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Pace mental development
RATE OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT - the degree of speed of a person’s personal changes. constantly changing and developing. This is a diochronic (dio - through, chronos - time) system. This includes, for example, the natural sequence of development of intelligence described by the Swiss psychologist J. Piaget (1896-1980). In the process of mental development, stages of increasing functions alternate with stages of stabilization. This is how the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative occurs. The process of development of different aspects of a holistic personality, levels of its individual consciousness also occurs unevenly. Therefore, a personality can combine maturity in some respects and infantilism in others. An integral characteristic of physical and mental development is the speed of change. According to this criterion, people can be divided into three groups: 1) with accelerated (approximately 25%), 2) uniform (50%) and 3) slow development (25%).

List of random tags:
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Aspiration - Aspiration is a motive that is not presented to the subject in its objective content, due to which the dynamic side of activity comes to the fore.
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Practice and internship of students - PRACTICE AND INTERNSHIP OF STUDENTS - types of their professional training. During the period of practice and internship, the educational, social and scientific activities of students are continued directly in the conditions of their future professional work. During practice, students solve real professional problems, replenish their knowledge, skills, abilities, professionally improve important qualities, and gain leadership experience. At the same time, the practice and internship of students makes it possible to identify the positive aspects and disadvantages of professional training, to better understand the complexity and responsibility of duties in the specialty, the importance of independence, mental, communicative, organizational, pedagogical qualities and abilities. The influence of practice and internship on professional and general development The more thoroughly the business and psychological preparation for them is carried out, the stronger the trainees.
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Preventive psychology - PREVENTIVE PSYCHOLOGY is a branch of applied psychology. Its main task is to equip a wide range of practitioners (teachers, educators, employees of inspectorates and commissions on juvenile affairs, social workers, practical psychologists) with psychological knowledge to prevent, diagnose and correct deviant behavior of minors, as well as improve the conditions of their family and public education. For preventive psychology, it is important to determine the scope and psychological tools that allow solving one’s own specific problems in preventing and correcting deviant behavior of children and adolescents. Among the various, interrelated factors that determine the genesis of antisocial behavior, we can distinguish: individual factor, psychological and pedagogical factor, socio-psychological factor, personal factor and social factor.

The concept of the pace of mental development. This is a characteristic of a person’s level of development in relation to the level of development of his peers. The norm here is different (broad). But nevertheless, we can talk about a delay in development. It can be: partial (some functions) and total. Developmental delay – infantilism.

Retardation and asynchrony of development. All forms of mental disorders are divided into two large classes. Retardation, delay or suspension of mental development of any origin; underdevelopment in various forms mental retardation. There are two types of retardation: total and partial. In the latter case, we are talking about the immaturity of individual functions, aspects of the psyche in particular, school skills - reading, writing or personality traits. Asynchrony, some functions are ahead of others in development, which leads to disharmony in the structure of the psyche, its distortion and disproportion. For example, the development of speech is ahead of the development of motor skills. Abstract thinking is visual and effective. General characteristics Mental retardation and causes of developmental delays. Mental retardation is a group of disorders, different in etiology, pathogenesis and clinical manifestations, which are expressed in a state of mild intellectual disability and occupy an intermediate position between oligophrenia and the intellectual norm. Comparative characteristics with mental retardation:

1. The causes of mental retardation may be similar to mental retardation. Weaker effects, shorter duration.
2. If oligophrenia is persistent underdevelopment, then mental retardation is a decrease in the rate of development.
3. With oligophrenia, the defect does not go away; with mental retardation, positive dynamics are possible, leveling off is possible, up to reaching the age norm.
4. With oligophrenia, signs of the disorder are visible everywhere; with mental retardation, they are detected only upon entering school.
5. With oligophrenia, the totality of the defect, with mental retardation, the lag will not necessarily affect all areas.

Causes of developmental delays: organic damage; functional failure of the central nervous system; disorders in intrauterine development; during childbirth; in the first years of life; chronic somatic diseases; long-term deprivation; acquired. One of the characteristic features of children with mental retardation is the uneven development of different aspects of the child’s mental activity. Approaches to identifying types of mental retardation and classification of disorders borderline with oligophrenia, common and different aspects of them. (Sukhareva G. E., Kovalev V. V., Demyanov Yu. G., ICD).

Classification of ZPR according to Kovalev:

1. Dysontogenetic forms of borderline intellectual disability (psychophysical infantilism, delayed speech development, school skills; developmental delay in RDA).
2. Encephalopathic (cerebrovascular disease, psychoorganic syndrome with insufficiency of cortical functions, cerebral palsy, etc.).
3. ZPR in case of defective analyzers.
4. Mental retardation in cases of education defects and information deficit in childhood.

Classification of ZPR according to Sukhareva:

1. Delay in the rate of development of children due to disturbances in upbringing, learning, and behavior.
2. ZPR in asthenic conditions.
3. Secondary mental retardation with defects in vision, hearing, musculoskeletal system, and speech.

Classification of ZPR according to Demyanov:

1. ZPR with cerebrasthenic syndrome.
2. Psychophysical infantilism.
3. ZPR with neuropathic syndrome.
4. Mental retardation with psychopathic symptoms.
5. ZPR in cerebral palsy.
6. ZPR with general speech underdevelopment.
7. ZPR with severe hearing and vision defects.
8. ZPR with family and household neglect.

These classifications are united by the fact that ZPR can be primary and secondary. In ICD – 10 ( international classification diseases):

1. Organic and symptomatic mental disorders. These include those disorders that are associated with traumatic brain injuries, etc.
2. Mental and behavioral disorders caused by mental abuse active substances(alcohol, cocaine, hallucinogens, poppy preparations, volatile solvents, sleeping pills, tobacco).
3. Schizophrenia, schizotic and delusional disorders.
4. Affective disorders.
5. Neurotic, stress-related and somatomorphic disorders (acute reaction to stress; post-traumatic syndrome).
6. Behavioral disorders associated with physiological factors (sleep disturbances, sexual function, food disturbances).
7. Personality and behavior disorder in adults (sexual perversions, violation of habits, inclinations).
8. Mental retardation in the form of the formation of persistent mental underdevelopment in early childhood.

Diversity clinical manifestations ZPR. ZPR of constitutional origin. ZPR of cerebral-organic origin. The main clinical groups of mental retardation are differentiated according to the etiopathogenetic principle (Lebedinsky classification):

1. ZPR of constitutional origin;
2. ZPR of somatogenic origin;
3. mental retardation of psychogenic origin;
4. ZPR of cerebral-organic origin.

Each of these types of mental retardation has its own clinical and psychological structure, its own characteristics of emotional immaturity and disorders cognitive activity, often complicated by a number of painful symptoms - somatic, encephalopathic, neurological. In many cases, these painful signs cannot be regarded only as complicating ones, since they play a significant pathogenetic role in the formation of the ZPR itself. The presented clinical types of the most persistent forms of mental retardation mainly differ from each other precisely in the structural features and nature of the relationship between the two main components of this developmental anomaly: the structure of infantilism and the nature of neurodynamic disorders. In the slow pace of formation of cognitive activity, insufficiency of intellectual motivation and volition is associated with infantilism, and the tone and mobility of mental processes are associated with neurodynamic disorders.

I. ZPR of constitutional origin. 3 subspecies:

1). Harmonic psychophysical infantilism. The basis is hereditary factors or a disease in early childhood. In terms of their physical development, they are 2–3 years behind. Characterized by good speech development; bright expressive emotions; friendliness; friendliness; attraction to older people. There are no gross cognitive impairments noted. When they come to school they become underachievers. There is no personal readiness for school. Gaming interests prevail. Transforms a learning situation into a game one. In conversations he openly talks about his reluctance to learn. It is advisable to return them to kindergarten before ripening. Favorable dynamics. Features of hysterical accentuation may increase (the need to be in the center of attention, etc.).

2). Disharmonic psychophysical infantilism. Non-severe brain damage at an early stage of development. Retarded physical development. There is a violation of cognitive activity (immaturity of mental operations, narrowed memory capacity, difficulties in analyzing spatial relationships). High fatigue, reduced mental performance. Attention is unstable, or its pathological inertia, stuckness. Disharmony in the emotional-volitional sphere, in communication. Hot temper, affective instability, pugnaciousness, etc. Indifference to comments. The dynamics are less favorable for leveling.

3). Psychophysical infantilism in endocrine insufficiency. Violation metabolic processes. Retarded physical development. Body dysplasticity and impaired coordination of movements. Creates difficulties for communication. Complexes, anxiety, etc. They have a slowness in all mental processes. No brightness of imagination, no initiative (low academic performance). Mood fluctuations with a predominance of the depressive component. Appearance neurotic symptoms(favorable soil). These features can be smoothed out. Positive dynamics.

II. ZPR of somatogenic origin. The basis is the presence chronic diseases internal organs. He is weakened by all sorts of diseases. This is due to overprotection; excessive desire of adults to protect the child from some other harm. The child is raised in greenhouse conditions. Large quantity prohibitions. In cognitive development, he may even be ahead of his peers. Personal immaturity (uncertainty; lack of initiative; timidity; inability to make decisions; timidity). Lacks physical development and active forms behavior. Diseases intensify and become aggravated under conditions of overprotection.

III. ZPR of psychogenic origin. Deprivation situation (see above). Separation is the painful separation of a child from his mother. This can lead to negative social attitudes. Increased feelings of anxiety and higher aggressiveness. Extreme exposures do not so much affect development as a whole, but being exposed to them for a long time affects development more significantly (under 3 years of age, children experience underdevelopment; older children experience retardation). Afterwards, aggression towards peers was noted. Infantilism. Upbringing in conditions of neglect (in terms of cognitive development; lack of formation of moral and ethical standards and arbitrary regulation of behavior; unstable type of character, etc.). Overprotection. Personal development is inhibited; no responsibility, sense of duty; hysterical character; egocentrism, etc. Lack of initiative, independence, tendency to lie, uncertainty, fears (the “hedgehog” type of education).

IV. Lesions of the cerebral-organic origin. There is a need for medical and pedagogical correction here. Damages during childbirth, infections, intoxications. Damage to the central nervous system in the early stages. The scale of the damage matters. It has similarities for reasons with mental retardation. Detected much earlier.

Unlike other types of ZPR, this type shows signs of lag in almost all areas. Retarded physical development – ​​more than 30%; motor functions– about 70%; in speech development – ​​more than 60%; in the formation of neatness skills - about 40%. The lag in the emotional-volitional sphere is striking. Organic infantilism. Primitiveness, scarcity of emotions; gross suggestibility; reduced criticality; poor differentiation of emotions; lack of liveliness, brightness, expressiveness. Memory, attention, spatial analysis lag behind in development. No educational interests. Lack of creativity and initiative in gaming activities. Low level of activity and independence. Either the euphoric background of the mood predominates, or the dysphoric (lowered) background of the mood.

Differential diagnosis congenital mental retardation and clinical manifestations bordering on it

The problem of differential diagnosis in connection with staffing institutions for mentally retarded children was the subject of discussion at International conference, held in 1964 in Copenhagen. Even then, it was pointed out that only psychometric assessments were insufficient in diagnosing mental retardation, and tasks were set to develop research methods and criteria for distinguishing mental retardation from borderline conditions similar to it. As a rule, the reason for questioning the usefulness of the intellect of a school-age child is his underachievement, which is revealed in the learning process. Equating academic failure with mental retardation is a gross and dangerous theoretical and practical mistake. In the works of teachers and psychologists Z. I. Kalmykova, N. A. Menchinskaya, A. M. Gelmont, L. S. Slavina and others, devoted to the study of the causes of academic failure, it is indicated that in most cases, academic failure is not caused by impairments in cognitive activity, but is caused by other reasons. It is necessary to establish the causes of academic failure (inability to learn, gaps in knowledge, negative attitude towards learning, conflict situations at school, in the family, etc.) and eliminate them, developing the child’s potential capabilities. The most difficult in diagnostic terms are children with mental retardation (MDD), who also turn out to be unsuccessful already in the first years of education.

Currently, this category of children has been deeply and comprehensively studied both from the clinical and psychological-pedagogical sides. Here we do not dwell in detail on the etiology and main signs, but indicate only the most significant features of the mental activity of children with developmental delays for differential diagnosis. Depending on the origin (cerebral, constitutional, somatogenic, psychogenic), and the time of exposure of the child’s body to harmful factors, mental retardation gives rise to different types of deviations in the emotional-volitional sphere and in cognitive activity. Mental retardation of cerebral origin due to chromosomal abnormalities, intrauterine lesions, and birth injuries are more common than others and pose the greatest difficulty in distinguishing them from mental retardation.

Studies by defectologists (V.I. Lubovsky, K.S. Lebedinskaya, M.S. Pevzner, N.A. Tsypina, etc.) indicate that when mental development is delayed, there is uneven formation of mental functions, and both damage and and underdevelopment of individual mental processes. In oligophrenia, the totality and hierarchy of the lesion are characteristic. Scientists who studied mental processes and learning opportunities for children with mental retardation (T. V. Egorova, G. I. Zharenkova, V. I. Lubovsky, N. A. Nikashina, R. D. Triger, N. A. Tsypina, S. G. Shevchenko, U. V. Ulienkova, etc.), identified a number of specific features in their cognitive, personal, emotional-volitional sphere and behavior. The following main features of children with mental retardation are noted: increased exhaustion and, as a result, low performance, immaturity of emotions, weakness of will, psychopathic behavior, limited reserve general information and ideas, poor vocabulary, difficulties in sound analysis, lack of development of intellectual skills.

Game activity is also not fully formed. Perception is characterized by slowness. In thinking, a lack of verbal and logical operations is revealed. When a task is presented in a visually effective way, the quality of its implementation improves significantly. To assess the level of development of thinking during a psychological and pedagogical examination, it is necessary to compare the results of the child’s work with verbal, logical and visually effective material. These children suffer from all types of memory and lack the ability to use aids for memorization.

A longer period is required to receive and process sensory information. Attention is unstable. In addition, there is a low skill of self-control, which is especially evident in the process of activity. By the beginning of school, these children, as a rule, have not formed the basic mental operations - analysis, synthesis, comparison, generalization; they do not know how to navigate the task, do not plan their activities, and do not retain the terms of the task. But, unlike the mentally retarded, they have higher learning ability, they use help better and are able to apply the shown method of action when performing similar tasks.

When examining reading, writing, and counting, they often reveal errors of the same type as the mentally retarded, but nevertheless they have qualitative differences. Thus, with poor reading technique, children with mental retardation always try to understand what they read, resorting, if necessary, to repeated reading. People with mental retardation have no desire to understand, so their retelling may be inconsistent and illogical. The letter notes unsatisfactory calligraphy skills, negligence, etc., which, according to experts, may be due to underdevelopment of motor skills and spatial perception. Sound analysis is difficult for children with mental retardation.

In the mentally retarded, all these shortcomings are more severely expressed. In mathematics, there are difficulties in mastering the composition of numbers, counting by passing through ten, in solving problems with indirect questions, etc., but the help here is more effective than for the mentally retarded. Taking this into account, when making differentiated diagnostics, it is necessary to conduct an examination of children in the form of a teaching experiment. These are some of the characteristics of children with mental retardation, who are often referred to medical and pedagogical commissions. An apparent similarity with mental retardation may also occur when the activity of the analyzers is disrupted.

These disorders create certain difficulties in the cognitive activity of children, and in a school environment they give rise to poor performance. Therefore, distinguishing these disorders from mental retardation is an urgent task. Even minor dysfunctions of the analyzers can lead to an incomplete and sometimes distorted reflection of the external world, to an impoverished range of ideas, and inappropriate behavior if the compensatory capabilities of the central nervous system and special technical means ( hearing aids, glasses, etc.). Thus, hearing loss can cause certain difficulties when a child is studying at school, especially when mastering literacy. Children with reduced vision do not see lines, confuse images that are similar in outline, etc. Inappropriate requirements quickly tire the child, make learning unsuccessful in normal school conditions, worsening his general condition. Children with visual and hearing defects find themselves helpless in simple situations and give the impression of being mentally retarded. But if you offer a hearing-impaired person a task of a logical nature that does not require perfect hearing from him (classification, arranging pictures taking into account cause-and-effect relationships, etc.), and the visually impaired person offers corresponding oral tasks, then they will complete them.

When distinguishing conditions caused by disturbances of analyzers from mental retardation, it is necessary to find out what primarily dominates the lag: mental retardation is the leading and primary defect, and decreased hearing and vision only accompany it, or the lag occurred as a result of dysfunction of the analyzers. It is important to consider the time of damage to the analyzer. The earlier the disease process occurred, the more severe consequences. Depending on the diagnosis, the question of what special school the child needs will be decided. In addition, it is very important to separate normal children with speech disorders from mentally retarded children, for whom speech disorders are one of the characteristic features. Known different types speech disorders having varying degrees severity depending on the strength and time of the lesion.

These are children with normal intelligence, but who have difficulty mastering reading and writing, and some of them have general underdevelopment of speech. While the auditory analyzer is intact, these children suffer from phonemic hearing, which leads to difficulties in learning (they do not clearly perceive spoken speech, do not differentiate similar sounds, so sound-letter analysis is difficult, etc.).

For severe violations phonemic hearing underdevelopment of the entire speech function occurs. Pronunciation problems also affect literacy acquisition. All this should be taken into account when conducting a speech therapy examination. The preservation of the intelligence of children with speech impairments is clearly visible when performing tasks that do not require the participation of speech (visual techniques with “non-speech” instructions). These children have a lively reaction and adequate behavior. This is what primarily distinguishes them from the mentally retarded. All of the listed temporary difficulties in cognitive activity and disorders of the central nervous system, if the attention of the school and family is not promptly drawn to them, can lead to the so-called pedagogical neglect, which is most often identified with mental retardation.

The difficulty in determining mental retardation lies in the fact that, unlike other anomalies (deafness, blindness), for mental retardation there is no absolutely objective criterion, no scale by which it could be measured.

Specifics of development in the preschool period and typical difficulties in initial period school education. In children of primary school age with mental retardation, playing according to the rules consisted of separate, poorly connected fragments. The complication of the rules of the game and their intellectualization often led to its collapse. When completing the task, the children paid attention not to the content of the task, but to the facial expressions and gestures of the teacher. The process was interrupted by questions about the proposed mark. The most attractive tasks for them were those in a playful form. During lessons, these children are restless, do not obey the requirements of discipline, in response to comments they promise to improve, but immediately forget. In conversation they easily and openly express a negative attitude towards school.

Further dynamics of development and learning at school; prognostically favorable factors. The situation of systematic failure, which children with mental retardation find themselves in when entering school, is aggravated by mass school, negatively affects their further intellectual development, contributes to their abnormal personality formation.

Non-state educational institution

higher professional education

"Moscow Institute of Modern Academic Education"

Federal Institute for Advanced Training and Retraining

Faculty of Additional Professional Education

Independent work

by discipline: " Special psychology»

on topic:

"Peculiarities

mental development of children with mental retardation"

Completed:

Student of the Faculty of Further Education

Andreeva A.Sh.

Moscow, 2016

List of questions:

What is the rate of mental development?

Expand the concept of mental retardation as an extreme variant of the norm.

What are the main features of mental retardation of constitutional, somatogenic, cerebral-organic origin?

What are the learning conditions necessary for children with mental retardation?

Clearly define what is meant by age norm? How do age and individual characteristics of a child’s development correlate?

In what cases can we talk about abnormal development? Which children are considered abnormal?

What, according to L.S. Vygotsky, determines the process of child formation?

1. RATE OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT the degree of speed of a person’s personal changes. The psyche is constantly changing and developing. This is a diochronic (dio - through, chronos - time) system. This includes, for example, the natural sequence of development of intelligence described by J. Piaget (1896-1980). According to V.D. Shardakov, the heterochronic system also exists in mastering professional activities. In the process of mental development, stages of increasing functions alternate with stages of stabilization. This is how the transition of quantitative changes into qualitative occurs. The process of development of different aspects of a holistic personality, levels of its individual consciousness also occurs unevenly. Therefore, a personality can combine maturity in some relationships and infantilism in others. An integral characteristic of physical and mental development is the speed of change. According to this criterion, people can be divided into three groups: 1) with accelerated development (approximately 25%), 2) with uniform (50%) and 3) with slow development (25%).

2. The concept of “mental retardation” used in relation to children with minimal organic damage or functional insufficiency of the central nervous system, as well as those who have been in conditions of social deprivation for a long time. They are characterized by immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere and underdevelopment of cognitive activity, which has its own qualitative characteristics, compensated under the influence of temporary, therapeutic and pedagogical factors.

Mental retardation is an extreme variant of the norm, one of the types of dysontogenesis (disorders of ontogenetic development). Children with this diagnosis develop more slowly than their peers over several age periods.

ZPR is not a persistent and irreversible type of mental underdevelopment: it is a temporary slowdown in the rate of development. The lag is overcome with age, and the more successfully the earlier correctional work with the child begins. Timely diagnosis and the creation of special conditions for education and training are very important. Best results in correctional work can be obtained when the child has not yet reached primary school age.

3. Features of diagnostics of children with mental retardation. One of the main psychological and pedagogical problems is the diagnosis of children with learning difficulties.

Children with mental retardation who come to school begin to experience learning difficulties. They lack the development of certain mental functions, abilities, skills, they do not keep up with other students, because they do not have enough knowledge to master the material given in secondary school. Such children will not be able to master general school material without special help.

ZPR of constitutional origin

With this type of mental development delay, the emotional-volitional sphere of the child is at an earlier stage of physical and mental development. There is a predominance of gaming motivation of behavior, superficiality of ideas, and easy suggestibility. Such children, even when studying at a comprehensive school, retain the priority of gaming interests. With this form of mental retardation, harmonious infantilism can be considered the main form of mental infantilism, in which underdevelopment in the emotional-volitional sphere is most pronounced. Scientists note that harmonious infantilism can often be found in twins, this may indicate a connection between this pathology and the development of multiple births. Education of children with this type of mental retardation should take place in a special correctional school.

ZPR of somatogenic origin

The causes of this type of mental development delay are various chronic diseases, infections, childhood neuroses, congenital and acquired malformations of the somatic system. With this form of mental retardation, children may have a persistent asthenic manifestation, which reduces not only the physical status, but also the psychological balance of the child. Children are characterized by fearfulness, shyness, and lack of self-confidence. Children in this category of mental retardation have little contact with their peers due to the guardianship of their parents, who try to protect their children from what they think is unnecessary communication, so they have a low threshold for interpersonal connections.

With this type of mental retardation, children need treatment in special sanatoriums. The further development and education of these children depends on their health status.

ZPR of cerebral-organic origin.

This type of mental retardation is more common than others. Often has the brightness and persistence of disturbances in the emotional-volitional sphere and cognitive activity of the child. In this category of children, the presence of mild organic insufficiency of the nervous system predominates. This type of mental retardation can be pathologically influenced by pregnancy toxicosis, infectious diseases, trauma, Rh conflict, etc. Children with this type of mental retardation are characterized by emotional-volitional immaturity.

4. Conditions for teaching children with mental retardation

1. Correspondence of the pace, volume and complexity of the curriculum to the child’s real cognitive capabilities, the level of development of his cognitive sphere, level of preparedness, i.e., already acquired knowledge and skills.

2. Purposeful development of general intellectual activity (the ability to understand educational tasks, navigate conditions, comprehend information).

3. Cooperation with adults, the teacher providing the necessary assistance to the child, taking into account his individual problems.

4. Individual dosed assistance to the student, solving diagnostic problems.

5. Development in the child of sensitivity to help, the ability to perceive and accept help.

6.Low class size (10-12 people).

7. Gentle operating mode, compliance with hygienic and valeological requirements.

8. Organization of classes for correctional and developmental education within the walls of a public school.

9. A teacher specially trained in the field of correctional pedagogy (special pedagogy and correctional psychology) is a teacher who is able to create a special friendly, trusting atmosphere in the classroom.

10. Creating a feeling of security and emotional comfort in an underachieving student.

11. Unconditional personal support of the student by school teachers.

12. Interaction and mutual assistance of children in the process of learning activities. 13. Confidence in unconditional acceptance of oneself as an individual and positive relationships with peers.

Correction of individual developmental deficiencies is carried out in the following individual and group correctional classes:

General developmental (correction of memory, attention, speech, vocabulary, etc.);

Subject-oriented (preparing for the perception of difficult topics in programs, filling gaps in knowledge);

Classes on the formation of meaningful educational motivation, development of cognitive interests, creative activity of the child, personal qualities.

5. Age norm- indicators of the intellectual and personal development of the schoolchild (psychological new formations), which should be formed by the end of a certain age stage;

When accounting age characteristics For the development of children, the teacher largely relies on generalized data from pedagogy and developmental psychology. As for individual differences and the characteristics of the upbringing of individual children, here he has to rely only on this material, which he receives in the process of personal study of the pupils.

6. Abnormal development- disruption of the general course of human development as a result of any physical or mental defects. The term “anomalous” is based on the Greek word “anomalos”, which translated into Russian means “wrong”. Children who, as a result of a mental or physiological abnormality, have a disturbance in their general development are considered abnormal. The main categories of abnormal children include children: 1) with hearing impairment (deaf, hard of hearing, late deaf); 2) with visual impairment (blind, visually impaired); 3) with severe impairments speech development; 4) with intellectual development disorders (children with mental retardation, mentally retarded children); 5) with complex disorders of psychophysiological development (deaf-blind, blind, mentally retarded, deaf, mentally retarded, etc.); 6) with musculoskeletal disorders.

In addition to the listed groups, there are other groups of children with developmental disabilities: 1) children with psychopathic-like forms of behavior; 2) children with difficulties in adapting to school, suffering from so-called school neuroses; 3) gifted children who require special attention from teachers and psychologists.

7 . According to L.S. Vygotsky, the process of child formation is determined“the unity of the material and mental aspects, the unity of social and personal when a child ascends the stages of development.” Each age stage of child development is characterized by its own neoplasms. By age-related neoplasm, the psychologist understood: “that new type of personality structure and its activity, those mental and social changes that first appear at a given age stage and which in the most important and fundamental way determine the child’s consciousness, his attitude to the environment, his internal and external life , the entire course of its development in a given period." In fact, L. S. Vygotsky sought to find a holistic characteristic of development that would make it possible to explain its features at a specific stage.

Mental retardation(ZPR) is a lag in the development of mental processes and immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere in children, which can potentially be overcome with the help of specially organized training and upbringing. Mental retardation is characterized by an insufficient level of development of motor skills, speech, attention, memory, thinking, regulation and self-regulation of behavior, primitiveness and instability of emotions, and poor school performance. Diagnosis of mental retardation is carried out jointly by a commission consisting of medical specialists, teachers and psychologists. Children with mental retardation need specially organized correctional and developmental education and medical support.

General information

Mental retardation (MDD) is a reversible disorder of the intellectual, emotional and volitional sphere, accompanied by specific learning difficulties. The number of people with mental retardation reaches 15-16% in the child population. ZPR is largely a psychological and pedagogical category, but it may be based on organic disorders, so this condition is also considered by medical disciplines - primarily pediatrics and child neurology. Since the development of various mental functions in children occurs unevenly, usually the conclusion “mental retardation” is established for preschool children no earlier than 4-5 years old, and in practice - more often during schooling.

Causes of mental retardation (MDD)

The etiological basis of mental retardation is biological and socio-psychological factors that lead to a delay in the child’s intellectual and emotional development.

Biological factors (severe organic damage to the central nervous system of a local nature and their residual effects) cause disruption of maturation various departments brain, which is accompanied by partial disorders of the child’s mental development and activity. Among the causes of a biological nature that operate in the perinatal period and cause mental retardation, the most important are the pathology of pregnancy (severe toxicosis, Rh conflict, fetal hypoxia, etc.), intrauterine infections, intracranial birth injuries, prematurity, kernicterus of newborns, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc., leading to the so-called perinatal encephalopathy. In the postnatal period and early childhood mental retardation can be caused by severe somatic diseases of the child (hypotrophy, influenza, neuroinfections, rickets), traumatic brain injuries, epilepsy and epileptic encephalopathy, etc. Mental retardation sometimes has a hereditary nature and is diagnosed in some families from generation to generation.

Mental retardation can occur under the influence of environmental (social) factors, which, however, does not exclude the presence of an initial organic basis for the disorder. Most often, children with mental retardation grow up in conditions of hypo-care (neglect) or hyper-care, authoritarian upbringing, social deprivation, and lack of communication with peers and adults.

Delayed mental development of a secondary nature can develop with early hearing and vision impairments, speech defects due to a pronounced deficit of sensory information and communication.

Classification of mental development delay (MDD)

The group of children with mental retardation is heterogeneous. In special psychology, many classifications of mental retardation have been proposed. Let's consider the etiopathogenetic classification proposed by K. S. Lebedinskaya, which identifies 4 clinical types of mental retardation.

ZPR of constitutional origin due to slower maturation of the central nervous system. Characterized by harmonious mental and psychophysical infantilism. With mental infantilism, the child behaves like a younger person; with psycho-physical infantilism, the emotional-volitional sphere suffers and physical development. Anthropometric data and behavior of such children do not correspond to their chronological age. They are emotionally labile, spontaneous, and have insufficient attention and memory. Even in school age their gaming interests predominate.

ZPR of somatogenic origin is caused by severe and long-term somatic diseases of the child at an early age, which inevitably delay the maturation and development of the central nervous system. The history of children with somatogenic mental retardation often includes bronchial asthma, chronic dyspepsia, cardiovascular and renal failure, pneumonia, etc. Typically, such children are treated in hospitals for a long time, which in addition also causes sensory deprivation. ZPR of somatogenic genesis is manifested by asthenic syndrome, low performance of the child, less memory, superficial attention, poorly developed activity skills, hyperactivity or lethargy due to overwork.

ZPR of psychogenic origin is caused by unfavorable social conditions in which the child lives (neglect, overprotection, abuse). Lack of attention to the child creates mental instability, impulsiveness, and retardation in intellectual development. Excessive care fosters in a child lack of initiative, egocentrism, lack of will, and lack of purposefulness.

ZPR of cerebral-organic origin occurs most often. Caused by primary mild organic damage to the brain. In this case, disorders may affect individual areas of the psyche or manifest themselves mosaically in different mental areas. Delayed mental development of cerebral-organic origin is characterized by immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere and cognitive activity: lack of liveliness and brightness of emotions, low level claims, pronounced suggestibility, poverty of imagination, motor disinhibition, etc.

Characteristics of children with mental retardation (MDD)

The personal sphere in children with mental retardation is characterized by emotional lability, easy mood swings, suggestibility, lack of initiative, lack of will, immaturity of the personality as a whole. May be marked affective reactions, aggressiveness, conflict, increased anxiety. Children with mental retardation are often withdrawn, prefer to play alone, and do not seek contact with peers. The play activities of children with mental retardation are characterized by monotony and stereotyping, lack of a detailed plot, lack of imagination, and non-compliance with game rules. Features of motor skills include motor clumsiness, lack of coordination, and often hyperkinesis and tics.

A feature of mental retardation is that compensation and reversibility of disorders are possible only under conditions of special training and education.

Diagnosis of mental development delay (MDD)

Mental retardation can only be diagnosed as a result of a comprehensive examination of the child by a psychological-medical-pedagogical commission (PMPC) consisting of a child psychologist, speech therapist, speech pathologist, pediatrician, child neurologist, psychiatrist, etc. At the same time, anamnesis is collected and studied, conditions are analyzed life, neuropsychological testing, diagnostic speech examination, study medical documentation child. It is mandatory to have a conversation with the child, a study of intellectual processes and emotional-volitional qualities.

Based on information about the child’s development, members of the PMPK make a conclusion about the presence of mental retardation and give recommendations on organizing the upbringing and education of the child in special educational institutions.

In order to identify the organic substrate of mental development delay, the child needs to be examined by medical specialists, primarily a pediatrician and a pediatric neurologist. Instrumental diagnostics may include EEG, CT and MRI of the child’s brain, etc. Differential diagnosis of mental retardation should be carried out with mental retardation and autism.

Correction of mental retardation (MDD)

Working with children with mental retardation requires a multidisciplinary approach and the active participation of pediatricians, child neurologists, child psychologists, psychiatrists, speech therapists, and speech pathologists. Correction of mental retardation should begin with preschool age and lasts for a long time.

Children with mental retardation must attend specialized preschool educational institutions (or groups), type VII schools or correctional classes secondary schools. Peculiarities of teaching children with mental retardation include dosage educational material, reliance on visibility, repeated repetition, frequent change of activities, use of health-saving technologies.

When working with such children, special attention is paid to the development cognitive processes(perception, attention, memory, thinking); emotional, sensory and motor spheres with the help of fairy tale therapy. Correction of speech disorders in mental retardation is carried out by a speech therapist in individual and group lessons. Together with teachers, correctional work on teaching students with mental retardation is carried out by special education teachers, psychologists, and social educators.

Medical care for children with mental retardation includes drug therapy in accordance with the identified somatic and cerebral-organic disorders, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, massage, hydrotherapy.

Forecast and prevention of mental retardation (MDD)

The lag in the rate of mental development of the child from age standards can and must be overcome. Children with mental retardation are teachable, and with properly organized correctional work, positive dynamics are observed in their development. With the help of teachers, they are able to acquire knowledge, skills and abilities that their normally developing peers master on their own. After graduating from school, they can continue their education at vocational schools, colleges and even universities.

Prevention of mental retardation in a child involves careful planning of pregnancy, avoidance of adverse effects on the fetus, prevention of infectious and somatic diseases in children early age, providing favorable conditions for education and development. If a child is lagging behind in psychomotor development, an immediate examination by specialists and the organization of corrective work are necessary.