DEVELOPMENT OF IMITATION
Imitation is one of the main ways a young child assimilates social experience. In this way, he learns everyday skills and masters speech. But imitation itself does not develop in a child right away; it requires teaching influence from an adult. Teaching a special child to imitate is one of the most important tasks of primary education, since special education imitation develops extremely slowly, which affects the acquisition of the practical skills necessary for the child.
Imitation is the repetition of an adult’s movements or his actions with objects that occur in full view of the child. The adult shows and the child repeats.
It is easier for a child to imitate movements than actions with objects. It cannot accurately reproduce the direction of movement and its scope. Moreover, it is difficult for him to reproduce an action with an object, which often consists of several successive stages. For example, to feed a doll, you need to take a spoon and hold it by the handle, bring it to the plate, then to the doll’s face, etc. A child will not be able to follow the order of operations in this complex action if it is performed by an adult quickly and without highlighting each stage. Therefore, the demonstration should be carried out slowly, with the recording of one or another moment and indicated by a word.
If the child does not imitate a given movement or action with an object, the adult should take his hands in his own and jointly perform the desired action, and then offer to repeat it himself by imitation.
"Birds"
Goal.
Teach a child to imitate the actions of an adult, develop emotional contact between an adult and a child.
Progress of the game.
The adult invites the child to come to him. "Do as I do. Let's fly like birds." - he says and raises his arms to the sides, waves them, runs around the room, dragging the child with him. Then he says: “The birds are pecking the grains.” (They squat down.) Do this.” (Knocks his hand on the floor.) The child repeats. The game is repeated 2-3 times. If the child does not repeat the actions on his own, then the adult takes his hands in his own and performs the movements together with the child “hand in hand.”
"Roll the ball"
Target.
Teach the child to imitate the actions of an adult with an object.
Progress of the game.
The adult sits at one end of the table, the child at the other. The adult places a collar between himself and the child, takes
the ball and says: “Do as I do,” rolls it through the goal to the child. He must roll the ball back.
Cooperation between a teacher-defectologist and parents in the process of correctional work with children with disabilities (CHD)
Childhood is a special period in a child’s life; it is during this time that there is intense growth, rapid intellectual development and personality development. At this time, the most important people in his life are next to him - his parents.
The level of development of a child depends primarily on the atmosphere that parents create in the family. An important role in raising children is played by the general way of life of the family: the relationship between spouses, the general tone of communication between parents, instilling uniform educational requirements for the child and hard work. The child must understand that attention and love are needed not only by him alone, but also by other family members. This helps to avoid the development of selfish qualities in the child. Thanks to their parents, children acquire basic understanding of the world around them. In order to form the moral and volitional qualities of a child’s personality, one must not suppress his “I myself.” You need to talk to the child, explaining to him why you are asking him to do what is possible and necessary, and not otherwise.
In modern society, the number of children with special educational and social needs has recently increased. In accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, every child is guaranteed the right to development, upbringing and education in accordance with his individual capabilities. The provisions contained in these documents apply to all children, including those with developmental disabilities. These are also children with mental retardation. Mental retardation (MDD) is a lag in the development of mental processes and immaturity of the emotional-volitional sphere in children, which can potentially be overcome with the help of specially organized training and upbringing.
When a child goes from home to kindergarten, he needs special conditions for development. In this situation, various preschool specialists come to the rescue, such as teachers, speech pathologists, speech therapists, psychologists and many other professionals who will help the child develop correctly.
For children with mental retardation, a teacher-defectologist plays a significant role. Defectological support ensures the inclusion of special activities in all areas of the educational process. The content of the work of a teacher-defectologist is a comprehensive set of measures aimed at providing specialized assistance both to the child in the form of classes and dynamic monitoring of the progress of development, and to parents and educators in the form of consultations.
A special education teacher helps the child adapt and socialize to the world around him. After all, if you start correcting deficiency or functional immaturity in time, the consequences can be minimized. For successful and effective development, it is necessary to involve parents in the educational process. This implies cooperation, a certain nature of interaction between parent and specialist, partnership. This process is labor-intensive and time-consuming.
Often finding mutual understanding with parents is much more difficult than with children, because not all parents are ready to accept the fact that a “special child” is growing up in their family. They persist and try to cope with problems alone, or “do not see at all” the existing developmental problems in their child. Parents often have problems understanding the mental and social development of a preschool child. Perhaps this indicates insufficient pedagogical awareness of parents or the inability to competently use psychological and pedagogical knowledge when raising their own child. This state of affairs complicates the work of a teacher-defectologist. After all, it is in the family that individual abilities are revealed and the prerequisites are created for their formation and actualization. Parents' faith in the capabilities of their child, love for him, regardless of his problems, contribute to the formation of a positive attitude towards himself and other people, provide a sense of self-confidence, trust in the world around him.
In order to make parents reliable allies in correctional and educational work, it is necessary to begin communication with them by explaining to them the positive characteristics of their child, his strengths, on which his success in later life can be based. To do this, the teacher must be a competent psychologist. The teacher-defectologist needs to find these strengths together with parents and base correctional work on them. This tactic of communication with parents allows you to break the barrier of parents’ non-acceptance of their “special” child,” and sometimes helps to improve relationships in the family and between relatives. This allows parents to accept their child for who he is, and makes it possible to help him develop and adapt in modern society. During communication with a teacher-defectologist, parents receive the necessary information about the child’s disorder from the point of view of a specialist, as well as emotional support. In this way, the teacher wins over the parents, and the parents, in turn, learn the necessary techniques for teaching and communicating with their child.
If the family is determined to cooperate with the teacher, then it is easier for the child to study, he perceives tasks more positively and feels more confident and successful. Another important component of the success of correctional work is feedback. A parent can always seek help from a specialist in case of doubt or difficulty. Regular completion of tasks of a speech pathologist teacher not only helps speed up the correction process, but also instills in children responsibility, perseverance, self-control and allows them to use the acquired knowledge in practice. Cooperation between a teacher-defectologist and parents in an effort to help a child understand his individual characteristics and difficulties in mastering cognitive material underlies all correctional work and creates the basis for the formation of the basics of educational activity.
As practice shows, children with mental retardation very often do not know how to play. The correctional work of a teacher-defectologist takes place in a playful way, and during these classes children develop, learn new things and learn to play. Hearing from a child that he is playing with a speech-language pathologist and not studying, parents become very wary and wary of the work of a speech-language pathologist. But as you know, in preschool age the leading role belongs to play activities. It is in the game that the child develops and more effectively assimilates cognitive material. It is in play that a child develops, develops his communication skills and broadens his horizons. This increases the child’s motivation to study with a special education teacher, since during the game a psychologically comfortable environment is created for the child.
To show the effectiveness of this work, individual and group classes are conducted with children in the presence of parents. During such classes, conditions are created for the parent to objectively assess the success of his child. Parents are visually trained in methods and forms of working with children at home. Participation in such classes stimulates parents and allows them to adequately assess the real capabilities of their child. Here they learn not only to interact meaningfully with their child, but also master new methods and forms of communication with him. In addition, during the classes, parents learn to relate more objectively and positively to their child. They see that there are families around them that have similar problems, and they are convinced by the example of other families that the active participation of parents in the development of the child leads to success.
Also, to achieve a positive result in correctional work with children with disabilities, you can use the method of project activity. Delayed mental development imposes specific characteristics on the development of the cognitive process and on the adaptation of a preschool child to social life. An important task for us, teachers working with children with mental retardation, is to involve children in socially significant activities that activate cognitive processes and stimulate the manifestation of each child’s individuality. The project activity method, in my opinion, is the most suitable for solving this problem. In addition, it allows parents to be involved in the project. By working on a project with children, parents have the opportunity not only to become a source of information for their child and provide assistance to him and the group’s teachers, but also to become direct participants in the educational process for their child. Participation in the project helps parents gain their own new teaching experience and experience a sense of involvement in their child’s successes. Success together always seems more significant and meaningful.
Thus, cooperation between a teacher-defectologist and a family with a child with disabilities is an activity aimed at activating the child’s compensatory resources. This allows you to create an appropriate correctional and developmental space, based on constructive parental attitudes and positions in relation to their own child. Good results with such cooperation can only be achieved by focusing on the individual characteristics of the child, being at each stage of learning as much as the child needs, encouraging success and supporting him in difficult periods. In well-organized cooperation, you can always achieve more!
Literature:
- Interaction with parents in kindergarten. G. A. Prokhorova Practical guide. M.: IRIS-PRES, 2009.
- Korczak Ya. How to love a child. M.: Politizdat, 2010.
- Lesgaft P.F. Family education of a child and its significance. M.: Pedagogy, 2008.
- About relationship problems in families with children with developmental disabilities. A. A. Sagdullaev. — Defectology. 1996. No. 5
- Pedagogical knowledge for parents / G. Belonogova, L. Khitrova // Preschool education, 2003. - No. 1.
- Psychocorrectional work with mothers raising children with developmental disabilities. Workshop on forming adequate relationships. V. V. Tkacheva. - M.: Publishing House GNOM and D, 2000.
- Problems and search for modern forms of cooperation between kindergarten teachers and the child’s family / T. Antonova, E. Volkova, N. Mishina // Preschool education, 2005. - No. 6.
- Practical psychology for parents, or How to learn to understand your child. A. I. Barkan. - Rostov n/d: Phoenix, 1999.
- Project activities for preschoolers. A manual for teachers of preschool institutions / N. E. Veraksa, A. N. Veraksa. - M.: Mosaika-Sintez, 2008.
- A collection of software and methodological materials for advanced training of specialists working with preschool children with disabilities. Comp. Z. P. Antonova, U. V. Kosareva, N. N. Matveeva; Ed. E. Ya. Kogan, V. A. Prudnikova. - Samara: Ofort LLC, 2008.
How long does it take to eliminate a speech impediment?
According to the specialist, on average it will take from three months to a year. I. Kunevich emphasized that everything depends on the complexity of the defect, the characteristics of the child, as well as his parents .
Defectologist I. Kunevich advises parents to love their children and accept them for who they are. At the same time, it is important to help them develop, become more self-confident, courageous and strong.
“Speak to a child as to an adult: clearly, understandably (you can express your love even through intonation) - this way he will develop the correct perception of speech,” noted I. Kunevich.
Prepared by Artem Troyanovsky
The defectologist advises
Dear parents!
The problem of early detection of hearing loss in children is very important and is given great importance. However, after identifying a hearing impairment in a child, parents are faced with the question of what to do next? How to raise and educate your child? Where can I get help?
How to recognize hearing loss in a child
Even if the TV volume seems too loud to all family members, the child sits right next to the TV. If the baby knows how to adjust the volume, he himself turns on the TV or radio at an excessively high volume. Reduced hearing is also indicated by the fact that the child cannot hear the speaker if he is outside his field of vision. When your child notices that he has been called (and you have to raise his voice), he looks scared or surprised. Often the baby asks again when you address him and carefully watches your facial expressions. A child with hearing loss cannot hear voices on the telephone or constantly moves the receiver from one ear to the other.
The most serious sign of possible hearing loss is insufficient or delayed speech development. In the first year of life, the speech reactions (babble) of a child with hearing impairment are almost the same as those of a hearing baby. Such a child also develops an animation complex (smiles); in response to the voice and smile of an adult bending over him, he may babble quietly. However, by the end of the first year, babbling begins to fade, and then disappears altogether.
If you are suspicious, observe how your child reacts to sounds. Lack of response to sounds sometimes means that the baby is simply not paying attention to them at the moment. However, it may also indicate certain hearing problems.
You should definitely consult a doctor - an otolaryngologist if you find discharge from the child's ear in the form of a whitish or yellowish liquid, even if the baby does not always show anxiety and does not complain of discomfort. This behavior of the baby should also alert you: the child grabs his ears, hits them, rubs them and cries.
What should you be wary of at primary school age? Your child writes dictations in “3” and “2” at school, and typical mistakes in writing are incorrect endings, missing letters, and replacing “s” with “t”. The child confuses voiced and unvoiced, whistling and hissing sounds; when speaking, he can distort words and rearrange syllables. In most cases, adults immediately notice a child’s speech errors and his failure at school. But not everyone realizes that they may be associated with hearing impairment.
If you suspect that your child has difficulty hearing, you should immediately consult an otolaryngologist or audiologist. Numerous visits to healers will not lead to the desired result.
What to do if diagnosed
What you need to know about hearing loss
Why do you need a hearing aid?
What is a cochlear implant
Organization of hearing-speech environment for children with hearing impairment
Features of development of children with hearing impairment
Rules for teaching a child with hearing loss
Contents of work on the development of auditory perception in the second or third year of life
Dactylic speech and its features
Development of fine motor skills in children with hearing loss
How to recognize that a child’s speech development is behind the norm
The development of each child is individual and depends on many factors, notes I. Kunevich. However, there are age norms for speech behavior.
— The first vocalization that appears in a child is a cry. By about two months, humming appears - smooth, melodious sounds, which by 5-6 months develop into babbling, explains the doctor.
If any link in this chain is missing, parents should be wary.
— At the age of 2–3 years, it is important that phrasal speech has already appeared. This does not necessarily mean that the child uses correct, detailed sentences. The main thing is that by this age he can combine at least several words. Even if they have the wrong sound design, there is nothing wrong with that, and everything is justified by physiology,” said I. Kunevich.
What is the work of a children's speech pathologist?
Teacher-defectologist I. Kunevich works with patients in the age group from 1 to 18 years.
“My main tasks are primary and preventive appointments, diagnostics, advisory and correctional classes,” said the specialist. — The latter implies not only the production of sounds, but also the development of all components of the speech system: vocabulary, grammatical structure of speech, articulatory and fine motor skills, prosody, coherent speech, development of visual and auditory attention, perception, memory, thinking, sound analysis and synthesis of words .
How important is parental involvement?
According to the teacher-defectologist, the success of speech therapy depends on all participants in the correction process: teachers, parents and other family members, sometimes even a teacher-psychologist.
“Classes with parents are based on advisory and correctional assistance, which makes it possible to explain something to parents, teach them some techniques so that they can consolidate what they have learned at home with the child,” emphasized I. Kunevich.
Photo: vospitanie.guru
How are classes conducted?
— First, I examine the child and identify speech disorders. Next, I determine a plan for corrective work with a specific patient,” explained I. Kunevich.
The teacher’s arsenal includes many interesting aids, innovative developments for the development of articulatory and fine motor skills, breathing and finger exercises, playbooks for stimulating speech development, aids for correcting writing and reading in primary school students.
“Secondly, I try to consult parents in detail and, if necessary, conduct a training session with them. In such classes, the mother sits next to the child and watches (sometimes documents) how I work with the baby. At the end of the lesson I tell you what I did and why. There were many cases when, examining a child’s articulatory apparatus, I could immediately make a sound, and everyone left happy. But only for inorganic disorders,” shared I. Kunevich.
