Development of visual and figure thinking in children senior preschool age with delay mental development

In the 21st century, a trend has been identified towards an increase in the number of children with disabilities, including persons with mental disorders, among whom developmental delays are possible. The problem of the development of thinking in children with mental retardation remains relevant and requires constant study and development of new methods and approaches. The work of specialists in the field of children's correctional pedagogy and special psychology plays an important role in helping these children develop and successfully adapt to society. In the article, we examined the approaches of some teachers and psychologists to the concept of “visual-figurative thinking”, thus it was concluded that with visual-figurative thinking, images and ideas are used to perceive and understand information. In our study, we examine the features of the development of visual-figurative thinking in children of senior preschool age with mental retardation. They are often accompanied by a number of difficulties: the need to understand and identify problematic situations, analyze and find effective ways to solve them, transfer the learned experience to new situations, as well as difficulties in understanding tasks that require visual perception. In the course of studying the problem and the results of the study, we identified several methods that promote the development of visual-figurative thinking in older preschoolers with mental retardation: didactic game, drawing, design.