Correction of spatial praxis disorders in boys of seven to eight years old with strabismus and astigmatism

This experimental study deals with the problem of spatial praxis disorders identification and the need for their correction in children with strabismus and astigmatism due to the development of its lagging components. The aim of the research is to assess the level of development of spatial praxis and correct its disorders in boys aged seven to eight with strabismus and astigmatism based on the results of neuropsychological diagnostics. To assess the development dynamics of spatial praxis components, seven- and eight-year-old schoolchildren with visual impairments of the sensory system performed a series of diagnostic tasks twice. The test battery included the tasks walking along a straight line, walking backwards, walking diagonally, bilateral hand coordination, the fist-edge-palm test, the “fence” test, Henry Head's tests, the Danmann test, the Rey-Osterrieth complex figure, and the Bender Gestalt Test. The assessment of the nature of the development of higher mental functions was not part of the task of this study. The tests show that the majority of children surveyed have a low and below average level of spatial praxis formation. There is a need to enrich visual-spatial representations and visual-motor relationships, to form skills to navigate in the scheme of one's own body, and to develop inter-hemispheric interaction. We have developed a set of exercises for correcting secondary disorders and enriching the motor sphere of children. The set included drill and development workouts, complex coordination exercises, exercises in pairs and micro groups with and without objects, exercises on finger praxis, oculomotor and kinesiological exercises. The pedagogical experiment showed significant positive changes in the development of orientation in the body pattern, hand-eye coordination, interhemispheric interaction, spatial representations of primary school children with strabismus and astigmatism. The absence of perseverations and difficulties in crossing the middle line of the body was noted. The significance of differences was established using the g-sign criteria with a critical significance level of p < 0.05. A controversial position is the statement about the need to develop elements of spatial praxis at physical culture lessons and adaptive physical culture classes with obvious limited time resources. Compared to the traditional way of general and fine motor skills evaluation, this approach can be used for a more efficient correction of secondary disorders and for the prevention of tertiary deviations in children with special educational needs.

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