STATE OF DEVELOPMENT OF CERTAIN MENTAL FUNCTIONS AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF STUDENTS AGED 10–11 WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Abstract

At the present stage, modern ideas, principles, and concepts related to the modernization of organizational and methodological support for the speech activity of primary school students with intellectual disabilities are insufficiently taken into account. The purpose of the article was to identify general trends and specific features in the development of certain mental functions and components of physical activity among girls and boys aged 10–11 with intellectual disabilities. Research methods. The goal was achieved through the use of research methods at the theoretical level (analysis, synthesis, systematization, generalization) and empirical level (written survey using IPAQ-SF, psychodiagnostic testing (Wechsler method, DAUF), pedagogical testing, and methods of mathematical statistics). The study involved 18 girls and 16 boys aged 10.8±0.62 years, who were students of special general secondary education institutions. Informed consent for the participation of these children was obtained from their parents. Results. It was found that a promising direction for modernizing the content aimed at developing the speech activity of children with intellectual disabilities is to take into account the principles of the “embodied learning” concept. In this regard, information about the peculiarities of the development of mental functions, functional and motor characteristics of such children, becomes especially relevant. It was established that the average IQ of the girls was 52.4±5.34%, and of the boys, 51.5±4.97%, indicating a mild degree of intellectual impairment. The attention stability of girls was 1.12±0.21 s, and that of boys was 1.14±0.19 s, showing no significant differences between them (W=0.34; p> 0.05) and indicating parameters that deviated from the norm. Regarding physical activity, in both samples, no child was found who did not engage in physical activity during free time. At the same time, most girls and boys reported engaging in such activity three times a week, with individual sessions lasting either less than 30 minutes (55.5% and 50%, respectively) or more than 60 minutes (27.8% and 37.5%, respectively). The total amount of physical activity per week, apart from the aforementioned sessions, for the largest number of girls (38.8 %) and boys (31.2 %) ranged between 61–120 minutes. In terms of motor skill development, girls tend to lag behind boys; the manifestation of these qualities in both samples differs from the required level and is significantly lower compared to their peers without special educational needs. Conclusions. The obtained data should be taken into account when establishing parameters of physical activity aimed at supporting speech activity in children with intellectual disabilities during primary school education.