ASSESSMENT OF SCHOOL MATURITY OF CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY SYNDROME

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the necessary tasks of a pediatrician is to assess the child’s readiness for the schooling. The process of a child’s transition from kindergarten to school is a real test, because in addition to the academic load that children are given from the fi rst days of school, they need to go through a period of adaptation and socialization among their peers. Children with diseases of the nervous system, including attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder, may be immature by the time they enter school, which will subsequently lead to poor academic performance,  maladjustment and confl icts with peers and teachers due to a decrease in adaptive and communication abilities.35 children of senior preschool age (17 girls, 18 boys) from the city of Veliky Novgorod took part in the study. To assess school maturity, the Kern–Jirasik test was used. ADHD was more often reported in boys. In 36% of cases, children with ADHD had neurological features in the form of delayed speech development, 12% had local tics, and 16% had enuresis. The study found that 60% of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder had a low level of school maturity, while 50% of children in the control group had a high level of school maturity.When studying personal maturity, fi ne motor skills and visual coordination, visualspatial perception and visual memory, as well as intellectual maturity, a low level of development prevailed in children with attention defi cit disorder, while a high level of these indicators predominated in healthy children. Children with attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder are not ready for school; this requires further development of approaches to teaching such children.