Characteristics of the psychomotor system in preschool children with mental disabilities

Abstract

The health of the nation is primarily determined by the health of children, which is the most significant resource of any society. Health conditioning in preschool children, physiologically valuable development of all organs and systems of the body is of great importance in the preschool educational institutions. In Ukraine special attention is paid to children with various disabilities. Hence, the research dedicated to the study of psychomotor characteristics of children became of special value for working out pedagogical actions aimed at remodeling psychophysical development of preschool children. The purpose of the study was to describe characteristics of psychomotor system of preschool children with psychophysical abnormalities, as well as find out the main features of their manifestation. Material: the study involved 118 children aged 5 - 6 years (N=118). Out of the total number of the study participants 54 children (25 girls and 29 boys) were in need of psychophysical development correction. Thus, 9 of them suffered from musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), though they did not display visual motor impairments (like gross gait, running, jumping or walking disorders); other 15 children had disturbances of speech development (SDD); in 16 children were diagnosed as mental deficients (MD); 5 kids had Down syndrome (DS); 9 children suffered from the disturbances of the autistic spectrum (ASD). A group of 64 kids (30 girls and 34 boys) had normative level of development. Results of the study: Developmental retardation of children with psychophysical abnormalities as compared to their peers with normative development on average by 22.5% to 35% was established. This backwardness was observed in the data, which characterized the psychomotor system formation (development of dynamic and static coordination, movements’ rate, fine motor activity, motor memory, a sense of rhythm, ability of simultaneous movements execution, expressiveness of movements etc.) Conclusions. The level of psychomotor system organization in children with psychophysical abnormalities requires differentiated approach in physical education in the context of inclusive education.