Features of children with mental retardation (PDD): symptoms, prognosis and treatment with corrective education. How to identify mental retardation in a child and help? Pronounced Zpr

30.11.2019

Mental retardation - what is CRA?

Mental retardation (MAD) is a child's lag in development in accordance with the calendar norms of his age, without impairing communication and motor skills. CRD is a borderline condition and can indicate serious organic brain damage. In some children, CRD can be a developmental norm, a special mentality (increased emotional lability).

If the mental retardation persists after 9 years, the child is diagnosed with mental retardation. The slowdown in the rate of mental development is due to the slower maturation of neural connections in the brain. The cause of this condition in most cases is birth trauma and intrauterine fetal hypoxia.

Types of mental retardation (PDD) in children.

ZPR is classified as follows:

Delay in psychoverbal development of constitutional origin. In short, this is a feature of the mental structure of an individual child, which corresponds to the norm of development. Such children are infantile, emotionally similar to young children. Correction in this case is not required.

Somatogenic mental retardation refers to sick children. Weakened immunity, frequent colds, allergic reactions lead to delayed development of the brain and neural connections. Moreover, because of feeling unwell and hospitalization, the child spends less time playing and studying.

CRD of psychogenic nature- arises from an unfavorable situation in the family, insufficient attention of loved ones, pedagogical neglect.

The above types of CRA do not pose a threat further development child. Enough pedagogical correction: to deal more with the child, sign up for a development center, perhaps go to a defectologist. In the practice of the center, we have never come across children with severe mental retardation, with whom little or no attention is paid. Based on the experience of the center, parents of children with mental retardation are very sensitive to the issues of education, development and study. The main reason for the delay in mental development in children is still organic damage to the central nervous system.

Cerebral-organic nature of ZPR (cerebrum - skull).

With this form of mental retardation, areas of the brain are slightly affected. The lesions are primarily affected by those areas that are not directly included in the maintenance of human life, these are the most “outer” parts of the brain, closest to the cranium (cortical part), especially the frontal lobes.

It is these fragile areas that are responsible for our behavior, speech, concentration, communication, memory and intelligence. Therefore, with mild damage to the central nervous system in children (it may not even be visible on MRI), mental development lags behind the calendar norms of their age.

Causes of mental retardation (PDD) of organic origin

Organic brain damage in the prenatal period: hypoxia, fetal asphyxia. Caused by a number of factors: improper behavior of a pregnant woman (intake of prohibited substances, malnutrition, stress, lack of physical activity, etc.)
Mother-borne viral infectious diseases. More often - in the second, third trimester. If a pregnant woman has had whooping cough, rubella, cytomegalovirus infection, and even ARVI on early term pregnancy, this entails a much more severe developmental delay.
Complicated obstetric history: trauma during childbirth- the child gets stuck in the birth canal, with weak generic activity used, stimulants, epidural anesthesia, forceps, vacuum, which is also a risk factor for the newborn.
Complications during the natal period: prematurity, infectious or bacterial disease during the neonatal period (up to 28 days of life)
Congenital malformations of the brain
An infectious or viral disease transferred by a child. If the disease proceeded with complications in the form of meningitis, encephalitis, neurocysticercosis, MR most often turns into a diagnosis of mental retardation (it is placed after 9 years).
External factors - complications after vaccination, taking antibiotics
Household injuries.

The most common cause of mental retardation (CRD) is birth trauma. You can read more about birth trauma here.

Signs of mental retardation (PDD) in children

The game is distinguished by the poverty of imagination and creativity, monotony, monotony. These children have poor performance as a result of increased exhaustion. In cognitive activity, the following are observed: weak memory, instability of attention, sluggishness mental processes and their reduced switchability.

Symptoms of mental retardation (PDD) at an early age (1-3 years)

Children with mental retardation have a reduced concentration of attention, a lag in the formation of speech, emotional lability (“shakiness of the psyche”), disorders in the field of communication (they want to play with other children, but they cannot), decreased interests by age, hyperexcitability, or, conversely, lethargy.

Lagging age norms for the formation of speech. Often a child with DPD begins to walk and babble later.
They cannot differentiate the subject (“show the dog”) by the year (provided that they are working with the child).
Children with mental retardation cannot listen to the simplest rhymes.
Games, cartoons, listening to fairy tales, everything that requires understanding, does not arouse interest in them, or their attention is concentrated on a very a short time... However, a child of 1 year old does not normally listen to a fairy tale for more than 10-15 minutes. A similar condition should alert at 1.5-2 years.
There are violations of coordination of movements, fine and gross motor skills.
Sometimes children with mental retardation start walking later.
Profuse salivation, protruding tongue.
Children with CRD can have a difficult character, they are irritable, nervous, capricious.
Due to disturbances in the central nervous system, a child with CRD may have problems falling asleep, sleeping, arousal and inhibition processes.
They do not understand the speech addressed, but they listen attentively, make contact! This is important to differentiate between CRD and more severe disorders such as autism.
Color blind.
Children with mental retardation at a year and a half cannot fulfill requests, especially difficult ones (“go into the room and bring a book from the bag,” etc.).

Aggression, tantrums over trifles. Due to mental retardation, babies cannot express their needs and emotions and react to everything by screaming

Signs of DPD in preschool and school age (4-9 years)

When children with mental retardation grow up, begin to associate and feel their body, they may complain of headaches, they are often motion sick in transport, there may be nausea, vomiting, dizziness.

Psychologically, children with mental retardation are difficult to perceive not only by their parents, but also suffer from this condition themselves. With mental retardation, relationships with peers are bad. From misunderstanding, from the inability to express themselves, children "close in themselves." They can become angry, aggressive, depressed.

Children with CRD often have problems intellectual development.

Poor counting skills
Can't learn the alphabet
Frequent motor problems, clumsiness
In the case of a rough ZPR, they cannot draw, they hold the pen poorly
Slurred, monotonous speech
Vocabulary - poor, sometimes completely absent
They do not make contact with peers, because of mental retardation they prefer to play with babies
Emotional reactions of schoolchildren with CRD do not correspond to their age (they go into hysterics, laugh when it is inappropriate)
They do poorly at school, are inattentive, mentally, playful motivation prevails, as in younger children. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to get them to learn.

The difference between mental retardation (PDD) and autism.

Mental retardation may be correlated with autism spectrum disorders. When the diagnosis is difficult and the features of autism are not so pronounced, they talk about PDD with elements of autism.

Differentiating mental retardation (PDD) from autism:

With PDD, the child has eye contact, children with autism (specifically autism, not an autistic disorder such as Asperger's syndrome) never make eye contact, even their parents.
Both children may be speechless. In this case, a child with DPD will try to address the adult with gestures, point with a finger, hum or guggle. In autism, there is no interaction with another person, a pointing gesture, children use the hand of an adult if they need to do something (press a button, for example).
Children with autism use toys for other purposes (spin the wheels of the toy car instead of driving it around). Children with mental retardation may have problems with developing toys, they may not get figures in the holes the desired shape, but already at one year old they will show emotions for plush toys, they can kiss and hug them, if asked.
An older child with autism will refuse to have contact with other children, while with DPD, children want to play with others, but since their mental development corresponds to a younger one, they will experience problems with communication and expression of emotions. Most likely - they will play with younger children, or be shy.

A child with CRD can also be aggressive, “heavy,” taciturn, and withdrawn. But autism is distinguished from mental retardation by the lack of communication in principle, plus everything - fear of change, fear of going out, stereotyped behavior and much more. For more details, see the article “Signs of Autism”.

Treatment of mental retardation (PDD)

Traditional assistance to children with mental retardation is reduced either to pedagogical activities or to brain stimulation with the help of drug treatment... In our center, we offer an alternative - to act on the very root cause of mental retardation - organic damage to the central nervous system. Eliminate the consequences of birth trauma with the help of manual therapy. This is the author's technique of cranio-cerebral stimulation (cranium - skull, cerebrum - brain).

Pedagogical correction of children with mental retardation is also very important for the subsequent elimination of the delay. But it is necessary to understand that correction of ZPR is not a treatment.

In the center, Dr. Lev Levit, rehabilitation of children with severe forms of cerebral development nice results that parents could not achieve by drug therapy or pedagogy and speech therapy.

Cranial therapy and author's technique of cranio-cerebral stimulation- a very gentle technique for the treatment of mental retardation and other developmental disorders in children. Outwardly, these are gentle touches to the child's head. By palpation, the specialist determines the cranial rhythm in a child with CRD.

This rhythm occurs due to the processes of movement of fluid (cerebrospinal fluid) in the brain and spinal cord. Liquor washes the brain, removes toxins and dead cells, and saturates the brain with all the necessary elements.

Most children with mental retardation (CRD) have cranial rhythm and fluid outflow disturbances due to birth trauma. Cranial therapy restores rhythm, fluid circulation is restored, brain activity improves, and with it understanding, psyche, mood, sleep.

Craniocerebral stimulation affects areas of the brain that are not functioning well. Many of our children with psychoverbal developmental delay (SPDD) have a leap in speech. They begin to pronounce new words, link them into sentences.

For more information on delayed speech development in children and treatment at the center, see

Chapters center doctor, Dr. Leo Isaakievich Levit, also knows the range of osteopathic techniques (30 years of practice in osteopathic rehabilitation). If necessary, the consequences of other injuries are eliminated (deformation chest, problems with the cervical vertebrae, sacrum, etc.).

Let's summarize. The method of cranial therapy and cranio-cerebral stimulation is aimed at:

normalization of the normal functioning of the brain;
improvement of the metabolism of nerve cells (the metabolism of the whole organism also improves);
elimination of the consequences of birth trauma - work with the bones of the skull;
stimulation of the brain areas responsible for speech, intelligence, associative and abstract thinking

MAIN INDICATORS FOR CONSULTATION WITH A CRANIAL THERAPIST:

1. If the child is born with pathological, severe, intensive childbirth.

2. Anxiety, screaming, unreasonable crying of the child.

3. Strabismus, drooling.

4. Development lag: does not follow the toy with his eyes, cannot pick up the toy, does not show interest in others.

5. Complaints about headaches.

6. Irritability, aggressiveness.

7. Delayed intellectual development, difficulties in learning, memorization, figurative thinking.

The above symptoms of CRD correspond to direct indications for consultation with a cranial therapist. With treatment, in most cases, we achieve high positive results. This is noted not only by parents, but also by kindergarten teachers and school teachers.

You can watch video reviews of parents on the results of treatment of mental retardation.

Mental retardation in children (the disease is often referred to as CRD) is a slow pace of improvement of some mental functions: thinking, emotional-volitional sphere, attention, memory, which lags behind generally accepted norms for a particular age.

The disease is diagnosed in the preschool or primary school period. Most often it is found on preliminary testing before entering school. It is expressed in the limited ideas, lack of knowledge, inability for intellectual activity, the predominance of play, purely childish interests, immaturity of thinking. In each individual case, the causes of the disease are different.

In medicine, various causes of mental retardation in children are determined:

1. Biological:

pregnancy pathologies: severe toxicosis, intoxication, infections, trauma;
prematurity;
asphyxia during childbirth;
infectious, toxic, traumatic diseases at an early age;
genetic predisposition;
childbirth injuries;
lagging behind peers in physical development;
somatic diseases (disorders in the work of various organs);
damage to certain areas of the central nervous system.

2. Social:

limitation of life activity for a long time;
mental trauma;
not favorable conditions life;
pedagogical neglect.

Depending on the factors that ultimately led to mental retardation, several types of disease are distinguished, on the basis of which a number of classifications have been compiled.

Types of mental retardation

In medicine, there are several classifications (domestic and foreign) of mental retardation in children. The most famous are M. S. Pevzner and T. A. Vlasova, K. S. Lebedinskaya, P. P. Kovaleva. Most often in modern domestic psychology they use the classification of K. S. Lebedinskaya.

Constitutional ZPR determined by heredity.
Somatogenic CRA acquired as a result of a previous illness that affected brain function child: allergies, chronic infections, dystrophy, dysentery, persistent asthenia, etc.
Psychogenic CRD is determined by a socio-psychological factor: such children are brought up in unfavorable conditions: a monotonous environment, a narrow circle of friends, a lack of maternal love, poverty of emotional relationships, deprivation.
Cerebro-organic ZPR observed in the case of serious, pathological abnormalities in the development of the brain and is most often determined by complications during pregnancy (toxicosis, viral diseases, asphyxia, alcoholism or drug addiction of parents, infections, birth trauma, etc.).

Each of the species according to this classification differs not only in the causes of the disease, but also in the symptoms and course of treatment.

Symptoms of CRD

It is possible to make a diagnosis of DPD with confidence only on the threshold of school, when there are obvious difficulties in preparing for the educational process. However, with close observation of the child, the symptoms of the disease can be noticed earlier. These may include:

the lag in skills and abilities from peers: the child cannot perform the simplest actions characteristic of his age (shoeing, dressing, personal hygiene skills, independent food);
unsociability and excessive isolation: if he shuns other children and does not participate in common games, this should alert adults;
indecision;
aggressiveness;
anxiety;
during infancy, such children begin to hold their heads later, take their first steps, and speak.

With mental retardation in children, manifestations of mental retardation and signs of impairment in a very important emotional-volitional sphere for the child are equally possible. Their combination is not uncommon. There are times when a baby with CRD practically does not differ from peers, but most often the backwardness is quite noticeable. The final diagnosis is made by a pediatric neurologist during a targeted or prophylactic examination.

Differences from mental retardation

If by the end of the junior (4th grade) school age signs of CRA remain, doctors begin to talk either about mental retardation (ID), or about constitutional infantilism. These diseases are different:

with SD, mental and intellectual underdevelopment is irreversible; with CR, everything can be corrected with the proper approach;
children with mental retardation differ from mentally retarded ones in the ability to use the help that is provided to them, independently transfer it to new tasks;
a child with CRD tries to understand what he has read, whereas in the case of EE there is no such desire.

When making a diagnosis, you do not need to give up. Modern psychology and pedagogy can offer comprehensive assistance to such children and their parents.

Treatment of mental retardation in children

Practice shows that children with mental retardation may well become students of an ordinary general education school, and not a special correctional one. Adults (teachers and parents) should understand that the difficulties of teaching such children at the very beginning of school life are not at all the result of their laziness or negligence: they have objective, rather serious reasons that must be jointly and successfully overcome. Such children should be provided with comprehensive assistance from parents, psychologists, and teachers.

It includes:

an individual approach to each child;
classes with a psychologist and a deaf teacher (who deals with the problems of teaching children);
in some cases - drug therapy.

Many parents find it difficult to accept the fact that their child, due to the peculiarities of his development, will learn more slowly than other children. But this must be done to help the little schoolboy. Parental care, attention, patience, coupled with the qualified help of specialists (teacher-defectologist, doctor-psychotherapist) will help provide him with purposeful upbringing, create favorable conditions for learning.

Mental retardation is a condition in which patients experience an emotional and psychological disorder. In patients with CRD, thinking processes are inhibited, memory and attention skills are impaired.

What causes CRA - reasons

In about 75% of cases, the exact cause of the disease is unknown. We can only assume that the matter is in defects in genes (or chromosomes), injuries or conditions that develop in the fetus in the womb, diseases of early age and environmental influences.

The role of genetics

If one or both parents have mental retardation, it is much more likely that their children will have the condition as well. There are many genetic (inherited) causes of CRD that arise from deficiencies or omissions in the genetic material passed down from parent to child.
Sometimes, mental retardation is caused by abnormalities in chromosomes rather than individual genes. Down syndrome, one of the most common causes of mental retardation, is caused by an extra chromosome in cells. Another fairly common chromosomal defect, called fragile X syndrome, causes CRD mainly in boys.

* Genes are chemical substances in the body that help determine a person's characteristics, such as hair or eye color, and are inherited from their parents. They are located on chromosomes found in the cells of the body.
* Chromosomes (KRO-mo-somes) are threadlike structures within the nucleus of cells on which genes are located.

Problems during pregnancy

Infections in pregnant women, such as rubella or toxoplasmosis, also cause mental retardation in children. Despite the fact that the mother may not suffer from the infection, the developing fetus becomes infected through the mother's body and it has damage to certain parts of the central nervous system and other organs and systems.
Pregnant women who use alcoholic drinks are at risk of having a mentally retarded child through a condition known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). This is a common and preventable cause of CRD.
Certain drugs (such as cocaine or amphetamines), when taken during pregnancy, can harm a child's mental development.
Maternal malnutrition and radiation exposure during pregnancy can also cause similar developmental disabilities.

Birth trauma

Oxygen starvation in the fetus during labor is also a cause of CRD. Babies born prematurely tend to be mentally retarded, especially if the baby weighs less than 1.5 kg.

Disorders after birth

REM can be caused by problems such as lead or mercury poisoning, severe malnutrition, accidents that cause severe head injuries, interruption of oxygen supply to the brain (such as near drowning), or diseases such as encephalitis, meningitis, and untreated hypothyroidism in infants.

It is important to understand: before proceeding with the treatment and correction of the child's condition, it is necessary to determine the roots of the problem.

The main types of ZPR

Mental retardation is classified into four main types.

CRA of a constitutional nature

Reasons: genetics.
Symptoms: playful mood regardless of age, unstable attachment, disturbance, frequent mood swings.

CRD of somatogenic nature

Causes: serious illness with complications of the brain. Pathology can be provoked by transferred surgical interventions, diseases of cardio-vascular system, dystrophies of various origins and severity, allergic manifestations.
Symptoms: unreasonable whims, increased nervousness, excessive notoriousness.

CRD of psychogenic nature

Reasons: lack of parental attention and love, mistakes in upbringing, unfavorable living conditions.
Symptoms: psychosis, bouts of nervousness, violation of the intellectual sphere, which as a result leads to general psychological immaturity.

CRA of cerebral-organic nature

Causes: intrauterine disorders, which may occur due to the intake of alcoholic, toxic and drugs... Sometimes the cause of the development of this particular type of pathology can be birth trauma and oxygen starvation of the brain during childbirth.
Symptoms: instability mental state.

Symptoms of mental retardation in children at different age intervals

Sometimes signs of the disorder can be observed in children immediately after birth, and in some cases, problems begin to appear already at school age and later. It is important to learn to discern the features of your baby in time.

Consider the main alarming symptoms for different age categories children:

ZPR up to a year: late begins to hold the head, crawl, walk, talk, use cutlery.
Signs of CRD per year - quiet, unemotional child, with limited or absent set simple words, does not show a reaction to appeal to him.
DPR 2 years - there is no desire to learn something new due to repetition after others, a primitive set of words (up to 20), there is no ability to make logical phrases and sentences, limited memory skills.
Symptoms of CRD in children 3 years old - fast unconscious speech with swallowing sounds, syllables or endings of words, when answering a question, he can think for a long time and repeat the question itself, movements are slow or hyperactivity is manifested, there is no desire to cognize the world around him, aggressiveness, increased salivation, narrow spectrum emotions, signs of cerebral palsy may appear.
DPR 4 years - tearfulness, aggressiveness, emotional instability, unreasonable laughter or hysteria, poorly developed speech, ignoring the requests of adults, difficulty in contacting others.
CRA in a 5-year-old preschooler - ignoring peers, aggressiveness or complete passivity, sudden mood swings, speech difficulties, especially in building even a simple dialogue, difficulty with memory, lack of simple everyday skills.
ZPR 6 years - behavioral disorders, difficulties in concentrating attention, performing elementary everyday skills, a noticeable lag behind peers in speech, emotional and intellectual development.
CRD in children, symptoms of 7 years old - difficulties with reading, problems with logical tasks and mathematical calculations, lack of emotional contact with peers, stingy speech reserve, difficulty in voicing your thoughts and requests, behavioral problems (aggression, tearfulness, whining, withdrawal in oneself , unfounded laughter, etc.).
Features of CRA in adolescents - mental instability, self-esteem is not developed, there is no resistance to criticism, the team tries to avoid, psychomotor disinhibition and excitability, suppressed cognitive activity, limited memory (often short-term), violation of verbal-figurative, visual-figurative and visual-effective thinking , speech disorders, lack of motivation, development of infantilism. A characteristic symptom psychophysical infantilism - hysteroid psychopathy and depressive states.

At an early age, it is problematic to diagnose CRD. The most pronounced symptoms can be observed in preschool age, when the skills of self-service, orientation in space, communication skills, fully developed memory and formed speech should already be formed.
Regardless of the age at which mental retardation was diagnosed, the correction of this condition must be started immediately.

Screening and tests

Diagnosis of CRD can only be performed by a certified psychologist who is capable of administering, calculating, and interpreting an IQ or Cognition test.
Disease screening includes tests to analyze a child's intellectual and adaptive development, including an abnormal Denver developmental test and an IQ test (these tests are performed on children and adolescents under the age of 18.)

Children with an IQ of less than 70 and a disability in two or more areas of adaptive behavior (for example, motor skills, communication skills, self-help and independent life skills and other daily skills) can generally be considered intellectually limited.

Complications and consequences

Late diagnosis of children with CRD and correction of this complex mental state can forever be imprinted on the child's life. The adolescence of a full-fledged child passes with difficulties, and for a child with CRD, inferiority complexes may additionally develop, which provoke a number of difficulties in communicating with the opposite sex and with peers.
Low self-esteem leaves a negative imprint on academic performance, aspiration, as a result, there is an increased conflict in the team and family. Running situations can lead to irreversible consequences- severe depression and suicide.
CRA can provoke the development of chronic and incurable defects: various mental disorders, violation of written, speech, everyday skills.
IN mature age can be observed, working in a team, creating a family.

Rules for raising a child with CRA

After hearing the diagnosis, each parent, first of all, must emotionally collect and prepare for the difficult struggle for a full-fledged future of the child. Indeed, in medical practice There are quite a few examples when children, after being diagnosed with PDD, studied in regular schools and demonstrated, if not high, but average educational success.
The second thing you need to understand is that the child does not succeed in something, not because of his laziness, he just gets everything a little more difficult and slower.
You do not need to independently develop in your baby a sense of inferiority with constant reproaches and swearing. The main task of parents is to support, motivate, help, demonstrate understanding and love.

Can CRD be prevented?

There is no definite way to prevent mental retardation. Better health care, prenatal testing, and public health education have avoided some cases of IDD.
People who want to become parents can get genetic counseling to determine the likelihood of mental retardation from an inherited disorder. Medical tests such as amniocentesis, chorionic villus selection, and ultrasonography can help detect hereditary metabolic and chromosome disorders associated with mental retardation.
Vaccinations can protect pregnant women from infections that harm the fetus.
Screening blood tests for newborns can reveal some birth disorders, allowing more early treatment... It is also important to protect children from lead poisoning and head injuries.

* Amniocentesis (am-nee-o-sen-TEE-sis) is a test in which a long, thin needle is inserted into the mother's uterus to obtain a sample of amniotic amniotic fluid. Fetal cells in the fluid are examined for genetic defects.
* Chorionic villus sampling (VOR-lus KOR-ee-on-ik sampling) is a test in which a small tube is inserted through the cervix and a small piece of the placenta supporting the fetus is removed for genetic testing.
* Ultrasonography (ul-tra-so-NOG-ra-fee) is a painless test that uses high-frequency sound waves to record and display the shape of the fetus in the mother's uterus.

Living with DPR

There is no cure for mental retardation. Treatment focuses on helping people by building learning, behavioral and self-help skills. For children with mental retardation, the support of parents, specially trained educators and society helps to achieve their maximum abilities and become a full-fledged part of society.

ICD-10 code

F80-F89 - mental development disorder

Particular attention is paid not only to the physical development of the child, but also to his psychological formation. Children with mental retardation (mental retardation) are distinguished into a separate category, which has its own development and characteristics. Learning with these children is initially intense and challenging. However, after some work, progress is visible.

It is difficult enough to establish whether a child is developing normally. Typically, CRA is identified by teachers who know what children should be at one stage or another of their development. Parents often fail to identify mental retardation. This becomes the reason that the child's socialization slows down. However, this process is reversible.

With careful attention to their child, parents are able to identify DPD. For example, such a baby begins to sit late, walk, talk. If he starts some activity, he cannot concentrate on it, does not know where to start, how to achieve the goal, etc. The child is quite impulsive: before thinking, he will do it first.

If a mental retardation has been identified, then you should contact a specialist .. For longer work, you will need full-time consultation.

Who are children with mental retardation?

Let's start by looking at the concept of who children with CRD are. These are children of primary school age who, to some extent, lag behind in their mental development. Actually psychologists don't make much of a problem from this. There may be a delay at any stage. The main thing is only its timely detection and treatment.

Children with CRD differ from their peers in that they do not seem to have matured to their age. They can play games like younger kids. They are not prone to mental intellectual work. We have to talk about DPD only when a condition is detected in a younger schoolchild. If DPD was noted in a senior student, then we can talk about infantilism or oligophrenia.

MR is not associated with such manifestations as mental retardation or mental retardation. With CRD, difficulties in the child's socialization and learning activities are usually revealed. Otherwise, he can be the same child as the rest of the children.

Mental retardation and mental retardation should be distinguished:

Children with CRD have the ability to catch up mental development compared with peers: thinking, analysis and synthesis, comparison, etc.
In children with mental retardation, the prerequisites of intellectual activity suffer, and in children with mental retardation, thought processes.
The development of children with CRA occurs in leaps and bounds. Children with mental retardation may not develop at all.
Children with mental retardation actively accept the help of other people, they enter into dialogues and joint activities. Children with mental retardation shun strangers and even loved ones.
Children with CRD are more emotional in play activities than children with mental retardation.
Children with CRD may have creativity. Children with intellectual disabilities often get stuck at the level of drawing lines and other things, until they are taught something.

Difficult children should be distinguished from children with mental retardation. In many ways, they are similar to each other: conflict, deviation in behavior, deceit, neglect, evasion of demands. However, difficult children are the result of improper upbringing and pedagogical incompetence. They take an opposition line against the conditions in which they grow up.

Children with mental retardation resort to lying, rejection, conflict as a way to the environment and to protect their psyche. Their adaptation processes to society are simply violated.

Development of children with mental retardation

50% of students who are not doing well in school are children with mental retardation. The way their development took place influences further educational activities. Usually, children with CRD are identified in the first years after entering kindergarten or school. They are more immature, their mental processes are disturbed, there is a disorder of the cognitive sphere. Intellectual disability in mild form and immaturity of the nervous system.

To make it easy for children with developmental disorders to develop to their level, specialized schools and classes are being opened. In such groups, the child receives such an education that helps him to catch up with the level of his “mentally healthy” peers, while correcting mental deficiencies.

The teacher actively participates in the process, who gradually transfers the initiative to the child. First, the teacher controls the process, then sets a goal and creates such a mood in the child so that he himself can solve the assigned tasks. It also uses tasks for working with a team, where the child will do work with other children and focus on collective assessment.

The assignments are varied. They include more visual material with which the child will be forced to work. Outdoor games are also used.

Characteristics of children with CRD

Children with MRI are usually identified in the first period after their admission to a school institution. It has its own rules and regulations that a child with this disorder is simply not able to learn and observe. The main characteristic of a child with mental retardation is his unwillingness to study in a regular school.

He does not have enough knowledge and skills that would help him learn new material and learn the rules adopted at school. It is difficult for him to perform voluntary activities. Difficulties arise already at the first stage of mastering writing, reading and counting. All this is exacerbated by a weak nervous system.

The speech of children with mental retardation also lags behind. It is difficult for kids to write a coherent story. It is easier for them to form separate sentences that are not related to each other. Agrammatism is often observed. Speech is sluggish, the articulation apparatus is undeveloped.

Children with CRD are more inclined to play than learning activities. They are happy to complete game tasks, but with the exception of plot-based role-playing ones. At the same time, children with mental retardation have difficulties in building relationships with peers. They stand out for their directness, naivety and lack of independence.

You don't have to talk about purposeful activity. A child with DPD does not understand the goals of study and is not able to organize himself, does not feel like a schoolboy. It is difficult for a kid to understand the material that comes from the mouth of the teacher. It is also difficult for him to assimilate it. To understand, he needs visual material and detailed instructions.

By themselves, children with CRD quickly get tired and have a low level of performance. They cannot keep up with the pace that is accepted in a regular school. Over time, the child himself realizes his dissimilarity, which can lead to failure, lack of confidence in his own potential, the emergence of fears of punishment.

A child with CRD is not inquisitive and has a low level of curiosity. He does not see logical connections, often misses the meaningful and focuses on the insignificant. The topics are not related to each other when talking with such a child. These characteristics lead to superficial memorization of the material. The child is not able to grasp the essence of things, but only notes that the first caught the eye or appeared on the surface. This leads to a lack of generalization and the presence of stereotyped use of the material.

Difficulties in relationships with people around are observed in children with CRD. They don’t ask questions because they don’t have curiosity. It is difficult to get in contact with children and adults. All this is reinforced by emotional instability, which manifests itself in:

Mannering.
Uncertainty.
Aggressive behavior.
Lack of self-control.
Mood swings.
Inability to adapt to the team.
Familiarity.

Children with mental retardation manifest themselves in maladjustment to the world around them, which requires correction.

Working with children with disabilities

Correctional work with children with mental retardation is carried out by specialists who take into account the characteristics of such babies. Their work is aimed at correcting all the shortcomings and promoting children to the level of their peers. They learn the same material as healthy children, while taking into account their characteristics.

The work is carried out in two directions:

Teaching the basic material that is taught at school.
Correction of all mental deficiencies.

The age of the child with CRD is taken into account. What mental characteristics he should have, such in him and develop. This takes into account the complexity of the tasks that the child can perform on his own, and the exercises that he can solve with the help of adults.

Corrective work with children with mental retardation includes a health-improving direction, when favorable conditions for development are formed. Here the daily routine, environment, conditions, etc. change. In parallel, neuropsychological techniques are used that correct the child's behavior, his learning ability in writing and reading. Other areas of correctional activity are the development of the cognitive sphere (its stimulation) and the development of the emotional part (understanding the feelings of other people, controlling one's own emotions, etc.).

Working with children with mental retardation in various directions allows you to adjust their mental activity and raise them to the level of ordinary healthy individuals of their age.

Teaching children with mental retardation

Specialists, not ordinary teachers, deal with children with mental retardation. This is due to the fact that the usual school curriculum, with its intensity and approaches, is not suitable for these children. Their intellectual sphere is not so developed as to calmly receive new knowledge, it is difficult for them to organize their activities, generalize and compare, analyze and make synthesis. However, children with mental retardation are able to repeat, transferring actions to similar tasks. This helps them in learning and gaining the knowledge that their peers receive in a regular school.

Teachers take into account the peculiarities of children with mental retardation and educational tasks that students must learn. First of all, the emphasis is on the development of cognitive abilities.

Ideally, if parents are engaged in the correction of the mental activity of their children in the preschool period. There are numerous preschool organizations where there are specialists in the development of various skills, for example, defectologists. This helps to quickly fill those gaps that have formed.

Children with mental retardation can reach the level of development of their peers if they receive diverse and versatile material, which not only gives them knowledge, but also teaches them to write, read, speak (pronunciation), etc.

Outcome

Children with CRD are not sick, but specialists should deal with their correction. Usually, developmental delay is detected late, which is due to the inattention of parents to their own children. However, if the developmental deficiency is identified, you can immediately start specialized work that will help the child in socialization and adaptation to life based on the results.

Predictions for DPD are positive if parents place their child in the hands of specialists. You can quickly and easily eliminate all the mental gaps that have been identified, which distinguishes this group of children from children with mental retardation.

The diagnosis of mental retardation is given to children with a slow development of some functions of thinking, attention, memory, emotional and volitional spheres, which does not reach the generally accepted norms of a certain age. The first symptoms of DPD are manifested in the development of preschoolers and children of elementary grades.

Most likely, mental retardation is diagnosed when passing tests before entering the first grade. The child has children's play interests prevail, objective representation is limited, there is no knowledge required for his age, thinking is immaturity, the brain is intellectually impoverished, its work is inhibited.

Delayed mental development of the child

The syndrome is characterized by a slowdown in psychomotor and mental functions, an insufficient rate of maturation. These violations promote slow personality maturity, undeveloped emotions, will and memory. Development lag is manifested in underdevelopment thought processes, inability to analyze information, generalize the information obtained, classify, abstract, synthesize ideas. Violations can be compensated and developed in the opposite direction.

DPD in children leads to the fact that the child, instead of being interested in new knowledge, seeks to get pleasure from games, has an unstable interest, and prefers changes in entertainment. Often such children have high self-esteem and consider themselves better than others, which is not true.

In class in a group kindergarten or at school such guys do not control attention, often switch from one subject to another, get tired quickly. Logical tasks cause significant difficulties in solving; in the analysis they cannot determine the causes and consequences of any action. When describing and characterizing objects, essential signs are not distinguished, which does not give them an elementary idea of things and standard phenomena.

In independent or group games, there is no ability to organize the process without outside help. Younger schoolchildren in most cases suffer from hyperactivity, aggressiveness, anxious thinking. Delayed mental development - this is differently viewed as infantilism, which is characterized by physical and mental immaturity.

The diagnosis of CRD can be considered as the root cause or secondary consequence of the previously manifested violation of one of the functions of the body such as speech disorders. ZPR is the factor that can arise in the complex of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or represent a psychoorganic or cerebrasthenic syndrome, and manifestations of mental retardation can be combined or act as a single root cause.

Recognition and diagnostics

It is possible to diagnose mental retardation only as a result of a comprehensive collection of information from psychological, pedagogical, speech therapy, psychotherapeutic, defectological examination. For recognition of DPR the stage of development of mental processes, motor abilities is assessed, errors in solving problems from mathematics, writing exercises and oral story are analyzed, the level of development of hand motor skills is determined. If even small deviations occur in these areas of development in a child, parents should contact a specialist to identify the true state of affairs.

The most typical deviations depending on age

Each period of a child's development provides for its own norms of mental and physical development.

Symptoms of mental retardation in preschoolers

The period is characterized by the fact that babies cannot talk and it is difficult for inexperienced parents to identify specific traits deviations in the development of your child, but some tips will help you do this in time:

Special attention should be paid to emotional manifestations, usually preschoolers are prone to hyperactivity, fatigue sets in quickly, memory is weak, attention is scattered on various objects. It is difficult for them to communicate with adults and peers; when conducting an examination using encephalography, dysfunctions of the central nervous system are observed.

Symptoms of CRD in primary school age

Upon admission to first grade, the test taker without fail will detect if the child has a mental retardation towards deceleration. But experienced parents may find these signs earlier:

Very rarely, there are situations when a child with mental retardation does not manifest itself in anything in the circle of peers, most often the developmental lag is noticeable, and it is difficult not to pay attention to such a circumstance. But the final diagnosis is made by a specialist, parents cannot treat a child on their own without a doctor's recommendation.

Differences between CRA and mental retardation

If by the age of 10–11 years the child does not have signs of developmental delay, then doctors insist on a diagnosis of mental retardation, abbreviated UO, or suspect constitutional infantilism. The main differences from delayed development are:

Prediction of consequences and complications

Mental lag consistently affects the personal development of the baby in future life situations. Measures not taken in time to overcome developmental delays will leave a significant imprint on the existence of an individual in society.

An indifferent attitude to the adjustment of development leads to the aggravation of all the problems of the child already at an older age. Children are separated from their peers and withdraw into themselves, sometimes they are treated as outcasts, which forms the inferiority of their own personality and lowers self-esteem. The totality of events entails difficulties in adaptation and the impossibility of communicating with the opposite sex.

Decreases in the level of cognition new information, writing and speech are distorted, young man with uncorrected developmental delay, it is difficult to find a suitable profession and learn simple working techniques. To avoid a gloomy prognosis, parents should identify deviations in a timely manner and treat them after the first signs of lag appear.

Causes of mental retardation

The appearance of a slowdown in mental development depends on various reasons which fall into two categories:

organic nature, hereditary causes;
dependence on the social environment, incorrect pedagogical influence, emotional deprivation.

Organic causes

CRA occurs due to local changes in the brain zones that occurred during intrauterine development. It can be consequences of maternal diseases toxic, somatic, infectious form... Sometimes such lesions occur due to asphyxiation of the child when passing through the birth canal.

An important factor can be genetics, in accordance with the laws of which a child has natural disposition to delay the maturation of the brain systems. In most cases, the disease has a neurological basis with symptoms of vascular dystonia, impaired innervation of the cranial region, and hydrocelium. All disturbances in the activity of the brain, leading to a slowdown in development, are perfectly traced on encephalography, the characteristic manifestation of the disease is the activity of delta waves and the complete attenuation of alpha rhythms.

The primary retardation of development entails a secondary delay, which is characterized by a violation of the functions of memory, speech, objective perception of reality, stopping attention on the required object.

Social reasons for the slowdown in the development of consciousness

These reasons lead to CRA, if the child was and was brought up from an early age in unacceptable conditions. Such circumstances include:

Very often two groups of factors are involved in the formation of delayed development - natural and social. A child with a predisposition falls into unfavorable developmental conditions, and his heredity begins to manifest itself.

As a result, not only the mechanisms of brain development suffer, but also psychotraumatic factors are connected that lead the sick patient to a developmental arrest. If there is a dense combination of reasons from the two categories, then it becomes more difficult to eliminate the DPD, depending on the size of the lesion. For the most part, such an unfavorable combination leads a person to complete maladjustment in society.

Varieties of mental retardation

Domestic and foreign doctors have compiled several classifications of CRA in children, but the most used was the system of K.S. Lebedinskaya:

constitutional delay is determined by the manifestation of heredity;
the somatic form becomes active as a result of a child's illness, which had a destructive effect on brain functions, for example, chronic infectious infections, allergies, asthenia, dysentery, dystrophy and other similar diseases;
psychogenic delay occurs as a result of social factors acting in adverse circumstances;
cerebral-organic developmental delay occurs when exposed to abnormal and pathological processes as a result of complicated pregnancy.

Characterization of signs of delay depending on the cause of occurrence

Constitutional developmental delay

A child assigned to this category stops not only psychologically, but physiological parameters as well fall short of the norm, such children are small in weight, insufficient growth. Interest in everything new is characteristic, children are a little infantile, a livable disposition becomes the reason why many of the children find friends in their environment. Individuals of this category are usually affectionate, with positive emotions, they talk a lot in the lesson and do not know how to concentrate on one subject.

CRA due to somatogenic origin

Children in this category acquire developmental delay as a result of outside interference with brain function. These children retain intelligence. but brain dysfunction leads to mental mind infantilism and persistent asthenia. Such individuals constantly need support, miss loved ones, are constantly in a whiny mood, adaptation in society is difficult. They are characterized by a lack of initiative, helplessness, passivity, and ridiculous actions.

Psychogenic causes of developmental delay

In such cases, physically healthy children are brought up in unfavorable conditions. It can be an orphanage or homelessness in a family. Emotional experiences associated with a lack of maternal warmth, paternal support, repetition of monotonous contacts in a limited team leads to a lag in the development of the child. The unfavorable social environment in which the baby is brought up becomes the reason for the delay in psychogenic and intellectual development.

Psycho-traumatic circumstances develop into pedagogical neglect. Children from such social groups are infantile, dependent, they are led, passive, do not analyze their actions. Behavior is characterized by increased aggressiveness, in case of manifestation of someone else's pressure, on the contrary, servile submission, obedience, adaptation to rough treatment.

Cerebro-organic causes of developmental delay

ZPR is called organic brain damage due to infectious infections in the first months of life, pathological changes during pregnancy or injuries during difficult childbirth. This is accompanied by asthenia, cerebral insufficiency, which leads to a slowdown in working capacity, impairs memory, attention, the child lags behind in studying the school program. Primitive thinking does not allow children to distinguish between good and bad, to distinguish between "need" and "want", viscous thinking leads to increased excitability or anxiety and sluggishness.

Principles of curative therapy

It is best to start correcting developmental lag after the first symptoms are established. Doctors recommend an integrated approach using the main treatment methods:

reflexology with electric impulses on the working brain points, the method of exposure to microcurrents is effective in lagging behind in development after cerebral-organic damage;
the use of speech therapy massage services, various proven methods of memory development, articulatory gymnastics, training of attention, thinking, for this it is required to consult with speech therapists and defectologists at all stages of the disease;
for the use of drugs, a mandatory examination by a neurologist is required; self-prescription of drugs can only harm a sick child.

If social factors became the reason for the child's developmental delay, then a psychologist's consultation is required. Communication works effectively with animals, dolphins, horses. A successful married couple can do a lot to give the baby self-confidence, a favorable prognosis of the disease will be if the support of loved ones accompanies the development of the child.