Visual and spatial gnosis in senior preschool children with speech disorders

Abstract

Relevance. Speech impairments in preschool-age children significantly impede the full development of higher mental functions including attention, memory, and thinking (Luria 2023; Mikadze 2021; Khomskaya 2021). Compared to their typically developing peers, these children demonstrate insufficient development of visual and spatial functions (Mikadze 2021; Semenovich 2018). The delayed development of visual and spatial functions, in turn, hinders the development of speech, praxis, gnosis, and subsequently can impede reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, thereby interfering with preschool education. Therefore, the earliest possible identification of the specific deficits in these mental functions is critically important. The study aims to investigate visual and spatial gnosis in children with speech impairments and to develop a psychological remediation program. The study involved 16 children aged 5–6 years (7 girls and 9 boys), 8 of whom had speech impairments and 8 who did not. All of them attended a preschool kindergarten in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The children participated in preschool education classes with a psychologist and music teacher, while the children with speech impairments received additional support from a speech therapist. Parental consent was obtained for the study. A neuropsychological assessment of higher mental functions was conducted using methodologies described in (Glozman et al. 2008) and (Semenovich 2018). Conclusions. The study revealed that children with speech impairments made more serious errors on visual and spatial tests, a finding that can inform the development of targeted remediation programs.