Pictograms as a method of non-verbal communication for adolescents with impaired intellectual development

The article deals with the main features of communication of children and adolescents with impaired intellectual development. A comparative study of the nonverbal alternative communication perception was conducted with the participation of adolescents with impaired intellectual development (N = 92) and with normal intelligence (N = 92). Participants were asked to perform a pictograph translation task in a verbal context. The results of the study of pictogram perception in a verbal context indicate passive thinking and impaired cognitive component of thinking in persons with impaired intellectual development. The analysis of oculomotor activity during pictogram perception suggests a shorter duration of the lexical processing activation. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the effectiveness of nonverbal graphic means of communication for persons with impaired intellectual development is twofold: nonverbal means of communication are able to expand the communicative abilities of this group, but it is necessary to take into account their cognitive characteristics when using methods of graphic alternative communication.