Life competence of students with disabilities: structural content and logic of development in psychological and pedagogical support

<p><strong>Relevance.</strong> Life competence, which is an important personal result of special education, remains insufficiently studied by specialists in the field of psychological and pedagogical support: there is still no scientific substantiation and description of the consolidated areas of life competence and the logic of its formation in students with disabilities. The purpose of this theoretical study is to define and describe the consolidated units of content of areas from the sphere of life competence of adolescents with disabilities. <strong>Methods</strong>: analysis of the results of theoretical and experimental studies in the field of correctional pedagogy and special psychology devoted to the study of the problem of socialization and the formation of the sphere of life competence of children with disabilities; systematization and conceptualization of the analysis results in accordance with the purpose and objectives of the study. <strong>Results.</strong> The key methodological foundations for structuring the content of the sphere of life competence are identified: in the methodology of the cultural-activity approach — consistent “ingrowth” of the child into the culture through the experience of activity (tool-object and elements of work activity, communication); in the subjective approach — in the context of mastering the life world (S.L. Rubinstein, F.E. Vasilyuk), its spatio-temporal dimension and mastering relationships with the Other and with oneself. For the first time, the allocation of enlarged units of the sphere of life competence of adolescents with mental retardation is theoretically substantiated and their content is revealed. <strong>Conclusions.</strong> The obtained results will serve as the basis for a broad study of the patterns of age-related formation of different areas of life competence as a result of the development of higher mental functions and socialization processes of a child and adolescent with developmental disabilities. Prospects for continuing the study are associated with the definition of criteria and indicators of the formation of skills in each of the five areas of life competence, taking into account the individual-typological specificity of students of each nosological category.</p>