The ability to predict is one of the important aspects of human mental development. There is a
relationship between prognostic competence and the process of socialization. Psychological
studies show that children with special educational needs, including children with general
speech underdevelopment, when compared with their peers without speech pathology, are more
susceptible to impaired socialization and the occurrence of school maladjustment. This affects the
success of their schooling. Such children experience difficulties in complying with social norms
in the implementation of their goals, since they cannot anticipate the consequences of a certain
situation. This can lead to deviant behavior and failure at school. This article examines the features
of the structural and functional characteristics of forecasting in preschoolers with general speech
underdevelopment. It analyzes the research results given in the scientific literature, presents the
results of the authors’ own experimental research conducted using the “Prognostic stories” technique
developed by the teachers of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of Special Education of
the Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, and a comparative analysis of the data obtained during
the experiment. The study showed that preschool children with general speech underdevelopment
have lower indicators in all predictive characteristics in comparison with normative peers, and
also have specific prognosis features due to speech pathology and deficiencies in higher mental
functions. The most important of these are the lack of cognitive predictive function and prediction
of utterance. The disadvantages of the prognostic ability of preschoolers with speech pathology
determine the risk of social maladjustment, which requires the attention of specialists in the field
of special education. The results obtained expand the understanding of the state of development of the prognostic competence of preschoolers with general speech underdevelopment. They present a
more complete picture of its specific features, and highlight the most significant disadvantages of
the forecasting process for this category of children. This indicates the directions of work on the
development of prognostic processes in preschoolers with general speech underdevelopment, as
well as the prevention or minimization of the outcomes of school maladjustment.
Author : Anna I. Akhmetzyanova
The psychological model of the specialist-defectologist’s readiness for professional and acmeological development
In this study the author proceeds from the assumptions that the professional competence of a specialist
who works with people with disabilities is based on psychological readiness as an integral
personal quality of professional assisting people’s professions that are directly related to the willingness
of a subject of professional activity to professional acmeological development. However
the specialist-defectologist must, firstly, have a psychological readiness to work in the absence of
ready-made algorithms to provide assistance; secondly, to be able to predict in conditions of a deficit
of information because of the high degree of differentiation in the psychophysical development of
persons with disabilities; thirdly, constantly accumulate observations and use the increased volume
of information with the aim of its optimal adaptation and development as the main criterion for the
effectiveness of the correctional-pedagogical process.
Thus, the defectologists, listeners of advanced training courses, were taken as an experimental group
of this empirical research as a group of specialists who decided to develop additional educational
space.
The study was conducted with psychodiagnostic tools: valid and reliable questionnaires, a computer
program for statistical processing of SPSS data. Interpretation of the data was carried out according
to their compliance with N (0.1) and a high level of reliability: p≤0.001*** and p≤0.01**.
As the result within the framework of the psychological model of readiness, the potential factors for
expanding the zone of professional competence of the defectologist were determined: “self-respect”,
“adaptability” and a system-forming indicator with high factor load (from the block of motivational
personal characteristics of psychological readiness) – “motivation to achieve success”.
Significant situations of interaction of children with disabilities
The successful socialization and adaptation to new conditions socialization of children with
disabilities is conditioned by the attitudes they form to key situations of interaction. Understanding
and reflecting on the causes of these situation, contributes to successful forecasting. This article
is aimed at identifying the specifics of the relationship of children with disabilities to significant
situations in their lives and to understanding their causes. The research is based on interviews and
content analysis of the responses of 78 children with disorders (visual, hearing, musculoskeletal
and speech disorders). The study revealed that the causes of traumatic situations in children with
disabilities can be partly categorized and that the specificity of the violation determines the attitude
to different situations of children’s activity.