Abstract
The article presents the results of an experimental study conducted among first grade students with mental retardation (MR) as part of a diagnostic and correctional program aimed at the formation and development of skills in perceiving and reproducing visually perceived information. The analysis of the completed tasks allowed us to establish that standard pedagogical methods of assistance – such as demonstration by sample, repetition of instructions and an increase in execution time – are insufficient for the full assimilation of educational material by students with ASD. It is revealed that students in this category require both quantitative expansion and qualitative complication of the content of pedagogical support. The tasks assigned to the zone of immediate development were located at a high level of complexity of presentation and required a cyclical form of organization of activities with mandatory stages of reflexive control. Correct perception of visual stimuli and successful completion of tasks determine the formation of basic mental operations – generalization, comparison and analysis of one’s own actions. As part of the additional stimulation, tasks were offered to recognize changes in a series, find similarities and differences, identify absurd or fictional objects, memorize sequences of objects and symbols, and recognize objects by their contour. The results of the study made it possible to specify the features of the cognitive development of students with MR and to identify pedagogical conditions conducive to the successful formation of visual- sensorimotor perception skills in the study of mathematics. Keywords: mental development, students, mental retardation (MR), knowledge ideas, learning difficulties.