SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENTIN THE PROCESS OF REHABILITATION OF CHILDREN WITH SEVERE DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS

The article is devoted to the issue of determining the characteristics of parental involvement in the rehabilitation process with a child on the example of Moscow institutions «My Special Family Center» (MSFC). The authors start from the role that parents, in addition to other specialists working with the child, play in the success of the rehabilitation process and its efficiency. At the present stage, a family with a child with severe developmental disorders is considered as a subject of interaction and partnership with specialists, a full participant in the rehabilitation process. The degree and nature of this participation is usually defined through various factors that in one way or another relate to parental activity: parental involvement, rehabilitation competence, parental commitment to treatment, and so on. This article elaborates on these definitions in the context of the educational and rehabilitative process with the child. Based on this theoretical analysis, we formulated our own definition of parental involvement in the rehabilitation process taking into account the following conditions: children with severe developmental disorders receiving correctional-developmental, therapeutic and educational services in the institution of Moscow «My Special Family Center». Parental involvement in the process of rehabilitation of children with severe developmental disabilities is defined as a complex construct that includes a number of psychological characteristics and actions (behavioral patterns) of parents in the rehabilitation process. In addition to the theoretical definition, the authors test the practical relevance of their approach to parental involvement with the participation of MSFC specialists directly interacting with both children and their parents. The purpose of this testing was to formulate a set of specific actions that are included in the concept of parental involvement. This set of specific visible and measurable actions will allow for further research on parental involvement, studying its relationship to various socio-psychological, demographic and other characteristics.