Abstract:

The data published in scientific literature proves unequivocally that play in preschoolers with mental retardation (intellectual disability) even in educational environment is formed with substantial difficulties and distinct unusual features (Baryaeva L.B., Nefedova Yu. V., Elkonin D.B. et al). For that reason play doesn’t reach its full developmental potential as the primary activity and stays primary all through the elementary school, but until now this phenomenon has not been researched sufficiently. To check this assumption an experimental design is realized with 146 elementary schoolchildren with mild mental retardation (intellectual disability), aged 7-12, studying in 1-4 grades of special needs schools of Saint-Petersburg, Russia. An observational protocol is used to study play, which allows to research the following 9 aspects of play: interest towards toys and toy manipulations, adequacy of independent toy manipulations, usage of substitute objects, predominant content of play, goal-orientedness of play, skill at adjusting one’s actions to actions of other participants, flexibility in interactions with peers during play, participation of an adult managing the game, speech during communal play.

The goal of this study is to establish the existence or absence of age-related change in how students with mental retardation (intellectual disability) learn to play and to describe that change qualitatively if it exists. For that purpose a comparative analysis of the results of observing two groups of students (grade 1-2 - 93 participants, grade 3-4 - 53 participants) is performed. The analysis reveals that children with mild mental retardation (intellectual disability) demonstrate slight positive age-related dynamics in the development of all researched aspects of play (mean 1.0-2.1; max 6.0). Only when they reach 10-12 y.o. everyone develops a stable interest in play and, in most cases, an ability to incorporate into play not just simple manipulations but also elements of social interactions between people (restricted to topics already studied: family, store, doctor’s office, etc.). By the end of elementary school the duration of play becomes relatively longer, specially when supported by an adult, and the degree of independence increases, but the children are still incapable of independently organizing and managing role play even in small groups.

Only the children raised in a special needs kindergarten possess basic experience with play when commencing school education.

Keywords:

Schoolchildren, intellectual disabilities, play, early childhood special education.