ZPR belongs to the category of mild deviations in mental development and occupies an intermediate place between normality and pathology. Children with mental retardation do not have such severe developmental disabilities as mental retardation, primary underdevelopment of speech, hearing, vision, or motor system. The main difficulties they experience are associated primarily with social (including school) adaptation and learning. The explanation for this is the slowdown in the rate of mental maturation. It should also be noted that in each individual child, mental retardation may manifest itself differently and differ both in time and in the degree of manifestation. But, despite this, we can try to identify a range of developmental features that are characteristic of the majority of children with mental retardation. Researchers call the immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere the most striking sign of mental retardation; in other words, it is very difficult for such a child to make a volitional effort on himself, to force himself to do something. And from here attention disturbances inevitably appear: instability, decreased concentration, increased distractibility. Attention disorders may be accompanied by increased motor and speech activity. Such a complex of deviations (impaired attention + increased motor and speech activity), not complicated by any other manifestations, is currently referred to as “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” (ADHD). Impaired perception is expressed in the difficulty of constructing a holistic image. For example, it may be difficult for a child to recognize familiar objects from an unfamiliar perspective. This structured perception is the cause of insufficiency and limited knowledge about the world around us. The speed of perception and orientation in space also suffer. If we talk about the characteristics of memory in children with mental retardation, one pattern has been found here: they remember visual (non-verbal) material much better than verbal. In addition, it was found that after a course of special training in various memorization techniques, the performance of children with mental retardation improved even in comparison with normally developing children. Mental retardation is often accompanied by speech problems associated primarily with the pace of its development. Other features of speech development in this case may depend on the form of severity of mental retardation and the nature of the main disorder: for example, in one case it may be only a slight delay or even correspondence to the normal level of development, while in another case there is a systemic underdevelopment of speech - a violation of its vocabulary. grammatical side. Children with mental retardation have a delay in the development of all forms of thinking; it is detected primarily during solving problems of verbal and logical thinking. By the beginning of school, children with mental retardation do not fully master all the intellectual operations necessary to complete school assignments (analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, abstraction). At the same time, mental retardation is not an obstacle to the development of general education curricula, which, however, require certain adjustments in accordance with the developmental characteristics of the child. Domestic experts identify the following as reasons leading to mental development delays. Unfavorable course of pregnancy: maternal illnesses during pregnancy (rubella, mumps, influenza); chronic maternal diseases (heart disease, diabetes , diseases of the thyroid gland); toxicosis, especially the second half of pregnancy; toxoplasmosis; intoxication of the mother’s body due to the use of alcohol, nicotine, drugs, chemicals and medications, hormones; incompatibility of the blood of mother and baby according to the Rh factor. Pathology of childbirth: injuries due to mechanical damage fetus when using various means of obstetric aid (for example, forceps); asphyxia of newborns and its threat. Social factors: pedagogical neglect as a result of limited emotional contact with the child both in the early stages of development (beforethree years), and at later age stages. Delayed mental development is usually divided into four groups. Each of these types is due to certain reasons and has its own characteristics of emotional immaturity and cognitive impairment. The first type is mental retardation of constitutional origin. This type is characterized by a pronounced immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere, which seems to be at an earlier stage of development. Here we are talking about the so-called mental infantilism. You need to understand that mental infantilism is not a disease, but rather a certain complex of sharpened character traits and behavioral characteristics, which, however, can significantly affect the child’s activities, primarily his educational abilities, his adaptive abilities to a new situation. Such a child often occurs is not independent, has difficulty adapting to new conditions for him, is often strongly attached to his mother and feels helpless in her absence; it is characterized by a heightened background of mood, a violent manifestation of emotions, which at the same time are very unstable. By school age, such a child still has gaming interests in the foreground, whereas normally they should be replaced by educational motivation. It is difficult for him to make any decision without outside help, make a choice, or make any other volitional effort on himself. Such a baby can behave cheerfully and spontaneously, his developmental delay is not noticeable, but when compared with his peers, he always seems a little younger. The second group - of somatogenic origin - includes weakened, often ill children. As a result of long-term illness, chronic infections, allergies, and congenital malformations, mental retardation may occur. This is explained by the fact that during a long illness, against the background of general weakness of the body, the baby’s mental state also suffers, and, therefore, cannot fully develop. Low cognitive activity, increased fatigue, dulling of attention - all this creates a favorable situation for slowing down the pace of mental development. This also includes children from families with overprotection - excessively increased attention to raising the baby. When parents care too much about their beloved child, they do not let him go a single step, they do everything for him, fearing that the child may harm himself, that he is still small. In such a situation, loved ones, considering their behavior as an example of parental care and guardianship, thereby hinder the child’s expression of independence, and therefore, knowledge of the world around him, and the formation of a full-fledged personality. It should be noted that the situation of overprotection is very common in families with sick children, where pity for the baby and constant worry about his condition, the desire to supposedly make his life easier ultimately turn out to be bad helpers. The next group is mental retardation of psychogenic origin. The main role is given to the social situation of the baby’s development. The cause of this type of mental retardation is dysfunctional situations in the family, problematic upbringing, and mental trauma. If there is aggression and violence in the family towards a child or other family members, this may lead to a predominance in the child’s character of such traits as indecision, lack of independence, lack of initiative, timidity and pathological shyness. Here, in contrast to the previous type of mental retardation , there is a phenomenon of hypoguardianship, or insufficient attention to the upbringing of the child. The child grows up in a situation of neglect and pedagogical neglect. The consequence of this is the lack of ideas about moral standards of behavior in society, the inability to control one’s own behavior, irresponsibility and inability to answer for one’s actions, and an insufficient level of knowledge about the world around us. The fourth and final type of mental retardation is of cerebral-organic origin. It occurs more often than others, and the prognosis for further development for children with this type of mental retardation, compared with the previous three, is usuallyleast favorable. As the name suggests, the basis for identifying this group of mental retardation is organic disorders, namely, insufficiency of the nervous system, the causes of which can be: pathology of pregnancy (toxicosis, infections, intoxication and trauma, Rhesus conflict, etc.), prematurity , asphyxia, birth trauma, neuroinfections. With this form of mental retardation, the so-called minimal brain dysfunction (MMD) occurs, which is understood as a complex of mild developmental disorders that manifest themselves, depending on the specific case, in a very diverse manner in various areas of mental activity. MMD researchers have identified the following risk factors for its occurrence: late maternal age, height and body weight of a woman before pregnancy, beyond the age norm, first birth; pathological course of previous births; chronic diseases of the mother, especially diabetes, Rh conflict, premature birth, infectious diseases during pregnancy; psychosocial factors such as unwanted pregnancy, risk factors of a big city (long daily commute, city noises); the presence of mental, neurological and psychosomatic diseases in the family; pathological childbirth with forceps, cesarean section, etc. Children of this type are distinguished by weak expression of emotions, poverty of imagination, disinterest in assessing oneself by others. About prevention The diagnosis of mental retardation appears in the medical record most often closer to school age, at 5-6 years old, or already when the child is directly faced with learning problems. But with timely and well-structured correctional, pedagogical and medical assistance, partial and even complete overcoming of this developmental deviation is possible. You can undergo psychological and pedagogical diagnostics in our Center, and on its basis receive recommendations for correcting your child’s problems. The main stages of rehabilitation for mental retardation are: Therapeutic measures: drug treatment, homeopathy, herbal medicine, physiotherapy, massage, physical therapy. 2. Correctional and developmental training (classes with a speech therapist, psychologist, speech pathologist). But the first place should be given to the prevention of mental retardation. Recommendations on this matter are no different from those that can be given to any young parents: first of all, this is the creation of the most favorable conditions for pregnancy and childbirth, avoidance of the risk factors listed above, and of course, close attention to the development of the baby from the very beginning. days of his life. The latter simultaneously makes it possible to recognize and correct developmental deviations in a timely manner. First of all, it is necessary to show the newborn to a neurologist. Today, as a rule, all children after 1 month are sent for examination to this specialist. Many receive referrals directly from the maternity hospital. Even if both pregnancy and childbirth went perfectly, your baby feels great, and there is not the slightest reason for concern - do not be lazy and visit a doctor. In addition to visiting doctors’ offices, there are several points regarding the interaction of parents with children, which are also necessary for the normal and full development of the child. The components of communication with a baby are familiar to every caring mother and are so simple that we don’t even think about their colossal impact on the growing body. This is physical and emotional contact with the baby. Body contact means any touching of the child, hugging, kissing, stroking the head. Since in the first months after birth the baby’s tactile sensitivity is very developed, physical contact helps him navigate a new environment and feel more confident and calm. The baby must be picked up, caressed, stroked not only on the head, but also all over the body. The touch of gentle parental hands on the baby’s skin will allow him to form the correct image of his body and adequately perceive the space around him. Techniques.