Study of the Understanding of Gestural Communication in Children with Intellectual Disabilities in the Dynamics of Psychological Impact

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study is to investigate the specific features of non-verbal communication in children with intellectual disabilities in the dynamics of psychological impact. Background: Gestures are one of the most important components of non-verbal communication. The development of non-verbal communication in children with intellectual disabilities contributes to their normal social adaptation. Method: To study the current state and dynamics of the development of the ability to recognise and understand gestures in the process of psychological influence, factor analysis was used by the principal component method with the use of varimax rotation. To verify the applicability of factor analysis to the selected variables, the Kaiser-Meier-Olkin measure of sample adequacy and Bartlett's sphericity test were used. Results: The data of the study showed that, depending on the level of intelligence or, more precisely, on the diagnosis given to the child, there are differences in the dynamics of the development of the components of non-verbal communication. Children with mild mental retardation display lower results than children with mixed specific disorders of psychological development and children with a normative level of intellectual development. Conclusion: The results obtained in the process of this study can be applied in practice by teachers and psychologists when working with children with intellectual disabilities.