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”.