The manual presents an analysis of the patterns of development and decay of the psyche, characteristics of the main disorders of higher mental functions and personality, issues of organizing and conducting pathopsychological research. Special attention is devoted to child pathopsychology. A description of experimental psychological methods for examining people of different ages, recommendations for drawing up conclusions and maintaining documentation are given.

It may also be useful for students of secondary pedagogical educational institutions.

CHAPTER 1. SUBJECT, TASKS, METHODOLOGICAL BASIS OF PATHOPSYCHOLOGY

Pathopsychology is a branch of psychological science that studies changes in mental activity due to mental or somatic diseases. Its data have great theoretical and practical significance for various branches of psychology and psychopathology.

In modern psychological science, there is sometimes a confusion of concepts and incorrect use of pathopsychological terms. In this regard, the question of distinguishing between the concepts of “psychopathology” and “pathopsychology” is logical. The recognition that pathopsychology is a psychological and not a medical discipline defines the subject of pathopsychology and distinguishes it from the subject of psychopathology.

Psychopathology as a branch of medicine is aimed at studying common features mental illness, study of their symptoms and syndromes, identification of pathogenetic mechanisms of mental disorders.

Pathopsychology, being a psychological discipline, is based on the patterns of development and structure of the normal psyche. She studies the patterns of disintegration of mental activity and personality traits in comparison with the patterns of the formation and course of mental processes in the norm. Thus, despite the similarity of the objects of study, psychopathology and pathopsychology differ in their subjects. Therefore, the problems and tasks that pathopsychology must solve with its own methods and using its own concepts should not be replaced by problems that are within the competence of psychiatrists. For example, establishing a clinical diagnosis of a disease and prescribing appropriate treatment is the competence of a psychiatrist, and psychological research disorders of thinking, personality, mental ability of the patient, identifying intact mental functions to build a plan for correctional and rehabilitation work - the competence of a pathopsychologist.

Preface

End XX - beginning of XXI centuries have been marked in Russia by an increased interest of specialists in various fields (sociologists, demographers, economists, psychologists, teachers, etc.) in the problems of the modern family. Traditionally, the family is perceived as habitat, ensuring the harmonious development and social adaptation of the child. The attention of scientists to the problem of family is due not only to professional interest, but also to the significant difficulties that this family undergoes. social institution in its development.
A special position in this issue is occupied by families raising children with developmental disabilities, since they are characterized by high level manifestations of “problematics”. Significant changes that have occurred in recent decades in Russia in terms of humanizing attitudes towards persons with developmental disabilities determine special interest in the family in which such a child is being raised. Practice shows that in such families there is a high level of need for various types of assistance. According to the Scientific Center for Children's Health of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences 1 , 85% of children are born with health defects, and the number of children in need of targeted help from specialists already in preschool age varies from 25 to 40%. To achieve social adaptation, such children need to be trained and raised in special conditions, including the creation of an adequate microsocial environment in the family.
It should be noted that some parents, concerned about the problems that have arisen, try to resolve them on their own. Parents of children with developmental disabilities take an active part in the creation and work of parent associations, educational foundations, charity centers and social partnerships (Down Syndrome Society; Association of Parents of Children with Hearing Impairments; Dobro Society for Autistic Children and a lot others). However, despite the significant growth of such non-governmental institutions and organizations in last years, the majority of parents remain uninitiated and helpless in resolving the problems of their children.
The situation of families raising children with developmental disabilities is aggravated by the fact that timely support and professional assistance are delayed due to low activity government agencies and the complete absence of both conceptual approaches and theoretical and methodological substantiation of psychological assistance, as well as practical developments on this issue. In this regard, the problem of creating a model of state psychological assistance to families raising children with developmental disabilities is of particular importance.
In this methodological manual presents the theoretical and methodological foundations of psychological assistance to families raising children with developmental disabilities, outlines the concept, goals and objectives of such assistance, typology of personal characteristics of parents, general approaches to diagnostic, advisory and psychosocial correctional work.
The main purpose of the manual is to fill the gap in the specialized literature on this issue and help solve problems of organization and content professional activity psychologist in working with families of children with developmental disabilities.
The relevance of developing a comprehensive program of psychological assistance for this category of families is due to the fact that modern family, in which a child with developmental disabilities is being raised, currently does not serve as a basic structure that provides maximum favorable conditions for its optimal development and education. Unfortunately, in many families not only are adequate conditions not created for the development of children, but, on the contrary, the family situation has a destructive effect on the child, traumatizing his developing personality. Such an intra-family atmosphere arises as a result of the following reasons:

high level of mental trauma for family members due to the birth of a child with developmental disabilities;

lack of both motives to help a problem child and basic psychological and pedagogical knowledge among parents;

non-acceptance of the child’s characteristics, which may be due to both the premorbid personality characteristics of the parents and their cultural and value orientations in relation to such a child.

A family is a microsociety in which a child not only lives, but in which his moral qualities, attitude to the world of people, ideas about the nature of interpersonal and social connections. The family is considered as a system-forming determinant in the socio-cultural status of the child, predetermining his further psychophysical and social development. Modern studies have revealed a direct relationship between the influence family factor on the characteristics of the child’s development: the stronger the family dysfunction, the more pronounced the developmental disorders in the child (B. P. Nikishina, 2004). These provisions must be taken into account both in diagnostic and correctional work with a child with developmental disorders.
The provision of psychological assistance to families allows, through the optimization of the intrafamily atmosphere, the harmonization of interpersonal, marital, parent-child and child-parent relationships, to solve the problems of differentiated and targeted assistance to a child with developmental disabilities. Various forms of education both in state and non-state educational institutions, work with children with severe psychophysical disabilities includes such a family in the field of correctional and pedagogical influence as the main stabilizing factor in the child’s social adaptation.
The need to provide special psychological assistance to families raising children with developmental disabilities arises due to the huge number of diverse problems that these families encounter on a daily basis. Essential has the creation of a favorable rehabilitation and correctional-educational environment for the child during his stay at home. This requires parents to have a certain amount of knowledge that helps them understand the needs and capabilities of the child. They must also possess practical skills that allow them to methodically correctly communicate with a child and raise him correctly.
Psychocorrectional work also makes it possible to provide significant assistance to parents of children with developmental disabilities. Parents need special help to neutralize those psychological problems, which arise as a result of their personal experiences associated with developmental disorders of the child. Special meaning personal characteristics parent, his attitude towards abnormal development as a whole is acquired when determining the nature and content of his contacts with his own child who has psychophysical disorders.
So, providing psychological assistance to families allows us to optimize personal and interpersonal problems that arise as a result of the birth of a child with developmental disabilities in the family. The main goal in this work is to change the self-awareness of the parent, namely: to form in him positive perception personality of a child with developmental disorders. This position will allow the parent to find new meaning in life, harmonize the relationship with the child, and increase own self-esteem, optimizes self-awareness. This, in turn, will direct parents to use harmonious parenting models, and in the future will ensure optimal social adaptation of the child.
A harmonious family atmosphere, taking into account the psychophysical characteristics and personal needs of the child, optimizes his development and contributes to the adequate determination and implementation of ways of social adaptation.
A comprehensive system of measures to provide psychological assistance to families raising children with developmental disabilities also contributes to the humanization of society’s attitude towards such persons. The above facts determine the relevance of developing a system of psychological assistance to families raising a child with developmental disabilities, as a special and promising direction in science and practice.

1 Report on the state of children's health in Russian Federation(based on the results of the All-Russian medical examination in 2002). - M., 2003.

Chapter 1.Analysis of problems in families raising children with developmental disabilities

Levels of deformation of intrafamily relationships

The difficulties that a family with a problem child constantly experiences are significantly different from the everyday worries that a family raising a normally developing child experiences. An analysis of the literature on family issues allows us to identify the main functions most often attributed to an ordinary family. Among them:

giving birth and raising children;

establishing connections between generations, preserving and transmitting family values ​​and traditions to children;

satisfying the need for psychological comfort and emotional support, warmth and love;

creating conditions for the development of the personality of all family members;

satisfaction of sexual and erotic needs;

satisfying the need to communicate with loved ones;

satisfaction of individual needs for fatherhood or motherhood, for contacts with children, their upbringing, self-realization in children;

protecting the health of family members, organizing recreation, relieving stressful situations.

From conversations with parents and from other data, it follows that almost all functions, with a few exceptions, are not realized or are not fully realized in families raising children with developmental disabilities. Analysis of development observations interpersonal relationships in such families indicates that this situation is apparently explained by the following reasons.
As a result of the birth of a child with developmental disabilities relationships within the family, as well as contacts with the surrounding society, are distorted. The causes of violations are related to psychological characteristics a sick child, as well as the colossal emotional burden that family members bear due to long-term stress. Many parents find themselves helpless in this situation. Their position can be described as internal (psychological) and external (social) dead end.
Qualitative changes in such families manifest themselves at the following levels: psychological, social and somatic.

^ Psychological level
The birth of a child with developmental disabilities is perceived by his parents as the greatest tragedy. The fact that a child is born “not like everyone else” is the reason severe stress experienced by parents, primarily the mother. Stress of a prolonged nature has a strong deforming effect on the psyche of parents and becomes initial condition a sharp traumatic change in the way of life formed in the family. Deformed:

All the hopes and expectations of family members in connection with the child’s future turn out to be in vain and crumble in an instant, and the comprehension of what happened and the acquisition of new life values ​​sometimes stretches over a long period. In our opinion, this may be due to many reasons, including:

Scientific and teaching experienceMerits, awards

Medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow."

Medal K.D. Ushinsky

1. Complex psychological study young children and preschool age, (monograph)
2. Pathopsychology: theory and practice: Textbook. for students higher ped. textbook establishments. - 4th ed.
3. Psychological and pedagogical study of adolescents with developmental disorders
4. An innovative approach to psychological and pedagogical support for the development of children with severe motor impairments
5. Psychological and pedagogical study of young children
6. Current issues in helping children with severe motor impairments
7. Features of teaching a child with musculoskeletal disorders in a general education institution
8. Model of a unified service of a psychological-medical-pedagogical commission in a metropolis
9. Psychological and pedagogical support for the development of children with movement disorders
10. One of the approaches to psychological and pedagogical assistance to children with severe motor impairments
11. Distance education: teachers about children with disabilities
12. Special preschool health-saving pedagogy as a new direction in special pedagogy. P.49-53.
13. Psychological characteristics of children with complex developmental disorders
14. Modern scientific research in special psychology
15. Trends in the development of modern special psychology
16. Psychological and pedagogical diagnosis of developmental disorders of persons with disabilities
17. Description of special educational conditions for children with disabilities
18. Experimental study of the memory of preschool children with general speech underdevelopment
19. Variable features of memory in children with general speech underdevelopment
20. Children with musculoskeletal disorders
21. Psychological support for special education: assistance to parents of children suffering from cerebral palsy
22. On the problem of developing diagnostic competence of masters of special (defectological) education
23. Features of the organization educational process in the formation of diagnostic competencies of masters of special (defectological) education
24. Multilevel diagnostic model in the system of early care for children with disabilities disabilities health
25. Features of the development of a program for early assistance and support for children with disabilities and their families
26. Content Issues professional standard"SPECIFIC TEACHER"
27. On the problem of developing the professional standard “SPECIFIC SPECIFIC TEACHER”
28. Early assistance to children with disabilities is a priority direction for the development of special education
29. Variable features of development of preschool children with severe disabilities
30. Psychological study of children with developmental disorders
31. Children with general speech underdevelopment: Memory development
32. Children with complex developmental disorders: Diagnosis and support
33. Integration of preschool children with motor development disorders into educational organizations
34. Problems of implementing the Federal State Educational Standard for primary general education students with disabilities in working with children with severe multiple developmental disorders
35. Methodological basis for the functioning of the early intervention system in the Russian Federation
36. Competencies of specialists in the field of early assistance to children with disabilities and children at risk
37. Towards developing the competencies of specialists in the field of early assistance to children with disabilities and children at risk
38. Psychological help in special education: textbook
39. Interdisciplinary interaction as the basis for effective support for the education of children with musculoskeletal disorders
40. Theoretical and methodological foundations of the process of psychological and pedagogical support for persons with disabilities in educational organizations: monograph.

Levchenko Irina Yurievna, born in 1950, graduated from Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov in 1976.

Since 1993, she has headed the department of “Special Pedagogy and Special Psychology” of the Faculty of Defectology of Moscow State Humanitarian University. M.A. Sholokhov. In 2001 he was awarded the scientific degree of Doctor psychological sciences. Since 2015, head of the laboratory of inclusive education of ISO and KR, State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education, Moscow State Pedagogical University.

Levchenko I.Yu. has extensive teaching experience (43 years) in correctional educational institutions and in higher education.

Levchenko I.Yu. For many years he has been conducting active research and teaching work on training and improving the pedagogical and scientific qualifications of scientific and pedagogical personnel, retraining specialists of the higher and postgraduate system vocational education, a leading expert in the field of study, training and education of children with cerebral palsy.

Doctor of Psychological Sciences, Professor Irina Yuryevna Levchenko was awarded one of the most honorary distinctions in the field of education and science - the K.D. Ushinsky medal.

For a number of years, Doctor of Psychological Sciences I.Yu. Levchenko has been supervising graduation projects and research work of undergraduate and graduate students. Five doctoral and twenty candidate dissertations were defended under her scientific supervision.

Irina Yuryevna Levchenko does a lot of public work: she is an expert of the public popular front, an expert of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, and a member of the association of defectologists of the Moscow region. Levchenko I.Yu. scientific director of the book series “Special Psychology” at the publishing house “National Book Center”, scientific editor of the magazines “Correctional Pedagogy: Theory and Practice” and “Practical Defectology”

Scope of scientific interests Levchenko I.Yu. multidimensional. It includes the study of children with various developmental disorders, the development of organizational forms of activity and the content of the work of defectologists in special correctional educational institutions.

Levchenko I.Yu. is a leading expert in the field of psychology of children with cerebral palsy. She is the author of numerous works (articles, scientific, methodological and practice-oriented manuals, monographs, textbooks) on special psychology and correctional pedagogy, problems of studying, training and education of persons with musculoskeletal disorders. Particularly popular are the textbooks developed under her leadership and which have gone through several reprints for students of higher and secondary pedagogical educational institutions:

"Pathopsychology: theory and practice." - M.: "Academy", 2000, 2001;

“Technologies for teaching and raising children with musculoskeletal disorders” (co-authored with O.G. Prikhodko). - M.: “Academy”, 2001;

“Psychological and pedagogical diagnostics.” - M.: “Academy”, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2013.