To the problem of diagnosing grafomotor skills in children with speech disorders

Contact: Nina Drozdova , Ph.D ( Pedagogical Sciences), Associate Professor at the Department of Speech Therapy of the Institute of Inclusive Education of the Educational Establishment “Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank”, Minsk, Belarus. Research interests: the problem of the formation of speech activity, coherent speech and preparation for teaching children in school with a general underdevelopment of speech. Aksana Salauyova, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Speech Therapy of the Institute of Inclusive Education of the Educational Establishment “Belarusian State Pedagogical University named after Maxim Tank”, Minsk, Belarus. Research interests: the problem of correction of speech disorders in conditions of closely related bilingualism, especially the speech therapy work with Belarusian-speaking children.

The article is devoted to the problem of studying graph-motor skills in children with speech disorders. Lists the conditions of preparedness of the child to master the skill of writing. The conceptual provisions for the study of grafomotor skills are indicated. The features of the development of grafomotor skills in children are described, the reasons for the difficulties of mastering the writing skills of first-graders are revealed. Analyzed trends in the study of the concept of "graphomotor skills". Groups of graphomotor skills are revealed: 1) the ability to hold a writing instrument, a certain position of the body, hands; 2) skills associated with the development of quality of movement; 3) skills that ensure the transmission of spatial properties of objects; 4) the ability to perform graphic movements with interest, with enthusiasm, without increased tension. Lists diagnostic techniques for grafomotor skills. Special attention is paid to the description of graphic errors characteristic of children with impaired writing: errors of the visual-motor type (replacing letters with similar elements, mixing the size and shape of elements of letters, writing unnecessary elements); calligraphic errors (violation of height, width and inclination of elements of letters, ways of connecting letters, lack of coherence of letters when writing; failure to observe the interval between letters in words, between words on a line; too narrow or stretched letters; inclination or excessive inclination to the right or left; non-compliance the location of the letters along the lines of the line; the illegibility of handwriting).

Key words: grafomotor skills, diagnostics, children with speech disorders, learning to write