Speech Therapy Assistance to Children of Middle Preschool Age by Means of Computer Didactic Games

The article highlights the peculiarities of speech therapy assistance to children of middle preschool age using computer didactic games. All the children who were assisted had generalized underdevelopment of speech (GUS). These children have difficulty understanding and using language, including building sentences, pronouncing sounds, and enriching vocabulary. To increase the effectiveness of pedagogical work, a targeted logotherapeutic program using a computer was introduced into the education process of preschool education institutions. The key criteria were identified, according to which the directions of speech therapy assistance were formed and computer exercises and games for such children were developed accordingly. Didactic material aimed at the development and therapy of speech disorders is posted on the education platforms LearningApps and Wordwall. Methodological rules for speech therapists and other pedagogical staff on organizing and providing assistance to preschoolers have been developed and mastered. Examples of didactic exercises and games are provided for each area of speech therapy practice (articulatory motor skills, sound pronunciation, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, grammatical structure of speech, and connected speech). The development of computer materials was carried out taking into account the individual and age characteristics of children of middle preschool age. To test the effectiveness of the logotherapeutic program, the implementation of its content using computer didactic games, a pedagogical experiment was conducted on the basis of preschool education institutions in Zhytomyr. The formative stage in the experimental group was conducted for 6 months. Diagnostics of the level of these competencies in middle-aged children with speech development disorders before and after the implementation of the logotherapeutic program convincingly demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach in speech therapy. Speech therapists should make more active use of the potential of computer didactic games both in preschool education institutions and at home.