The ability to interpret social signs by individuals with intellectual disturbance

Abstract

The article is devoted to the specifics of adaptive navigation of individuals with intellectual impairments in the social environment. Characteristics of the cognitive sphere of intellectually impaired affect the perception and interpretation of public signs. The subject of the study is social navigation sign decoding. The object of the study is the ability to interpret social signs of young adolescents with intellectual impairments. The author considers such aspects as a social adaptation of persons with disabilities, navigation aids for people with special needs, features of visual perception of graphic images as elements of the public space sign environment of people with intellectual impairments. The main conclusion of the study is the confirmation of a lower ability of students with intellectual disabilities to decode public signs correctly compared with the control group. The general relevance of the navigation signs comprehension is highlighted, which is because of the studying the graphic navigation rules as a part of the educational process. The author's special contribution to the research field is the empirical validation of the fact that the combination of complex sign elements has a negative effect on the decoding of informative stimuli for orientation in the social environment. Effective sign navigation is conditioned by commonly accepted standards and considers cognitive limitations of persons with intellectual disturbances.