Mental development features in children with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

This paper explores features of mental development in children with intellectual disabilities. The relevance of the intellectual disabilities study is due to large number of children in the world having reduced cognitive functions, which affects their socialization, education and quality of life. The aim of the work is to study the mental development of the cognitive abilities in children with intellectual disabilities. The authors analyze theoretical approaches to this problem in modern psychology. Types of intellectual disabilities in children with various psychoneurological diseases are distinguished. The empirical study results of the verbal-logical thinking development level in 3rd grade students with intellectual disabilities attending children’s psychosocial rehabilitation and 3rd grade students of a comprehensive school are presented. The study reveals statistically significant differences in the verbal-logical thinking development level, formation of such mental operations as comparison and generalization between groups of children attending children’s psychosocial rehabilitation and those attending comprehensive school. The first group identified indicators are at a significantly lower level. The results can be used to organize psychocorrection for children with intellectual disabilities, aimed at developing verbal-logical thinking. The paper’s target audience is classic inclusive education psychologists.