Developing the personal potential of adolescents with disabilities at an educational institution

Abstract

An adolescent with disabilities faces various natural and social factors that affect his or her biological and social development. If such an adolescent has a negative experience of socialization, family and school should join their efforts in order to create conditions for the acquisition of social adaptation and individualization skills by the adolescent. This study seeks to describe the specific features of the development of personal potential in adolescents with disabilities at an education institution. The considers the development of personal potential of adolescents with disabilities from the standpoint of psychology and pedagogy. The following methods were used to identify the specific features of the development of personal potential of adolescents with disabilities: the Purpose in Life Test (PIL) adapted by D.A. Leontyev, the ‘What — Why — How’ projective technique, and the method of expert observation. The study involved adolescents aged 10 to 15 years with musculoskeletal disorders and preserved intelligence who study at boarding schools for students with disabilities. The empirical study demonstrates that both selfdetermination and coping behavior are poorly developed in the structure of the personal potential of adolescents with disabilities. Such adolescents’ emotions and lifemeaning orientations are not always projected into activities that implement sustainable behavior. This requires education institutions that teach adolescents with special educational needs to create special programs aimed at developing personal potential in such adolescents. The materials presented in the article can be used to strengthen and improve special-needs federal educational programs in terms of in-class and extracurricular activities.