Emotional and personal development of preschool age children with speech disorders: Drawing test study

Abstract

IntroductionDrawing tests provide good opportunity to research potential risks in emotional and personal development of a child with speech disorder, because drawing tests almost do not involve speech.Aims and objectsThe research was aimed at detecting potential risks in emotional and personal development of children with speech disorders. The study involved 28 children (15 girls and 13 boys) with moderate speech disorders and 30 normally developing children. All the children attended kindergarten and were of age 5.5 years at the moment of the research.MethodsThe following methods were used: non-participant and participant observation, expert assessment, structured interview with educators, individually conducted family drawing test.ResultsMost children (86%) expressed willingness to perform a task, in some cases (14%) children failed to perform a task because of emotional numbing. The children's perception of a specialist was marked by increased anxiety and stress, in some cases it was expressed in a drawing by filled areas (38%) or by barely visible figures (62%). Most children (87%) tried to demonstrate their abilities and were diligent, but their drawings were generally poorer than that of normally developing children. This phenomenon reflects deficit of skills, imagination deficit and low level of aspiration. Quality of drawings and their visible from differ from the drawings of normally developing children that indicates low self-esteem and feeling of personal incapacity formed by speech disorder.ConclusionIncreased anxiety, constriction and imagination deficit characterize children with speech disorders. Their emotional attitude to speech behavior influences their graphical self-fulfilment.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.