Saadat Alakbarova

THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF MENTAL DEVELOPMENT DELAY

Summary: Mental development delay is being studied both as a special and a general pedagogical is­sue in the country. It is a complex problem with various causes, clinical symptoms, and psychological and pedagogical manifestations. Therefore, in the period of educational reforms, comprehensive research on mental development delay in accordance with the "Law on Special Education" is highly relevant and neces­sary. Over the past two decades, the statistics on changes in children's psycho-emotional development have increased tenfold. According to this data, delays in speech development hinder cognitive development (leading to mental-speech developmental delays), or conversely, congenital mental and neurological condi­tions cause speech development issues.

Keywords: mental development delay, speech development delay, emotional skills, cognitive develop­ment, autism spectrum disorder