Mental retardation (oligophrenia). Treatment, correction and education of children with mental retardation. Rehabilitation and prognosis for mental retardation. Teaching mentally retarded children
Clinic and etiology of mental retardation
Under the concept mental retardation combined numerous and diverse forms of pathology, manifested in the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere.
Mental retardation refers to developmental diseases - dysontogenies. Accordingly, it can occur only when the developing brain is damaged, i.e. in the prenatal period, during childbirth, at an early and younger age (up to three years)
Mental retardation should be understood as the general underdevelopment of the child's psyche, in which the central and decisive place is occupied by the underdevelopment of cognitive activity and other higher mental functions. The time of onset of mental retardation is limited to intrauterine, natural and the first three years of postnatal life. The structure of the defect is characterized by the totality and relative uniformity of the underdevelopment of different aspects of the psyche.
Most frequent exogenous the cause of postnatal mental retardation are neuroinfections, mainly encephalitis and meningoencephalitis, as well as parainfectious incephalitis. Less commonly, the cause of mental retardation is postnatal intoxication and traumatic brain injury. Exogenous forms account for at least half of all defects in the development of the cognitive sphere that have arisen after the birth of a child.
Modern research in the field of the etiology of mental retardation indicates that the leading role in the origin of mental retardation belongs to genetic factors. Numerous and varied changes in the genetic apparatus (mutations) are responsible for approximately ¾ of all cases of underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere in children.
Mutations can be chromosomal or gene. The most common and well-known chromosomal form of oligophrenia is Down's disease, which occurs in 9-10% of all mentally retarded children. In chromosomal forms of oligophrenia, a pronounced and profound underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere is most often observed.
Gene mutations can affect one single gene, or a group of weakly acting genes that control the same trait.
Thus, according to etiology, all cases of mental retardation are divided into exogenous and genetic. It must be remembered that in the process of development and life of the organism, genetic and exogenous factors are in a complex interaction. In mental retardation, for example, those exogenous factors that are not the direct cause of the underdevelopment of the child's brain may contribute to the detection of genetic defects or aggravate the manifestations of a hereditary disease. Additional exogenies can introduce new, unusual symptoms into the clinical picture of hereditary mental retardation.
The above data indicate that defects in the development of the cognitive sphere are extremely heterogeneous in origin. Accordingly, there may be numerous various mechanisms that disrupt the formation and development of the brain, as well as a large number of independent nosological forms of mental retardation. Common to all forms of pathology included in this group of developmental anomalies is an intellectual defect of one degree or another, which determines the degree of underdevelopment of the entire psyche of the child as a whole, his adaptive capabilities, his entire personality.
The clinical picture of defects in the development of the cognitive sphere consists of the characteristics of the psychopathological, neurological and somatic symptoms present in children. Those forms in which there are clearly defined specific somatic manifestations that make it possible to establish a nosological diagnosis based on clinical data, and those in which the nosological form of the disease can be established using modern methods of special laboratory studies, are called differentiated forms of mental retardation.
Uncomplicated forms of mental retardation are characterized by the absence of additional psychopathological disorders. An intellectual defect in these children, as well as in all mentally retarded children, is manifested primarily by disturbances in thinking: stiffness, the establishment of mainly private concrete connections, and an inability to distract. Inevitably, the prerequisites for intellectual activity also suffer. Attention is characterized by insufficient arbitrariness and purposefulness, narrowing of the volume, difficulty in concentrating, as well as switching. Often, with a good ability for rote memorization, there is a weakness in semantic and especially associative memory. New information is assimilated with great difficulty. To memorize new material, multiple repetitions and reinforcement with specific examples are required. Nevertheless, children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually characterized by fairly stable working capacity and more or less satisfactory productivity.
The level of speech underdevelopment in most children with uncomplicated mental retardation corresponds to the degree of their intellectual defect. They do not have local speech disorders, but there is always a general underdevelopment of speech, manifested by the scarcity of an active vocabulary, simplified construction of phrases, agrammatisms, and often tongue-tied speech. Along with this, some children can observe an outwardly good level of speech development with an apparent richness of vocabulary, the correct construction of phrases, and expressive intonations. However, already at the first examination it becomes clear that outwardly correct phrases are memorized speech clichés.
The underdevelopment of motor skills is manifested mainly by the insufficiency of precise and subtle movements, especially small ones, by the slow development of the motor action formula. In addition, most mentally retarded children have insufficient muscle strength. Therefore, the importance of physical education for such children is great.
Severe behavioral disorders in children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually not observed. With adequate upbringing, children with a slight intellectual defect easily master the correct forms of behavior and, to some extent, can control their actions.
General underdevelopment of the personality is characteristic of all children with general mental underdevelopment.
Thus, in uncomplicated forms of mental retardation, the pedagogical prognosis depends mainly on the degree and structure of the defect and the compensatory capabilities of the child.
Complicated forms are characterized by the presence of additional psychopathological disorders that adversely affect the child's intellectual activity and the success of his education.
According to the nature of additional symptoms, all complicated forms of mental retardation can be divided into three groups:
1. With cerebrastonic or hypertensive syndromes;
2. With severe behavioral disorders;
3. With emotional-volitional disorders.
This division mainly reflects that. Which of the additional psychopathological syndromes occupies a leading place in the clinical picture of the disease.
In children of the first group, mainly intellectual activity suffers.
Cerebrastonic syndrome is a syndrome of irritable weakness. It is based on increased exhaustion of the nerve cell. It is manifested by general mental intolerance, inability to long-term stress, to long-term concentration of attention.
Hypertension syndrome - a syndrome of increased intracranial pressure - occurs in connection with liquorodynamic disorders that develop as a result of an organic lesion of the central nervous system or a congenital defect in the liquor system of the brain. An increase in intracranial pressure is accompanied by headaches, often dizziness and a violation of the general well-being of the child. Exhaustion increases and the performance of the child sharply decreases. In such children, peculiar disturbances of attention are noted: weakness of concentration, increased distractibility. Often memory is impaired. Children become motor disinhibited, restless or lethargic. Emotional lability and the phenomena of vegetative-vascular dystonia are clearly expressed. School performance is declining markedly.
In children of the second group, behavioral disorders, which manifest themselves in the form of hyperdynamic and psychopathic syndromes, come to the fore in the clinical picture of the disease.
Hyperdynamic syndrome is characterized by pronounced prolonged anxiety with an abundance of unnecessary movements, restlessness, talkativeness, and often impulsiveness. In severe cases, the child's behavior is not amenable to self-control and external correction. Hyperdynamic syndrome is also difficult to treat with medication.
Psychopathic syndrome is usually observed in children with mental retardation due to traumatic brain injuries or neuroinfections. It is based on deep personality disorders with disinhibition, and sometimes with a perversion of gross primitive drives. Behavioral disorders in these children are so gross that they occupy a central place in the clinical picture of the disease, and the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere, as it were, exacerbates their manifestations.
In children of the third group, in addition to mental retardation, disorders of the emotional-volitional sphere are observed. They can manifest themselves in the form of increased emotional excitability, unmotivated mood swings, a decrease in emotional tone and motivation for activity, in the form of violations of emotional contact with others.
Among the students of auxiliary schools, one can more often meet children with pseudo-autism, i.e. violation of contact due to reactive moments: fear of a new environment, new requirements, fear of a teacher, fear of aggressiveness of children.
In addition, complicated forms also include mental retardation with local cerebral disorders: local underdevelopment or speech disorder, local spatial or frontal disorders, local movement disorders (ICP).
Clinic and etiology of mental retardation Under the concept of mental retardation, numerous and diverse forms of pathology are combined, manifested in the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere. Mental retardation refers to developmental diseases - dysontogenies. Accordingly, it can occur only when the developing brain is damaged, i.e. in the prenatal period, during childbirth, at an early and younger age (up to three years). Mental retardation should be understood as the general underdevelopment of the child's psyche, in which the underdevelopment of cognitive activity and other higher mental functions occupies a central and decisive place. The time of onset of mental retardation is limited to intrauterine, natural and the first three years of postnatal life. The structure of the defect is characterized by the totality and relative uniformity of the underdevelopment of different aspects of the psyche. The most common exogenous cause of postnatal mental retardation are neuroinfections, mainly encephalitis and meningoencephalitis, as well as parainfectious incephalitis. Less commonly, the cause of mental retardation is postnatal intoxication and traumatic brain injury. Exogenous forms account for at least half of all defects in the development of the cognitive sphere that have arisen after the birth of a child. Modern research in the field of the etiology of mental retardation indicates that the leading role in the origin of mental retardation belongs to genetic factors. Numerous and varied changes in the genetic apparatus (mutations) are responsible for approximately ½ of all cases of underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere in children. Mutations can be chromosomal or gene. The most common and well-known chromosomal form of oligophrenia is Down's disease, which occurs in 9-10% of all mentally retarded children. In chromosomal forms of oligophrenia, a pronounced and profound underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere is most often observed. Gene mutations can affect one single gene, or a group of weakly acting genes that control the same trait. Thus, according to etiology, all cases of mental retardation are divided into exogenous and genetic. It must be remembered that in the process of development and life of the organism, genetic and exogenous factors are in a complex interaction. In mental retardation, for example, those exogenous factors that are not the direct cause of the underdevelopment of the child's brain may contribute to the detection of genetic defects or aggravate the manifestations of a hereditary disease. Additional exogenies can introduce new, unusual symptoms into the clinical picture of hereditary mental retardation. The above data indicate that defects in the development of the cognitive sphere are extremely heterogeneous in origin. Accordingly, there may be numerous various mechanisms that disrupt the formation and development of the brain, as well as a large number of independent nosological forms of mental retardation. Common to all forms of pathology included in this group of developmental anomalies is an intellectual defect of one degree or another, which determines the degree of underdevelopment of the entire psyche of the child as a whole, his adaptive capabilities, his entire personality. The clinical picture of defects in the development of the cognitive sphere consists of the characteristics of the psychopathological, neurological and somatic symptoms present in children. Those forms in which there are clearly defined specific somatic manifestations that make it possible to establish a nosological diagnosis based on clinical data, and those in which the nosological form of the disease can be established using modern methods of special laboratory studies, are called differentiated forms of mental retardation. Uncomplicated forms of mental retardation are characterized by the absence of additional psychopathological disorders. An intellectual defect in these children, as well as in all mentally retarded children, is manifested primarily by disturbances in thinking: stiffness, the establishment of mainly private concrete connections, and an inability to distract. Inevitably, the prerequisites for intellectual activity also suffer. Attention is characterized by insufficient arbitrariness and purposefulness, narrowing of the volume, difficulty in concentrating, as well as switching. Often, with a good ability for rote memorization, there is a weakness in semantic and especially associative memory. New information is assimilated with great difficulty. To memorize new material, multiple repetitions and reinforcement with specific examples are required. Nevertheless, children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually characterized by fairly stable working capacity and more or less satisfactory productivity. The level of speech underdevelopment in most children with uncomplicated mental retardation corresponds to the degree of their intellectual defect. They do not have local speech disorders, but there is always a general underdevelopment of speech, manifested by the scarcity of an active vocabulary, simplified construction of phrases, agrammatisms, and often tongue-tied speech. Along with this, some children can observe an outwardly good level of speech development with an apparent richness of vocabulary, the correct construction of phrases, and expressive intonations. However, already at the first examination it becomes clear that outwardly correct phrases are memorized speech clichés. The underdevelopment of motor skills is manifested mainly by the insufficiency of precise and subtle movements, especially small ones, by the slow development of the motor action formula. In addition, most mentally retarded children have insufficient muscle strength. Therefore, the importance of physical education for such children is great. Severe behavioral disorders in children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually not observed. With adequate upbringing, children with a slight intellectual defect easily master the correct forms of behavior and, to some extent, can control their actions. General underdevelopment of the personality is characteristic of all children with general mental underdevelopment. Thus, in uncomplicated forms of mental retardation, the pedagogical prognosis depends mainly on the degree and structure of the defect and the compensatory capabilities of the child. Complicated forms are characterized by the presence of additional psychopathological disorders that adversely affect the child's intellectual activity and the success of his education. According to the nature of additional symptoms, all complicated forms of mental retardation can be divided into three groups: 1. With cerebrastonic or hypertensive syndromes; 2. With severe behavioral disorders; 3. With emotional-volitional disorders. This division mainly reflects that. Which of the additional psychopathological syndromes occupies a leading place in the clinical picture of the disease. In children of the first group, mainly intellectual activity suffers. Cerebrastonic syndrome is a syndrome of irritable weakness. It is based on increased exhaustion of the nerve cell. It is manifested by general mental intolerance, inability to long-term stress, to long-term concentration of attention. Hypertension syndrome - a syndrome of increased intracranial pressure - occurs in connection with liquorodynamic disorders that develop as a result of an organic lesion of the central nervous system or a congenital defect in the liquor system of the brain. An increase in intracranial pressure is accompanied by headaches, often dizziness and a violation of the general well-being of the child. Exhaustion increases and the performance of the child sharply decreases. In such children, peculiar disturbances of attention are noted: weakness of concentration, increased distractibility. Often memory is impaired. Children become motor disinhibited, restless or lethargic. Emotional lability and the phenomena of vegetative-vascular dystonia are clearly expressed. School performance is declining markedly. In children of the second group, behavioral disorders, which manifest themselves in the form of hyperdynamic and psychopathic syndromes, come to the fore in the clinical picture of the disease. Hyperdynamic syndrome is characterized by pronounced prolonged anxiety with an abundance of unnecessary movements, restlessness, talkativeness, and often impulsiveness. In severe cases, the child's behavior is not amenable to self-control and external correction. Hyperdynamic syndrome is also difficult to treat with medication. Psychopathic syndrome is usually observed in children with mental retardation due to traumatic brain injuries or neuroinfections. It is based on deep personality disorders with disinhibition, and sometimes with a perversion of gross primitive drives. Behavioral disorders in these children are so gross that they occupy a central place in the clinical picture of the disease, and the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere, as it were, exacerbates their manifestations. In children of the third group, in addition to mental retardation, disorders of the emotional-volitional sphere are observed. They can manifest themselves in the form of increased emotional excitability, unmotivated mood swings, a decrease in emotional tone and motivation for activity, in the form of violations of emotional contact with others. Among the students of auxiliary schools, one can more often meet children with pseudo-autism, i.e. violation of contact due to reactive moments: fear of a new environment, new requirements, fear of a teacher, fear of aggressiveness of children. In addition, complicated forms also include mental retardation with local cerebral disorders: local underdevelopment or speech disorder, local spatial or frontal disorders, local movement disorders (ICP). In addition to complicated forms, there are also atypical forms of mental retardation. 1. Epileptic seizures occur in mentally retarded children much more often than in intellectually complete children, and the more often, the deeper the underdevelopment of the child. 2. The group of mental retardation with endocrine disorders includes a significant number of different defects in the development of the cognitive sphere, in which, in addition to an intellectual defect, primary endocrine or secondary - cerebro-endocrine disorders are observed. 3. Disorders of the visual and auditory analyzer negatively affect the compensatory and adaptive capabilities of a mentally retarded child and complicate his learning. Thus, according to clinical manifestations, all cases of mental retardation are divided into uncomplicated, complicated and atypical. Psychological features of mentally retarded schoolchildren Auxiliary school sets three main tasks for the defectologist teacher - to give students knowledge, skills in general subjects and work, to cultivate positive personal qualities in them - honesty. Truthfulness, benevolence towards others, love and respect for work, correct their defects and thus prepare them for social adaptation, for life among normal people. Mentally retarded (feeble-minded) children are the most numerous category of abnormal children. They make up approximately 1-3% of the total child population. The concept of a mentally retarded child includes a rather heterogeneous mass of children who are united by the presence of brain damage, which is of a widespread nature. The overwhelming majority of all mentally retarded children - pupils of the auxiliary school - are oligophrenic children. With oligophrenia, organic brain failure is residual, not aggravated, which gives grounds for an optimistic prognosis. Such children make up the main contingent of the auxiliary school. Mental retardation that occurs later than the full development of the child's speech is relatively rare. It is not included in the concept of oligophrenia. Already in the preschool period of life, the painful processes that took place in the brain of an oligophrenic child stop. The child becomes practically healthy, capable of mental development. However, this development is carried out abnormally, since its biological basis is pathological. Oligophrenic children are characterized by persistent disturbances in all mental activity, which are especially clearly manifested in the sphere of cognitive processes. Moreover, there is not only a lag behind the norm, but also a deep originality of personal manifestations and cognition. Thus, mentally retarded children can in no way be equated with normally developing younger children. They are different in many ways. Oligophrenic children are capable of development, which essentially distinguishes them from weak-minded children of all progressive forms of mental retardation, and although their development is slow, atypical, with many, sometimes sharp deviations, nevertheless, it is a progressive process that introduces qualitative changes in the mental activity of children, in their personal sphere. Didactic principles of the auxiliary school Distinguish the following principles of education: - educational and developmental orientation of education; - scientific character and accessibility of education; - systematic and consistent training; - the connection of learning with life; - the principle of correction in training; - the principle of visibility; - Consciousness and activity of students; - individual and differentiated approach; - the strength of knowledge, skills and abilities. 1. Educational and developmental orientation of education The process of education in the auxiliary school is primarily aimed at developing students' various knowledge, skills and abilities, but, of course, the education and development of students takes place during training. The educative orientation of education in the auxiliary school consists in the formation of moral ideas and concepts in students, adequate ways of behaving in society. This is realized in the content of the educational material and in the appropriate organization of the activities of students in and out of school. In the curriculum, two groups of subjects can be distinguished, which especially clearly contribute to the educational orientation of education. On the one hand, these are educational subjects, the content of which includes material that reflects the heroism of our people in defending the Motherland and in peaceful construction, telling about the riches of the native land and the need to protect native nature, about working people, some professions, etc. These subjects (explanatory reading, history, geography, natural science) provide material for educating students in words. However, this work must be linked with socially useful activities for the protection of nature and monuments of history, culture, local history work, etc. desire to be a useful person in society. In addition, there are academic subjects that contribute to aesthetic and physical education (physical education, drawing, singing and music, rhythm). To solve the problems of preparing mentally retarded schoolchildren for independent life and work, a well-thought-out and clear organization and a high methodological level of conducting classes on work, industrial practice, good technical equipment of workshops, the presence of basic enterprises in the profile of education, and appropriate training of teachers are of great importance. The developmental nature of education in the auxiliary school is to promote the overall mental and physical development of students. In the context of ever-increasing requirements for the level of preparation of mentally retarded schoolchildren for life, the focus of education on their overall development is of particular importance. However, the development of mentally retarded schoolchildren cannot be sufficiently successful without correcting their thinking and disturbing their psychophysical functions. Therefore, education in the auxiliary school is of a corrective developmental nature. However, the developmental orientation of education should be distinguished from the correctional orientation. In the process of correction, the development of a mentally retarded child always occurs, but development may not be associated with correction. The development of mentally retarded schoolchildren requires special conditions, the most important of which is their education in an auxiliary school or other conditions adequate to their abilities, taking into account the psychophysical features of the development of this group of abnormal children. The implementation of developmental learning involves improving the quality of lessons by including students in active learning activities and developing their cognitive activity and independence. The educational and correctional orientation of education permeates the entire educational process. 2. Scientific character and accessibility of education The principle of scientific character in general pedagogy presupposes reflection of modern achievements of science. Prospects for its development in each academic subject. The content of education in the auxiliary school is elementary and practical. Despite the elementary level of knowledge that mentally retarded students need to learn, they must be scientific, not contradict objective scientific knowledge. The principle of scientific character is realized, first of all, in the development of programs and compilation of textbooks, as well as in the activities of teachers and educators. It is known that mentally retarded schoolchildren may develop incorrect and sometimes false ideas about the surrounding reality, since they are not able to understand the essence of phenomena in abstraction from external, random signs and connections. Therefore, from the very beginning of students' admission to an auxiliary school, it is necessary to help them learn about the world around them from scientific positions, in accordance with reality. The principle of scientificity is closely related to the principle of accessibility, because in the end, mentally retarded students can only assimilate the material that is available to them. The principle of accessibility involves building the education of mentally retarded schoolchildren at the level of their real learning opportunities. Many years of practice and scientific research show that the educational opportunities of students in auxiliary schools are very different. These differences are based on objective reasons, consisting in the heterogeneity, degree and nature of the manifestations of the main and concomitant defects in the development of children. In this regard, the implementation of the principle of accessibility in the auxiliary school is distinguished by a certain peculiarity: on the one hand, it is assumed that students with different learning opportunities have an unequal degree of assimilation of the program material, on the other hand, the need to differentiate them in teaching in order to increase the level of assimilation of the program material is determined. The principle of accessibility, as well as the principle of scientific character, is implemented, first of all, in the development of curricula and textbooks. The content of instruction for mentally retarded schoolchildren is determined on the basis of its verification in many years of practice in the work of an auxiliary school. The content of teaching individual subjects is continuously improved, the scope of knowledge, skills and abilities is specified by years of study based on the results of scientific research and best practices. The principle of accessibility is also implemented in the constant activities of teachers through the use of appropriate methods and methodological techniques. It is known that the use of the most successful methodological system can make educational material relatively difficult for mentally retarded schoolchildren accessible. 3. Systematicity and consistency in teaching The essence of the principle of systematicity and consistency lies in the fact that the knowledge that students acquire at school must be brought into a certain logical system in order to be able to use it, i.e. more successful in practice. For an auxiliary school, this principle is of great importance because mentally retarded schoolchildren are characterized by inaccuracy, incompleteness or fragmentation of the acquired knowledge, they experience certain difficulties in their reproduction and use in practical activities. The principle of systematicity and consistency is implemented both in the development of curricula and textbooks, and in the daily work of a teacher. This implies such a choice and arrangement of educational material in programs, textbooks, in thematic plans, at each lesson, when there is a logical connection between its constituent parts, when subsequent material is based on the previous one, when the material covered prepares students for learning new things. Each subject has its own system of interrelated concepts, facts and regularities. It should be noted that the same system and logic is used in the development of the content of educational subjects in the auxiliary school as in the mass school. So, in mathematics lessons, addition and subtraction are studied before addition and division, while teaching literacy, the sounds of the native language are first studied, then letters in a certain sequence, reading is formed by syllables, and then by whole numbers. However, in some cases, the construction of the content of educational subjects of an auxiliary school has its own system, logic and sequence in the arrangement of educational material. And only when studying history, due to the fact that students experience great difficulties in understanding historical events in their sequence and in time, teachers are forced to inform them not systematic, but episodic knowledge about the most significant events from the history of our Rodia. The characteristics of mentally retarded schoolchildren correspond to a linear-concentric arrangement of educational material, when the same sections are first studied in an elementary form, and after some time, usually in the next class, the same is considered much more widely, with the involvement of new information. The content of many educational subjects is built in this way. Systematicity implies continuity in the learning process: education in the upper grades is built on a solid foundation that is laid in the lower grades, the study of each subject takes place on the basis of previous knowledge that is learned in the study of other subjects. Each section of the training material should be based on the previously studied. In the activities of a teacher, the principle of systematicity is implemented in planning the sequence of passing new educational material and in repeating previously studied material, in checking the knowledge and skills acquired by schoolchildren, and in developing a system of individual work with them. Based on this principle, it is possible to proceed to the study of new educational material only after the students have mastered the one that is being worked out at a given time. Taking into account this circumstance, the teacher makes adjustments to the previously outlined plans. 4. The connection of learning with life This principle reflects the conditionality of learning at school by social needs and the influence of the social environment on the process of learning and educating students. Its essence lies in the close interaction of the school and the public in the education and upbringing of children. In modern conditions, this principle receives a new sound. Most of the auxiliary schools are boarding schools and there is a potential danger for them of a certain isolation from the living life. Therefore, the principle of linking learning with life is given an important role in the process of teaching and educating mentally retarded schoolchildren. Indeed, after graduating from school, graduates enter an independent life and preparedness for it to a certain extent depends on how this principle is implemented in life. The implementation of this principle in the auxiliary school consists in the organization of educational work on the basis of a close and multifaceted connection with the surrounding reality, with the life, first of all, of local enterprises, organizations and institutions. This principle is also implemented by linking education with the productive work of students in the national economy. Forms of participation in this case may be different, but in all cases, high school students need to be introduced to socio-economic and legal relations in production, include them in the feasible public affairs of basic and parent companies. The special school should also actively participate in community activities. Only on the basis of the multifaceted connection of learning with the surrounding life, an auxiliary school, as an educational institution, can gain authority among the local population and the public. And this will improve the position of graduates of auxiliary schools and contribute to their more successful adaptation. In the daily activities of the teacher, this principle is implemented by using positive examples from life, including the local population, in the classroom and in extracurricular activities, but shortcomings should not be bypassed with a mandatory analysis of their causes. To strengthen the connection of learning with life, it is useful to use the media, watching television and listening to radio broadcasts. 5. The principle of correction in learning For mentally retarded children, as is known, a common main drawback is characteristic - a violation of complex forms of cognitive activity (moreover, there is an uneven violation). The emotional-volitional sphere is disturbed in a number of cases, but there are also children in whom it is relatively secure. A mentally retarded child, like any other child, grows and develops, but his development slows down from the very beginning and proceeds on a defective basis, which creates difficulties in entering a social environment designed for normally developing children. Support school education is critical to the development of mentally retarded children and their rehabilitation in society. It has been established that the greatest effect in their development is achieved in cases where the principle of correction is implemented in training, i.e. correcting the shortcomings inherent in these children. Only that teaching is good, which stimulates development, “leads it along,” and does not simply serve to enrich the child with new information that easily enters his consciousness. (L.S. Vygotsky, 1985) Thus, the principle of correction is to correct the shortcomings of the psychophysical development of mentally retarded children in the learning process through the use of special methodological techniques. As a result of the application of corrective teaching methods, some shortcomings in students are overcome, others are weakened, due to which students move faster in their development. The more a mentally retarded child advances in development, the more successfully he will master the educational material, i.e. development of students and teaching them on the basis of the principle of correction are two interrelated processes. Correction of developmental deficiencies among students of auxiliary schools is slow and uneven. - therefore, it is usually difficult for a teacher to notice shifts in the development of thought processes in students, in the formation of volitional and other personality traits. He knows well how each student mastered this or that educational material, but this is not enough to characterize the level of his progress in development. One of the indicators of the success of correctional work can be the level of independence of students in the performance of new educational and labor tasks. From psychological research it is known that the independence of schoolchildren depends on the level of formation of generalized educational and labor skills in them. Therefore, the implementation of the principle of correction in education consists in the formation of these skills in students, i.e. the ability to independently navigate the requirements for completing tasks, analyze the conditions and plan their activities, drawing on existing knowledge and experience for this, draw conclusions about the quality of the work performed. Generalized educational and labor skills are formed on the basis of specific skills for each academic subject and through systematic, purposeful work using methodological techniques specific to each subject. Not only the shortcomings of psychophysical development, common to all mentally retarded schoolchildren, but also the shortcomings characteristic of certain students (individual correction) are subject to correction. Individual correction is due to the fact that the main defect in mentally retarded children manifests itself differently and, in addition to the main one, there are concomitant defects of varying degrees. In education, this is observed in significant differences in the level of mastery of knowledge, skills and abilities by different students and in their uneven advancement in mental and physical development. To implement individual correction, it is necessary to identify the difficulties experienced by students in teaching various subjects and to establish the causes of these difficulties. Based on this, individual correction measures are developed. General and individual correction is carried out practically on the same educational material and almost at the same time. General correctional work is usually carried out frontally, individual correction - with individual students or with a small group. There may be several students in the class who require different measures of individual correction. In frontal work, it is advisable to carry out individual correction alternately, fixing attention or additionally working with one or another student. Correction of violations of the emotional-volitional sphere consists in the formation of volitional qualities of a personality in students, in the upbringing of emotions, including emotional-volitional components of behavior, which is reflected both in studies, and in work, and in relation to their comrades, teachers. 6. The principle of visibility The principle of visibility in teaching means the involvement of various visual means in the process of assimilation of knowledge by students and the formation of various skills and abilities in them. The essence of the principle of visibility is to enrich students with sensory cognitive experience necessary for the full mastery of abstract concepts. It is known that a person's sensations received from the outside world are the first stage of his knowledge. At the next stage, knowledge is acquired in the form of concepts, definitions, rules and laws. In order for students' knowledge to be conscious and reflect objectively existing reality, the learning process must ensure that they are based on sensations. Visibility just and-performs this function. There is a general rule for applying the principle of visibility in general education schools: teaching should be visual to the extent necessary for students to consciously assimilate knowledge and develop skills based on living images of objects, phenomena and actions. These general rules are the basis for the implementation of the principle of visualization in the auxiliary school; however, in particular, their application is distinguished by some originality. First of all, in the auxiliary school, for the formation of abstract concepts, generalizations, general labor skills and abilities, subject visualization is used for a longer time. This is due to the fact that in mentally retarded children the processes of abstraction and generalization are sharply disturbed, it is difficult for them to break away from the observation of specific objects and draw an abstract conclusion or conclusion, which is necessary for the formation of a particular concept. Object visibility is also used to study the properties of objects as such, as well as for the purpose of making them. The use of this form of visualization must be organized taking into account the peculiarities of the perception of mentally retarded schoolchildren. It is known that their perception initially has an undifferentiated character, they find it difficult to identify the main, essential features of the object. The images of objects that arise in the mind are fuzzy, incomplete and often distorted; speech often lacks the appropriate language tools necessary to correctly reflect the properties of the observed objects. Given all these characteristics of students, visual aids should be differentiated, containing the most basic features of the object and, if possible, without additional minor details, often diverting students' attention away from the main goal that the teacher achieves when using these aids. Taking into account the characteristics of mentally retarded schoolchildren in the implementation of the principle of visibility also lies in the fact that along with the creation of clear and complete ideas about the world around them, it is necessary to teach them to correctly use the appropriate words and terms denoting the properties of objects, signs of phenomena, relationships and connections that exist. in the real world. The word of the teacher in this process is the organizing and regulating factor. The role of the word increases even more in cases where visualization is used to form students' general ideas and concepts. Thus, the implementation of the principle of visibility in the auxiliary school is carried out in stages. . Enrichment of sensory cognitive experience, which involves learning the skills to observe, compare and highlight the essential features of objects and phenomena and reflect them in speech; . Ensuring the transition of the created subject images into abstract concepts; . The use of abstract visualization for the formation of concrete images of objects, phenomena and actions. 7. Consciousness and activity of students in learning Consciousness in learning means understanding by students of the studied educational material: the essence of the concepts being learned, the meaning of labor actions, techniques and operations. Conscious assimilation of knowledge and skills ensures their successful application in practical activities, prevents formalism, promotes the transformation of knowledge into stable beliefs. In the auxiliary school, this principle is among the most important, since in the process of conscious assimilation of educational material, a more intensive mental development of mentally retarded schoolchildren occurs. However, when implementing this principle, the teacher encounters great difficulties. Violations of analytical and synthetic activity, characteristic of mentally retarded schoolchildren, prevent the assimilation of educational material on the basis of its complete understanding. Therefore, in the auxiliary school, the question of how to achieve a complete understanding of the educational material by the students was and remains the most significant. The solution to this issue is possible if each teacher applies corrective methodological techniques aimed at developing mental operations, as well as the ability to express their thoughts in words. After all, it is possible to judge how much a student understands this or that educational material, first of all, by his statements, and only then - by the nature of the application of knowledge when performing exercises. There are a number of methodological techniques that help students to more consciously assimilate educational material: dividing complex educational material into parts that are logically complete and interconnected, highlighting the main essential aspects of an object or phenomenon and distinguishing them from secondary, non-essential ones, reflecting practical actions performed in speech, up to beginning, during and after work, the connection of new actions with previously learned ones, the variation of material during repetition, etc. It has long been known that the mechanical memorization of one or another educational material does not contribute to its conscious assimilation. This means that the knowledge acquired in this way cannot be used by the student in practical activities, that they are a passive fund. That is why the principle of conscientiousness in teaching in the special school is given such great importance. Conscious assimilation of educational material implies the activity of students in learning. The cognitive activity of mentally retarded schoolchildren in most cases does not arise by itself, so it is necessary to activate it. The activation of learning is understood as the appropriate organization of the actions of schoolchildren, aimed at understanding the educational material by them. In a mass school, the leading means of activating the learning of schoolchildren is a problem-based approach to learning. Its essence lies in the fact that the teacher poses an educational problem to the students, the students together with the teacher or independently determine ways to find a solution to the problem, independently or with the help of the teacher find a solution, draw conclusions, generalizations, comparisons. If we consider the problem approach in teaching as creating conditions for independent mental activity of schoolchildren when studying new educational material or generalizing it, then when using conditions that correspond to the conditions of mentally retarded schoolchildren, it can also be used in an auxiliary school as a means of organizing educational activities. If the teacher gradually leads schoolchildren to new educational material, involving them in reasoning and encouraging their own statements with an analysis of observation or their own experience, then such training will contribute to the activation of mentally retarded students and in cases of incorrect statements, moreover, it should be kindly and be attentive to them and patiently explain what their mistake is.
Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below
Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
Clinic and etiology of mental retardation
Under the concept mental retardation combined numerous and diverse forms of pathology, manifested in the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere.
Mental retardation refers to developmental diseases - dysontogenies. Accordingly, it can occur only when the developing brain is damaged, i.e. in the prenatal period, during childbirth, at an early and younger age (up to three years)
Mental retardation should be understood as the general underdevelopment of the child's psyche, in which the central and decisive place is occupied by the underdevelopment of cognitive activity and other higher mental functions. The time of onset of mental retardation is limited to intrauterine, natural and the first three years of postnatal life. The structure of the defect is characterized by the totality and relative uniformity of the underdevelopment of different aspects of the psyche.
Most frequent exogenous the cause of postnatal mental retardation are neuroinfections, mainly encephalitis and meningoencephalitis, as well as parainfectious incephalitis. Less commonly, the cause of mental retardation is postnatal intoxication and traumatic brain injury. Exogenous forms account for at least half of all defects in the development of the cognitive sphere that have arisen after the birth of a child.
Modern research in the field of the etiology of mental retardation indicates that the leading role in the origin of mental retardation belongs to genetic factors. Numerous and varied changes in the genetic apparatus (mutations) are responsible for approximately ½ of all cases of underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere in children.
Mutations can be chromosomal or gene. The most common and well-known chromosomal form of oligophrenia is Down's disease, which occurs in 9-10% of all mentally retarded children. In chromosomal forms of oligophrenia, a pronounced and profound underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere is most often observed.
Gene mutations can affect one single gene, or a group of weakly acting genes that control the same trait.
Thus, according to etiology, all cases of mental retardation are divided into exogenous and genetic. It must be remembered that in the process of development and life of the organism, genetic and exogenous factors are in a complex interaction. In mental retardation, for example, those exogenous factors that are not the direct cause of the underdevelopment of the child's brain may contribute to the detection of genetic defects or aggravate the manifestations of a hereditary disease. Additional exogenies can introduce new, unusual symptoms into the clinical picture of hereditary mental retardation.
The above data indicate that defects in the development of the cognitive sphere are extremely heterogeneous in origin. Accordingly, there may be numerous various mechanisms that disrupt the formation and development of the brain, as well as a large number of independent nosological forms of mental retardation. Common to all forms of pathology included in this group of developmental anomalies is an intellectual defect of one degree or another, which determines the degree of underdevelopment of the entire psyche of the child as a whole, his adaptive capabilities, his entire personality.
The clinical picture of defects in the development of the cognitive sphere consists of the characteristics of the psychopathological, neurological and somatic symptoms present in children. Those forms in which there are clearly defined specific somatic manifestations that make it possible to establish a nosological diagnosis based on clinical data, and those in which the nosological form of the disease can be established using modern methods of special laboratory studies, are called differentiated forms of mental retardation.
Uncomplicated forms of mental retardation are characterized by the absence of additional psychopathological disorders. An intellectual defect in these children, as well as in all mentally retarded children, is manifested primarily by disturbances in thinking: stiffness, the establishment of mainly private concrete connections, and an inability to distract. Inevitably, the prerequisites for intellectual activity also suffer. Attention is characterized by insufficient arbitrariness and purposefulness, narrowing of the volume, difficulty in concentrating, as well as switching. Often, with a good ability for rote memorization, there is a weakness in semantic and especially associative memory. New information is assimilated with great difficulty. To memorize new material, multiple repetitions and reinforcement with specific examples are required. Nevertheless, children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually characterized by fairly stable working capacity and more or less satisfactory productivity.
The level of speech underdevelopment in most children with uncomplicated mental retardation corresponds to the degree of their intellectual defect. They do not have local speech disorders, but there is always a general underdevelopment of speech, manifested by the scarcity of an active vocabulary, simplified construction of phrases, agrammatisms, and often tongue-tied speech. Along with this, some children can observe an outwardly good level of speech development with an apparent richness of vocabulary, the correct construction of phrases, and expressive intonations. However, already at the first examination it becomes clear that outwardly correct phrases are memorized speech clichés.
The underdevelopment of motor skills is manifested mainly by the insufficiency of precise and subtle movements, especially small ones, by the slow development of the motor action formula. In addition, most mentally retarded children have insufficient muscle strength. Therefore, the importance of physical education for such children is great.
Severe behavioral disorders in children with uncomplicated mental retardation are usually not observed. With adequate upbringing, children with a slight intellectual defect easily master the correct forms of behavior and, to some extent, can control their actions.
General underdevelopment of the personality is characteristic of all children with general mental underdevelopment.
Thus, in uncomplicated forms of mental retardation, the pedagogical prognosis depends mainly on the degree and structure of the defect and the compensatory capabilities of the child.
Complicated forms are characterized by the presence of additional psychopathological disorders that adversely affect the child's intellectual activity and the success of his education.
According to the nature of additional symptoms, all complicated forms of mental retardation can be divided into three groups:
With cerebrastonic or hypertensive syndromes;
With severe behavioral disorders;
With emotional and volitional disorders.
This division mainly reflects that. Which of the additional psychopathological syndromes occupies a leading place in the clinical picture of the disease.
In children of the first group, mainly intellectual activity suffers.
Cerebrastonic syndrome is a syndrome of irritable weakness. It is based on increased exhaustion of the nerve cell. It is manifested by general mental intolerance, inability to long-term stress, to long-term concentration of attention.
Hypertension syndrome - a syndrome of increased intracranial pressure - occurs in connection with liquorodynamic disorders that develop as a result of an organic lesion of the central nervous system or a congenital defect in the liquor system of the brain. An increase in intracranial pressure is accompanied by headaches, often dizziness and a violation of the general well-being of the child. Exhaustion increases and the performance of the child sharply decreases. In such children, peculiar disturbances of attention are noted: weakness of concentration, increased distractibility. Often memory is impaired. Children become motor disinhibited, restless or lethargic. Emotional lability and the phenomena of vegetative-vascular dystonia are clearly expressed. School performance is declining markedly.
In children of the second group, behavioral disorders, which manifest themselves in the form of hyperdynamic and psychopathic syndromes, come to the fore in the clinical picture of the disease.
Hyperdynamic syndrome is characterized by pronounced prolonged anxiety with an abundance of unnecessary movements, restlessness, talkativeness, and often impulsiveness. In severe cases, the child's behavior is not amenable to self-control and external correction. Hyperdynamic syndrome is also difficult to treat with medication.
Psychopathic syndrome is usually observed in children with mental retardation caused by traumatic brain injuries or neuroinfections. It is based on deep personality disorders with disinhibition, and sometimes with a perversion of gross primitive drives. Behavioral disorders in these children are so gross that they occupy a central place in the clinical picture of the disease, and the underdevelopment of the cognitive sphere, as it were, exacerbates their manifestations.
In children of the third group, in addition to mental retardation, disorders of the emotional-volitional sphere are observed. They can manifest themselves in the form of increased emotional excitability, unmotivated mood swings, a decrease in emotional tone and motivation for activity, in the form of violations of emotional contact with others.
Among the students of auxiliary schools, one can more often meet children with pseudo-autism, i.e. violation of contact due to reactive moments: fear of a new environment, new requirements, fear of a teacher, fear of aggressiveness of children.
In addition, complicated forms also include mental retardation with local cerebral disorders: local underdevelopment or speech disorder, local spatial or frontal disorders, local movement disorders (ICP).
In addition to complicated forms, there are also atypical forms of mental retardation.
Epileptic seizures occur in mentally retarded children much more often than in intellectually full-fledged children, and the more often, the deeper the underdevelopment of the child.
The group of mental retardation with endocrine disorders includes a significant number of different defects in the development of the cognitive sphere, in which, in addition to an intellectual defect, primary endocrine or secondary - cerebro-endocrine disorders are observed.
Disorders of the visual and auditory analyzer negatively affect the compensatory and adaptive capabilities of a mentally retarded child and complicate his learning.
Thus, according to clinical manifestations, all cases of mental retardation are divided into uncomplicated, complicated and atypical.
Psychological features of mentally retarded schoolsbnicknames
The auxiliary school sets three main tasks for the defectologist teacher - to give students knowledge, skills and abilities in general subjects and work, to instill in them positive personal qualities - honesty. Truthfulness, goodwill towards others, love and respect for work, to correct their defects and thus prepare them for social adaptation, for life among normal people.
Mentally retarded (feeble-minded) children are the most numerous category of abnormal children. They make up approximately 1 - 3% of the total child population. concept retarded Rebenok includes a rather heterogeneous mass of children who are united by the presence of brain damage, which is widespread.
The overwhelming majority of all mentally retarded children - pupils of the auxiliary school - are oligophrenic children. With oligophrenia, organic brain failure is residual, not aggravated, which gives grounds for an optimistic prognosis. Such children make up the main contingent of the auxiliary school.
Mental retardation that occurs later than the full development of the child's speech is relatively rare. It is not included in the concept oligofrhenium.
Already in the preschool period of life, the painful processes that took place in the brain of an oligophrenic child stop. The child becomes practically healthy, capable of mental development. However, this development is carried out abnormally, since its biological basis is pathological.
Oligophrenic children are characterized by persistent disturbances in all mental activity, which are especially clearly manifested in the sphere of cognitive processes. Moreover, there is not only a lag behind the norm, but also a deep originality of personal manifestations and cognition. Thus, mentally retarded children can in no way be equated with normally developing younger children. They are different in many ways.
Oligophrenic children are capable of development, which essentially distinguishes them from weak-minded children of all progressive forms of mental retardation, and although their development is slow, atypical, with many, sometimes sharp deviations, nevertheless, it is a progressive process that introduces qualitative changes in the mental activity of children, in their personal sphere.
Didactic Principles of the Special School
There are the following teaching principles:
educational and developmental orientation of education;
scientific character and accessibility of education;
systematic and consistent training;
connection of learning with life;
the principle of correction in education;
the principle of visibility;
consciousness and activity of students;
individual and differentiated approach;
strength of knowledge, skills and abilities.
Educational and developmental orientation of education
The process of learning in a special school is primarily aimed at developing a variety of knowledge, skills and abilities in students, but, of course, during training, both education and development of students take place.
The educative orientation of education in the auxiliary school consists in the formation of moral ideas and concepts in students, adequate ways of behaving in society. This is realized in the content of the educational material and in the appropriate organization of the activities of students in and out of school.
In the curriculum, two groups of subjects can be distinguished, which especially clearly contribute to the educational orientation of education. On the one hand, these are educational subjects, the content of which includes material that reflects the heroism of our people in defending the Motherland and in peaceful construction, telling about the riches of the native land and the need to protect native nature, about working people, some professions, etc. These subjects (explanatory reading, history, geography, natural science) provide material for educating students in words. However, this work must be linked with socially useful activities for the protection of nature and monuments of history, culture, local history work, etc.
Another group of subjects (labor training in the lower grades, vocational training, social orientation) contribute to the education of honesty and conscientiousness, the desire to be a useful person in society.
In addition, there are academic subjects that contribute to aesthetic and physical education (physical education, drawing, singing and music, rhythm).
To solve the problems of preparing mentally retarded schoolchildren for independent life and work, a well-thought-out and clear organization and a high methodological level of conducting classes on work, industrial practice, good technical equipment of workshops, the presence of basic enterprises in the profile of education, and appropriate training of teachers are of great importance.
The developmental nature of education in the auxiliary school is to promote the overall mental and physical development of students. In the context of ever-increasing requirements for the level of preparation of mentally retarded schoolchildren for life, the focus of education on their overall development is of particular importance. However, the development of mentally retarded schoolchildren cannot be sufficiently successful without correcting their thinking and disturbing their psychophysical functions. Therefore, education in the auxiliary school is of a corrective developmental nature. However, the developmental orientation of education should be distinguished from the correctional orientation. In the process of correction, the development of a mentally retarded child always occurs, but development may not be associated with correction.
The development of mentally retarded schoolchildren requires special conditions, the most important of which is their education in an auxiliary school or other conditions adequate to their abilities, taking into account the psychophysical features of the development of this group of abnormal children. The implementation of developmental learning involves improving the quality of lessons by including students in active learning activities and developing their cognitive activity and independence.
The educational and correctional orientation of education permeates the entire educational process.
Scientific and accessible education
The principle of scientific character in general pedagogy involves the reflection of modern achievements of science. Prospects for its development in each academic subject.
The principle of scientific character is realized, first of all, in the development of programs and compilation of textbooks, as well as in the activities of teachers and educators. It is known that mentally retarded schoolchildren may develop incorrect and sometimes false ideas about the surrounding reality, since they are not able to understand the essence of phenomena in abstraction from external, random signs and connections. Therefore, from the very beginning of students' admission to an auxiliary school, it is necessary to help them learn about the world around them from scientific positions, in accordance with reality.
The principle of scientificity is closely related to the principle of accessibility, because in the end, mentally retarded students can only assimilate the material that is available to them.
The principle of accessibility involves building the education of mentally retarded schoolchildren at the level of their real learning opportunities.
Many years of practice and scientific research show that the educational opportunities of students in auxiliary schools are very different. These differences are based on objective reasons, consisting in the heterogeneity, degree and nature of the manifestations of the main and concomitant defects in the development of children. In this regard, the implementation of the principle of accessibility in an auxiliary school is distinguished by a certain peculiarity: on the one hand, it is assumed that students with different learning opportunities master the program material differently, and on the other hand, the need to differentiate them in teaching in order to increase the level of assimilation of the program material is determined.
The principle of accessibility, as well as the principle of scientific character, is implemented, first of all, in the development of curricula and textbooks. The content of instruction for mentally retarded schoolchildren is determined on the basis of its verification in many years of practice in the work of an auxiliary school. The content of teaching individual academic subjects is continuously improved, the scope of knowledge, skills and abilities is specified by years of study based on the results of scientific research and best practices.
The principle of accessibility is also implemented in the constant activities of teachers through the use of appropriate methods and methodological techniques. It is known that the use of the most successful methodological system can make educational material relatively difficult for mentally retarded schoolchildren accessible.
Systematic and consistent learning
The essence of the principle of systematicity and consistency lies in the fact that the knowledge that students acquire in school must be brought into a certain logical system in order to be able to use them, i.e. more successful in practice.
For an auxiliary school, this principle is of great importance because mentally retarded schoolchildren are characterized by inaccuracy, incompleteness or fragmentation of the acquired knowledge, they experience certain difficulties in their reproduction and use in practical activities.
The principle of systematicity and consistency is implemented both in the development of curricula and textbooks, and in the daily work of a teacher. This implies such a choice and arrangement of educational material in programs, textbooks, in thematic plans, at each lesson, when there is a logical connection between its constituent parts, when the subsequent material is based on the previous one, when the material covered prepares students for learning new things.
Each subject has its own system of interrelated concepts, facts and patterns.
It should be noted that the same system and logic is used in the development of the content of educational subjects in the auxiliary school as in the mass school. So, in mathematics lessons, addition and subtraction are studied before addition and division, while teaching literacy, the sounds of the native language are first studied, then letters in a certain sequence, reading is formed by syllables, and then by whole numbers. However, in some cases, the construction of the content of educational subjects of an auxiliary school has its own system, logic and sequence in the arrangement of educational material. And only when studying history, due to the fact that students experience great difficulties in understanding historical events in their sequence and in time, teachers are forced to inform them not systematic, but episodic knowledge about the most significant events from the history of our Motherland.
The characteristics of mentally retarded schoolchildren correspond to a linear-concentric arrangement of educational material, when the same sections are first studied in an elementary form, and after a while, usually in the next class, the same is considered much more widely, with the involvement of new information. The content of many educational subjects is built in this way.
Systematicity implies continuity in the learning process: education in the upper grades is built on a solid foundation that is laid in the lower grades, the study of each subject takes place on the basis of previous knowledge that is learned in the study of other subjects. Each section of the training material should be based on the previously studied.
In the activities of a teacher, the principle of systematicity is implemented in planning the sequence of passing new educational material and in repeating previously studied material, in checking the knowledge and skills acquired by schoolchildren, and in developing a system of individual work with them. Based on this principle, it is possible to proceed to the study of new educational material only after the students have mastered the one that is being worked out at a given time. Taking into account this circumstance, the teacher makes adjustments to the previously outlined plans.
Linking learning to life
This principle reflects the conditioning of schooling by social needs and the influence of the social environment on the process of teaching and educating students.
Its essence lies in the close interaction of the school and the public in the education and upbringing of children. In modern conditions, this principle receives a new sound.
Most of the auxiliary schools are boarding schools and there is a potential danger for them of a certain isolation from the horrifying life. Therefore, the principle of linking learning with life is given an important role in the process of teaching and educating mentally retarded schoolchildren. Indeed, after graduating from school, graduates enter an independent life and preparedness for it to a certain extent depends on how this principle is implemented in life.
The implementation of this principle in the auxiliary school consists in the organization of educational work on the basis of a close and multifaceted connection with the surrounding reality, with the life, first of all, of local enterprises, organizations and institutions. This principle is also realized by linking education with the productive work of students in the national economy. The forms of participation in this may be different, but in all cases, high school students need to be introduced to the socio-economic and legal relations in production, to include them in the feasible social affairs of the basic and sponsoring enterprises.
The special school should also actively participate in community activities.
Only on the basis of the multifaceted connection of learning with the surrounding life, an auxiliary school, as an educational institution, can gain authority among the local population and the public. And this will improve the position of graduates of auxiliary schools and contribute to their more successful adaptation.
In the daily activities of the teacher, this principle is implemented by using positive examples from life, including the local population, in the classroom and in extracurricular activities, but shortcomings should not be bypassed with a mandatory analysis of their causes. To strengthen the connection of learning with life, it is useful to use the media, watching television and listening to radio broadcasts.
The principle of correction in training
For mentally retarded children, as is known, a common main drawback is characteristic - a violation of complex forms of cognitive activity (moreover, there is an uneven violation). The emotional-volitional sphere is disturbed in a number of cases, but there are also children in whom it is relatively protected.
A mentally retarded child, like any other child, grows and develops, but his development slows down from the very beginning and proceeds on a defective basis, which gives rise to difficulties in entering a social environment designed for normally developing children.
Support school education is critical to the development of mentally retarded children and their rehabilitation in society. It has been established that the greatest effect in their development is achieved in cases where the principle of correction is implemented in training, i.e. correcting the shortcomings inherent in these children.
Only that teaching is good, which stimulates development, “leads it along,” and does not simply serve to enrich the child with new information that easily enters his consciousness. (L.S. Vygotsky, 1985)
Thus, the principle of correction is to correct the shortcomings of the psychophysical development of mentally retarded children in the learning process through the use of special methodological techniques. As a result of the application of corrective teaching methods, some shortcomings in students are overcome, others are weakened, due to which students move faster in their development. The more a mentally retarded child advances in development, the more successfully he will master the educational material, i.e. development of students and teaching them on the basis of the principle of correction are two interrelated processes.
Correction of developmental deficiencies among students of auxiliary schools is slow and uneven. - therefore, it is usually difficult for a teacher to notice shifts in the development of thought processes in students, in the formation of volitional and other personality traits. He knows well how each student mastered this or that educational material, but this is not enough to characterize the level of his progress in development.
One of the indicators of the success of correctional work can be the level of independence of students in the performance of new educational and labor tasks.
From psychological research it is known that the independence of schoolchildren depends on the level of formation of generalized educational and labor skills in them. Therefore, the implementation of the principle of correction in education consists in the formation of these skills in students, i.e. the ability to independently navigate the requirements for completing tasks, analyze the conditions and plan their activities, drawing on existing knowledge and experience for this, draw conclusions about the quality of the work performed.
Generalized educational and labor skills are formed on the basis of specific skills for each academic subject and through systematic, purposeful work using methodological techniques specific to each subject.
Not only the shortcomings of psychophysical development, common to all mentally retarded schoolchildren, but also the shortcomings characteristic of certain students (individual correction) are subject to correction. Individual correction is due to the fact that the main defect in mentally retarded children manifests itself differently and, in addition to the main one, there are concomitant defects of varying degrees. In education, this is observed in significant differences in the level of mastery of knowledge, skills and abilities by different students and in their uneven advancement in mental and physical development.
To implement individual correction, it is necessary to identify the difficulties experienced by students in teaching various subjects and to establish the causes of these difficulties. Based on this, individual correction measures are developed.
General and individual correction is carried out practically on the same educational material and almost at the same time. General correctional work is usually carried out frontally, individual correction - with individual students or with a small group. There may be several students in the class who require different measures of individual correction. In frontal work, it is advisable to carry out individual correction alternately, fixing attention or additionally working with one or another student.
Correction of violations of the emotional-volitional sphere consists in the formation of volitional qualities of a personality in students, in the upbringing of emotions, including emotional-volitional components of behavior, which is reflected both in studies, and in work, and in relation to their comrades, teachers.
The principle of visibility
The principle of visibility in teaching means the involvement of various visual aids in the process of assimilation of knowledge by students and the formation of various skills and abilities in them.
The essence of the principle of visibility is to enrich students with sensory cognitive experience necessary for the full mastery of abstract concepts.
It is known that a person's sensations received from the outside world are the first stage of his knowledge. At the next stage, knowledge is acquired in the form of concepts, definitions, rules and laws. In order for students' knowledge to be conscious and reflect objectively existing reality, the learning process must ensure that they are based on sensations. Visibility just and - performs this function.
There is a general rule for applying the principle of visibility in general education schools: teaching should be visual to the extent necessary for students to consciously assimilate knowledge and develop skills based on living images of objects, phenomena and actions.
These general rules are the basis for the implementation of the principle of visualization in the auxiliary school; however, in particular, their application is distinguished by some originality. First of all, in the auxiliary school, for the formation of abstract concepts, generalizations, general labor skills and abilities, subject visualization is used for a longer time. This is due to the fact that in mentally retarded children the processes of abstraction and generalization are sharply disturbed, it is difficult for them to break away from the observation of specific objects and draw an abstract conclusion or conclusion, which is necessary for the formation of a particular concept.
Object visibility is also used to study the properties of objects as such, as well as for the purpose of making them. The use of this form of visualization must be organized taking into account the peculiarities of the perception of mentally retarded schoolchildren. It is known that their perception initially has an undifferentiated character, they find it difficult to identify the main, essential features of the object. The images of objects that arise in the mind are fuzzy, incomplete and often distorted; speech often lacks the appropriate language tools necessary to correctly reflect the properties of the observed objects.
Taking into account all these characteristics of students, visual aids should be differentiated, containing the most basic features of the object and, if possible, without additional minor details, often diverting students' attention away from the main goal that the teacher achieves when using these aids.
Taking into account the characteristics of mentally retarded schoolchildren in the implementation of the principle of visibility also lies in the fact that along with the creation of clear and complete ideas about the world around them, it is necessary to teach them to correctly use the appropriate words and terms denoting the properties of objects, signs of phenomena, relationships and connections that exist. in the real world. The word of the teacher in this process is the organizing and regulating factor. The role of the word increases even more in cases where visualization is used to form students' general ideas and concepts.
Thus, the implementation of the principle of visibility in the auxiliary school is carried out in stages.
Enrichment of sensory cognitive experience, which involves learning the skills to observe, compare and highlight the essential features of objects and phenomena and reflect them in speech;
Ensuring the transition of the created subject images into abstract concepts;
The use of abstract visualization for the formation of concrete images of objects, phenomena and actions.
Consciousness and activity of students in learning
Consciousness in learning means that students understand the educational material being studied: the essence of the concepts being learned, the meaning of labor actions, techniques and operations. Conscious assimilation of knowledge and skills ensures their successful application in practical activities, prevents formalism, promotes the transformation of knowledge into stable beliefs.
In the auxiliary school, this principle is among the most important, since in the process of conscious assimilation of educational material, a more intensive mental development of mentally retarded schoolchildren occurs. However, when implementing this principle, the teacher encounters great difficulties. Violations of analytical and synthetic activity, characteristic of mentally retarded schoolchildren, prevent the assimilation of educational material on the basis of its complete understanding. Therefore, in the auxiliary school, the question of how to achieve a complete understanding of the educational material by the students was and remains the most significant. The solution to this issue is possible if each teacher applies corrective methodological techniques aimed at developing mental operations, as well as the ability to express their thoughts in words. After all, it is possible to judge how much a student understands this or that educational material, first of all, by his statements, and only then - by the nature of the application of knowledge when performing exercises.
There are a number of methodological techniques that help students to more consciously assimilate educational material: dividing complex educational material into parts that are logically complete and interconnected, highlighting the main essential aspects of an object or phenomenon and distinguishing them from secondary, non-essential ones, reflecting practical actions performed in speech, up to beginning, during and after work, the connection of new actions with previously learned ones, variation of the material during repetition, etc.
It has long been known that the mechanical memorization of a particular educational material does not contribute to its conscious assimilation. This means that the knowledge acquired in this way cannot be used by the student in practical activities, that they are a passive fund. That is why the principle of conscientiousness in teaching in the special school is given such great importance.
Conscious assimilation of educational material implies the activity of students in learning. The cognitive activity of mentally retarded schoolchildren in most cases does not arise by itself, so it is necessary to activate it. The activation of learning is understood as the appropriate organization of the actions of schoolchildren, aimed at understanding the educational material by them.
In a mass school, the leading means of activating the learning of schoolchildren is a problem-based approach to learning. Its essence lies in the fact that the teacher poses an educational problem to the students, the students together with the teacher or independently determine ways to find a solution to the problem, independently or with the help of the teacher find a solution, draw conclusions, generalizations, comparisons.
If we consider the problem approach in teaching as creating conditions for independent mental activity of schoolchildren when studying new educational material or generalizing it, then when using conditions that correspond to the conditions of mentally retarded schoolchildren, it can also be used in an auxiliary school as a means of organizing educational activities. If the teacher gradually leads schoolchildren to new educational material, involving them in reasoning and encouraging their own statements with an analysis of observation or their own experience, then such training will contribute to the activation of mentally retarded students and in cases of incorrect statements, moreover, it should be kindly and be attentive to them and patiently explain what their mistake is.
Similar Documents
Analysis of the scientific and psychological aspects of the problem of thinking and mental retardation of the child. Psychological and pedagogical problems of teaching and educating oligophrenic children. Features of teaching mental operations to mentally retarded schoolchildren of grades 5-8.
thesis, added 07/25/2013
Didactic game as a means of developing mentally retarded students in the process of correctional and developmental education. Features of the visual activity of children. Methodological development of didactic games used in the pedagogical process.
thesis, added 10/27/2017
Preparation of mentally retarded high school students for independent living. Studying the skills of independence of mentally retarded students in the lessons of labor training. Ways to stimulate control over their actions in mentally retarded adolescents.
thesis, added 10/14/2017
Psychological features of mentally retarded children's ideas about the world around them. Correctional work on the development of ideas in mentally retarded children about the world around them. The role of didactic play in the correctional and educational process.
term paper, added 12/02/2008
Tasks of labor training of mentally retarded schoolchildren in a cardboard-binding workshop. Updating the material and technical base of workshops as a way to increase the efficiency of the educational process. Inclusion of new equipment in the program.
thesis, added 11/27/2017
Features of moral ideas in mentally retarded schoolchildren. Development of means of pedagogical influence on the education of a moral attitude towards people in students of a special school. Use of personality-oriented methods of work.
thesis, added 10/29/2017
Features of the motor analyzer of mentally retarded schoolchildren. Correctional and developmental value of rhythm lessons for children with intellectual disabilities. Correction of psychophysical deficiencies of mentally retarded schoolchildren by means of physical exercises.
term paper, added 02/25/2012
Compensatory processes in the development of a mentally retarded child. Features of work and education of mentally retarded and physically handicapped children. Modern problems of mental retardation. The material of mental systems, its features in a retarded child.
abstract, added 12/20/2009
Features of mentally retarded schoolchildren. General characteristics of mental retardation. Educational and developmental orientation of education. Systematic and consistent in teaching. Correction of major disorders in children with mental retardation.
term paper, added 12/06/2008
The use of art materials in the formation of elementary visual activity in mentally retarded students. Diagnostic tasks for studying the level of formation of visual activity in mentally retarded students.
At present, various public and private institutions are working in our country to educate and educate different categories of children with developmental disabilities. These are special kindergartens and special groups at ordinary kindergartens, special schools and boarding schools, as well as special classes created at general schools. Some children, mostly those whose developmental differences are not pronounced, attend ordinary kindergartens and study at general schools. Many parents of such children systematically consult defectologists or experienced practicing teachers or invite them to conduct additional classes with children.
Some children, especially those with gross differences in development, are brought up and educated at home. Often no corrective work is carried out with them. Although there are also cases when parents do everything possible to contribute to the development of the child. A certain number of such children are in residential institutions of the Ministry of Social Assistance.
Kindergartens for children with developmental disabilities, as a rule, are equipped, although not always completely, with special equipment adapted for correctional and educational work. So for children with hearing loss, hearing rooms and hearing aids are provided. Special furniture, a variety of exercise equipment, swimming pools are used in kindergartens for children with disorders of the musculoskeletal system, etc. Unfortunately, this equipment is often not modern. Teachers and educators do not always have a defectological education, but, as a rule, they are good practitioners. But special kindergartens are by no means enough to accommodate all the children who need it. In addition, such kindergartens are located only in large settlements.
Since many parents do not want to send their own children of preschool age to institutions located far from their place of residence, special groups are organized in some kindergartens for certain categories of children with developmental disabilities.
There is practically no special equipment needed to work in these groups. The same is true with the invitation of defectologists. But the heads of kindergartens and experienced practicing teachers are making great efforts to organize perhaps more productive correctional and educational work and achieve undoubted sensations.
A significant part of children with mild developmental disabilities, children with mental retardation, with a mild degree of mental retardation, visually impaired, hearing impaired, with mild speech disorders and mild deficiencies in the musculoskeletal system attend ordinary kindergartens. If these children do not have gross deviations in behavior, then they traditionally stay there until the time when it is time to go to school. Naturally, no targeted correctional and educational work is carried out with them. Teachers of ordinary kindergartens are not prepared for this and do not set themselves a similar task. In practice, this is the most deprived group of children with developmental disabilities, since it is they who, having received special assistance in a timely manner, could make significant progress in terms of correcting their own defect.
Nevertheless, it should be said that finding a child with developmental disabilities in a special group of a kindergarten or just in an ordinary kindergarten has a positive meaning for him. It is due to his stay in a group of peers, ample opportunities to communicate with them, which is essential for social adaptation and preparation for later life and education. After all, traditionally in this way, children are prepared for admission to a special school or a general school. Only a small part of children (mostly with the most profound mental retardation) after their stay in kindergarten end up in boarding institutions of the Ministry of Social Protection or return to their families.
For all categories of children with developmental disabilities in Russia "there are special schools and boarding schools, as well as special classes organized at general schools. They employ teachers and educators, some of whom have a defectological education. In special schools and schools - boarding schools provide for the presence of medical workers, professionals in massage, physiotherapy, auditory work, speech therapists who conduct their classes there.There are sets of special equipment needed to correct children's hearing, vision, motor skills, sets of speech games, etc.
Classes of great correctional and developmental importance have been introduced into the curricula. These are rhythmics, physiotherapy exercises, home economics and social orientation, etc.
In special schools and boarding schools, great attention is paid to labor training and education of students. We mean the formation of self-service and social orientation skills, manual labor lessons included in the junior school curriculum, work in various workshops and in agriculture, carried out in the senior years of study. In addition, high school students undergo labor practice at enterprises located close to the school, performing feasible types of work. At some schools, production workshops are organized in which graduates work. This initiative is due to the difficulty of their employment and may appear to be temporary.
In special schools, teachers and educators work hard to instill in students a positive attitude towards work, which is necessary for the work of the team. This is a very important direction of pedagogical work, which has a huge correctional and educational value. After all, the success of a student's social adaptation depends not only on the availability of labor knowledge, skills and abilities, but also on the desire to work, on respect for the surrounding working people. Depending on their own capabilities, state of health, place of residence, graduates of special schools are included in the social environment surrounding them.
Special schools organize classes for children with complex disabilities. For example, with impaired vision and mental activity, or with hearing loss and mental retardation, etc. These classes are not available in every school. They are created as needed. Education in them is carried out according to special programs, since a complex defect sharply lowers the child's cognitive abilities. There is one school for deaf-blind children in Russia. It is located in the city of Sergiev Posad, the capital region (former Zagorsk).
All children with developmental disabilities, not counting the mentally retarded and suffering from complex defects (excluding the deaf-blind), receive a qualified education. They learn at a slow pace, according to special methods, but acquire the amount of knowledge that corresponds to the program of primary or secondary classes of general schools. This makes it possible for more capable children who strive for knowledge after graduating from a special school to enroll in various courses, in vocational schools, in secondary and higher educational institutions and continue their education.
In special classes organized at general schools, corrective-oriented training and education is carried out with students, but healing activities, such fundamental classes as speech therapy, auditory, learning to read relief drawings, labor training, home economics, social orientation, etc. They do not occur all the time. This is due to the lack of an appropriate material base and the lack of professionals. Nevertheless, special classes are a definite way out of a difficult situation. They make it possible to educate and educate a child with developmental disabilities in relatively favorable social conditions for him.
Some children with developmental disabilities, in accordance with the desire of their parents, attend a general school. If the child’s defect is not gross, but he is smart and absolutely wants to learn, if he systematically receives qualified corrective-directed help from adults and at the same time knows how to use various assistive devices (hearing aid, lenses, etc.), then he feels himself in the middle normally developing peers are quite comfortable and is an accomplished student. Naturally, a child left in an ordinary school without any additional help will soon find himself in a distressed situation.
The mentally retarded children have the hardest time in a general school. The curriculum turns out to be very difficult for them, and the pace of its passage is extremely fast. Even with additional exercises with a defectologist, they do not master the material of the first class. The further, the more sharply the difficulties increase. Their training is formal. It does not sufficiently contribute to the advancement of children in the overall development and correction of the defect.
Left to their own devices, mentally retarded children cannot study in an ordinary school. If for some reason they linger in it, then they do not receive enough utility, but they receive many negative personality traits, some children with developmental disabilities do not attend school at all, they constantly live at home. Traditionally, these include those children in whom the defect is expressed very sharply. For example, those who are lying down or deeply mentally retarded (idiots), but in some cases, parents prefer to educate and educate at home such a child who could well be a schoolboy.
HABILITATION OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS WITH MENTAL retardation
Education and training for mentally retarded children and adolescents is part of the rehabilitation work and is actually an abilitation.
habilitation children and adolescents with developmental disabilities - a process aimed at preventing the development of preventable disability during the period of treatment and helping people with disabilities achieve the maximum physical, mental and social usefulness for which they are fit, within the framework of an existing disease or condition.
Purpose of habilitation these children and adolescents - the achievement of such a social status, educational, professional activity and level of activity that corresponds to their capabilities and will allow them to adapt socially.
The upbringing of children with developmental disabilities is aimed at compensation. “Social usefulness is the final target point of education, since all processes of overcompensation are aimed at gaining a social position” (Vygotsky L.S., 1983).
Psychological habilitation aimed at compensating for mental disorders. In view of this, it is always a psychological and pedagogical habilitation, and therefore it is often called correctional education. Corrective educational process is the mobilization of mental resources.
The task of psychological habilitation- creation, if the severity of mental disorders does not interfere, balance in the psyche and behavior of the child, corresponding to the requirements of the environment in which he lives. The ultimate goal of psychological habilitation is the inclusion and integration of the behavior of a mentally retarded adolescent (child) into the social environment in accordance with the requirements of life.
The efforts of psychological and pedagogical habilitation (correctional education) are aimed specifically at creating a system of methods and means of social adaptation, taking into account the complexity of mental development disorders in children and adolescents. At the same time, they should be available for implementation in the usual conditions of educational or medical institutions with the guidance of psychologists, educators and doctors.
Deviations in the psyche and behavior of children and adolescents with developmental disorders are determined by many factors: the existence of persistent intellectual impairments, the presence of emotional and motor disorders in the clinical picture, etc.; the immutability of the underlying mental pathology; periodicity or paroxysmal appearance and course of other complicating disorders of the psyche or behavior.
Mental pathology in children with developmental disorders is different not only in its manifestations, but also in severity and origin. Naturally, their behavior depends on age and individual characteristics.
Whatever the features of the mental retardation of children and adolescents, giving rise to behavioral deviations of various manifestations and severity, in all cases the balance between them and the environment is disturbed, which leads to difficulties in adapting to it.
Due to impaired adaptation, these children and adolescents experience greater or lesser difficulties that prevent them from expressing themselves like most other intellectually complete children, and they need help, because without it they are not able to integrate in the social environment and take their place in society.
The indications that determine the need for psychological and pedagogical habilitation are different. Socio-economic indications arise in cases where a teenager (child) due to disturbed mental balance, limited abilities with a lag in mental development is not able to fully engage in educational work and fit into the regime of an educational institution. Public funds, the efforts of educators are spent inefficiently, adolescents (children) are not provided with the opportunity for the development necessary for them to become full-fledged members of society.
The inability of a teenager (child) to mobilize his activity and abilities, even with minor deviations from the norm, can be a serious obstacle to the full development of the personality. Experiencing one's own difficulties will create additional disorders that are not directly related to the main disorder: anxiety, depression, disbelief in one's own strength, which will worsen the already low working capacity, adaptive capabilities and can lead to serious additional mental disorders. It is in these cases that psychological indications for habilitation appear, during which new relationships, new skills, corresponding to the age and individual characteristics of the adolescent (child) and necessary for social adaptation and working capacity, will have to be formed.
THERAPEUTIC PEDAGOGY AS A MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF HABILITATION
The existence of psychological and pedagogical indications for the habilitation of children lagging behind in their development led to the creation of a special branch of psychology and pedagogy that studies mental disorders and developmental anomalies in order to develop ways to overcome them.
Such an industry is curative pedagogy, i.e., the pedagogical impact of the presence of a developmentally lagging or sick child (adolescent) with a therapeutic purpose. The object of curative pedagogy is all children with developmental disabilities who have difficulties while studying at school, when educating in the family and at school, children who are pedagogically and socially neglected. The effectiveness of the efforts of curative pedagogy is associated with the use of the successes of age-related physiology, child and adolescent psychiatry, medical and special psychology, pathopsychology, psychohygiene, individual and family psychotherapy. So, for example, collective psychotherapy is always a combination of psychotherapeutic and medical-pedagogical methods. Psychotherapy always contains elements of education, and curative pedagogy is accompanied by psychotherapeutic influence.
Tasks of curative pedagogy- correction of behavior, the elimination of pedagogical and social neglect associated with a developmental lag, stimulation of emotional, intellectual and social activity aimed at the emergence of the opportunity and desire to learn (pedagogical habilitation), or the acquisition of professional skills. The task of therapeutic pedagogy for children who are lagging behind in development is to stimulate and correct the development of the emotional, cognitive sphere, psychomotor, speech, and personality of the child.
The basic principle of curative pedagogy- unity of medical and pedagogical processes. When developing a corrective pedagogical program, one should take into account the etiology of developmental delay, the degree of its severity, the main clinical manifestations of the leading disorder, the form of mental underdevelopment, the child’s safe and compensatory abilities, the degree of social and pedagogical maladaptation, and the child’s age. In addition, an individual approach to each child is needed, taking into account the uniqueness of development, the state of both mental and somatic health and character traits. It is important to combine individual corrective educational work with the improvement of the surrounding microsocial environment.
The requirements for retarded children and adolescents should correspond to their mental and physical capabilities, which should help lift their mood, increase self-esteem and faith in their abilities.
The leading figure in medical and pedagogical work is a special teacher (defectologist), who, interacting with a child (adolescent), creates an emotional positive atmosphere and, due to this, has great opportunities for corrective educational influence. Along with the teacher, doctors and paramedical staff should take part in corrective educational work. The plan of therapeutic corrective and educational measures is compiled by a special teacher, a special psychologist and a doctor together.
SPECIAL (CORRECTIONAL) PRESCHOOL AND SCHOOL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
The upbringing of both mentally retarded children (adolescents) and mentally retarded children with behavioral deviations or personality disorders is carried out in open special educational institutions and in special closed educational institutions.
There is a network of special preschool educational institutions, preschool groups at special schools, special groups at general kindergartens, special orphanages for children with mental retardation.
There are special educational institutions for school-age children in need of psychological, pedagogical and medical and social assistance, in which corrective educational work is carried out. Easily mentally retarded children study in special (correctional) educational institutions (classes, groups) of the 8th type.
Moderately and severely mentally retarded children and adolescents are sent to specialized boarding schools and orphanages. There, groups are organized for trained retarded individuals in which they expand their orientation in the immediate environment and improve self-service.
There are general educational institutions where integration forms of education of children with disabilities are carried out.
Educational institutions (centers, special vocational schools) of primary vocational training also carry out corrective educational work.
Among the students and pupils of special educational institutions, the number of children (teenagers) with developmental disabilities, affected by social and economic disasters, with delinquent behavior, with chronic somatic and psychosomatic diseases, etc. is increasing. This leads to the need to create for them in these institutions special psychological help.
The main goal of the special psychological assistance service in the education system is to identify, eliminate and prevent an imbalance between the processes of learning and development of children with special educational needs and their individual capabilities, creating conditions for social and psychological adaptation, including further professional self-determination of students and pupils.
This main goal is realized in the following activities of a special psychologist:
1. Differential psychological diagnostics aimed at identifying the psychological structure of the disorder, identifying safe development zones for selecting the appropriate educational institution.
2. Development of an individual psychological correctional program, consistent with the educational process, the psychological structure of the child's development.
3. Evaluation of the educational and social microenvironment for organizing optimal conditions for the education and development of the child.
4. Formation and implementation of an individual correctional program built into the holistic process of psychological, medical and pedagogical correction of the development of a child with special educational needs; joint work with the teacher on the development of cognitive functions and the emotional-volitional sphere, correction of behavioral problems.
5. Assistance to teachers in organizing adequate conditions for education and upbringing for a child with special educational needs, recommendations regarding the teaching load, parameters and forms of assessing learning outcomes, taking into account
individual characteristics of the child, proposals for the selection and distribution of children in the class.
6. Consulting and assisting the teacher in organizing and developing interaction between students in the educational process and beyond.
7. Providing psychological support to parents and persons replacing them. Psychological counseling for families aimed at developing an adequate educational approach to a child with learning problems, improving emotional contact with him, matching the child's capabilities with the requirements of the educational process.
8. Ensuring the socio-psychological prerequisites for the effective integration of children and adolescents into the educational socio-cultural environment at different age stages of a child's development.
9. Formation of the psychological culture of the subjects of the educational space in order to prepare the processes of integration of children with developmental disabilities into the socio-cultural environment of the educational institution.
10. Formation in teachers, educators of educational institutions of parents, as well as children and adolescents, the need for psychological knowledge, the desire to use it in working with a child or in the interests of their own development, creating conditions for full-fledged personal development (Shipitsy-naL. M, Zhdanova M. A., 1999).
CORRECTIONAL PEDAGOGICAL WORK WITH CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT FORMS OF MENTAL retardation
The content of corrective pedagogical work with children and adolescents who are lagging behind in development covers a wide range of everything that is necessary for social adaptation. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the capabilities of a mentally retarded individual and the correspondence of the proposed loads to them. It is very important to start corrective education and training of a mentally retarded child as early as possible, to determine the duration of this work, the time for its completion and the exit of an individual with developmental disabilities into independent life.
One of the first places in this correction of development is the development of communication skills, establishing relationships in peer groups and with adults.
Programs developed by JI are used to develop communication skills. M. Shipitsyna (1994, 2000), T. D. Zinkevich-Evstigneeva, L. A. Nisnevich (2000), I. N. Mamaychuk (2003), etc.
Raising in these children the right attitude and ability to learn, a positive response to help, interest in the world around them, cognitive activity will improve not only the development of the school curriculum, but will also make it more efficient to acquire the skills necessary to adapt to life. The formation of adequate self-esteem will cause the child to have more confidence in himself, reduce his fear of any activity and facilitate its implementation. To form a child's (teenager's) self-esteem, it is necessary to carry out exercises and develop in him, in the course of any activity, an appropriate reaction to success and failure, to encourage trust, since it can become an additional incentive for cognitive activity.
The training of tactile, deep sensitivity, hearing, vision and other senses in children with mental retardation deserves special attention in order to develop a more differentiated and active perception of the world around them. Improving gross and especially fine motor skills, spatial assessment of movements will not only expand the possibilities of movement and acquaintance with the outside world, participation in outdoor activities and games, but also improve the formation of speech and thinking. The development of mentally retarded children can be facilitated by the use of various pedagogical techniques, including one of the most effective - the method of comparison as a competitive form of analysis and synthesis, which increases their overall mental activity in the process of communicative training and education. This method is the initial means by which the transition of an objective "external contradiction" into an "internal contradiction" that stimulates development is ensured. Through comparison, mentally retarded individuals will be able to perceive difference, similarity, and similarity. They will be able to correlate the present and the real with the future, thus considering contradiction as a source of development. Comparison as an intellectual process will cause in the individual feelings and aspirations peculiar to him, acquiring great importance for the formation of personality.
Correctional pedagogical work with mentally retarded children (teenagers) suffering from cerebrovascular disease is carried out taking into account the mental weakness, fatigue, exhaustion, and memory impairment that they have, along with cognitive impairments. In this regard, it is necessary to use techniques that facilitate memorization. Greater use of visual images can help. The creation of visual aids by the students themselves also contributes to a better assimilation of the material. Facilitation of the taught material and reduction of requirements, combined with the provision of additional rest, are important conditions for curative pedagogy in this form of psychopathology. With increased affective excitability, irritability and a tendency to quarrel, children need activities that correspond to their abilities and to which they are prone. Involving them in social responsibilities facilitates adaptation.
Therapeutic pedagogy of mentally retarded adolescents (children) with personality disorders (psychopathy) is aimed at correcting pathological personal reactions associated with increased general excitability or lethargy, at eliminating pedagogical and social neglect and associated asocial tendencies and a negative attitude to learning. Success in corrective educational work can be achieved only with the coordinated actions of psychologists, social workers, teachers, doctors and family members. A strict regimen, the alternation of study, work and rest should be the main condition for medical and pedagogical measures. Among the various forms of labor education, attraction to useful and interesting activities is distinguished: caring for animals, working in the garden and garden, in carpentry, sewing workshops, classes in art circles, etc. Participation in collective work and social work is of great importance for the re-education of patients. activities.
With the predominance of increased affective excitability, the most effective may be systematic work and sports, regular assignments, the impact of a team discussing the behavior of a teenager (child).
With the syndrome of emotional-volitional instability observed in mentally retarded children, it is necessary to develop an understanding of the feelings of others, a positive labor attitude, responsibility for the task assigned, which can reduce lack of independence, passivity and irresponsibility.
Mentally retarded children and adolescents with hysterical personality traits require an even, without any discounts attitude, an interesting and feasible activity for them, overcoming their ideas of their own exclusivity, learning the ability to subordinate their own interests to the interests of the family, the team, fostering a sense of camaraderie.
Inhibited, timid, non-initiative retarded children will be able to overcome these traits by being involved in collective forms of activity with constant encouragement of every even the slightest success.
The organization of corrective psychological and pedagogical work with mentally retarded children (teenagers) with personality disorders should take into account that they have no interest in learning due to previous negative experience. The entire educational process should be harmonious and clear. The material should be presented as accessible and varied as possible. The assessment of knowledge is carried out in a form sparing pride. To restore motivation to study, it is advisable to give tasks in a clear form, accompanying them with an implementation plan, guaranteeing future success.
Therapeutic and pedagogical techniques, which are the main ones in the habilitation of individuals with a developmental delay, should be combined with psychotherapy. Doubts about the lack of effectiveness of this approach in the process of socialization of mentally retarded individuals were put to an end already in 1911 by V. M. Bekhterev, who said the following in his report at the 1st pedological congress: “In states of backwardness, depending on any individual conditions , as well as in cases of any other mental deviations in children, one simple upbringing almost always turns out to be powerless, and only psychotherapy turns out to be the method that sometimes corrects even very difficult and neglected cases of upbringing ... "
However, until recently, systematic psychotherapeutic correction has not found its application. In previous years, the teacher, to a greater or lesser extent, intuitively used elements of psychotherapy (suggestion, rationalization, certain methods of behavioral therapy, etc.). This approach differed from true psychotherapy in that this influence was not based on the unconscious part of the psyche, goals were not set that a mentally retarded individual could not set for himself, and even more so to consolidate new, more adaptive types of behavior.
The possibility of using psychotherapy is determined by the suggestibility of individuals with mental retardation. The effectiveness of this method is confirmed experimentally. Under the influence of suggestion, the productivity of completing tasks in adolescents who have undergone psychotherapy increases by about 20%. Under the influence of suggestion in combination with subsequent psycho-corrective work, mental activity and working capacity increase in mentally retarded children and adolescents, and in case of behavioral disorders (theft, deceit, rude abuse, escapes, etc.), social adaptation improves, and personal status also increases (Vaizman N . P., 1992). Hypnotherapy and therapeutic sleep are indicated for the treatment of neurotic reactions (enuresis, phobias, motor agitation) in mentally retarded children.
Labor training is an integral part of the correctional and pedagogical process. G. M. Dulnev (1969) identifies his tasks: preparation for participation in productive labor as part of ordinary labor collectives, the use of the process of labor training to correct significant shortcomings in cognitive processes and educate the positive qualities of the personality of a lagging individual, facilitating his inclusion in the labor relations of people in normal production team.
This section can be completed with the words of L. M. Shipitsyna (2002), who believes that the program of transitional age from childhood to adulthood of persons with mental retardation should include: socialization (personal adaptation and integration into society, learning to communicate, interpersonal interaction, organization leisure); vocational training (training for work in the service sector); ensuring equal opportunities for living (development of self-esteem and self-understanding, manifestation of oneself outside the usual home and school conditions, the ability to function independently).