order of magnitude higher than that of oligophrenics.

Students with CPD are much better at using help, they are able to transfer the demonstrated way of doing things to similar tasks. Provided that teachers comply with the special requirements for teaching such children, they are able to study educational information of considerable complexity, designed for students with normal development corresponding to their age category.

The peculiarities of teaching children with mental retardation are largely determined by the extent to which students acquire the skills of educational activities at the preparatory stage. In the preparatory class, the core tasks of education are corrective work in relation to specific defects in the development of students' cognitive activity, their thought processes, compensation for shortcomings in elementary knowledge, preparation for mastering key subjects, and the formation of mental activity in the course of comprehending educational material.
In teaching children suffering from retardation of the development of mental processes, one should be based on the tasks set by the requirements of the curriculum of a general education school, as well as take into account a number of specific tasks and a corrective orientation arising from the peculiarities of the psychophysiological characteristics of schoolchildren of this category.

Practice shows that it is more expedient to start preventing possible difficulties in teaching and school adaptation of children even in preschool centers. For this purpose, a specific model of a preschool institution (DOE) of an educational orientation of a compensatory type for children characterized by a retardation of the development of mental processes has been developed. In such institutions, correctional work is represented by: diagnostic and advisory direction, medical and recreational and correctional and developmental direction. Defectologists or speech therapists conduct correctional and developmental work with preschool children with the participation of a family of kids.

Classes for children with mental retardation take into account the state and degree of development of children, as a result of which they involve training in various areas: familiarization with the environment, development of speech functions, development of correct sound pronunciation, acquaintance with fiction, training in gaming activities, preparation for further learning to read and write, formation of primitive mathematical concepts, labor education, physical development and aesthetic education.

With the productive assimilation of curricula in specialized classes, as a result of the decision of the school medical-psychological-pedagogical council, the child is transferred to a general education school in a class corresponding to his level.

Doctor of the Medical and Psychological Center "PsychoMed"

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and cannot replace professional advice and qualified medical assistance. At the slightest suspicion that the child has a mental retardation, be sure to consult a doctor!