Psychology students’ perceptions about the personality of an individual with limited health opportunities

Background. The modern education system needs competent and qualified specialists, including psychologists who work with students with disabilities. Training psychologists who are able to work in a modern system of inclusive education is becoming the most important task of higher education. Professional training involves the formation of objective ideas about a person with disabilities. Aim. The paper aims to identify the ideas of psychology students about the personality of an individual with disabilities. Materials and methods. The study involved 53 3rd-year psychology and pedagogy students of Omsk State Pedagogical University. Content analysis was used to analyze students ' essays. Three categories were identified and characterized: “Perceptions of a person with limited health opportunities”, “Perceptions of oneself”, “Perceptions of the social environment”. Results. It has been established that the highest frequency is inherent in the category “Perceptions of a person with limited health opportunities”, which reflects well-formed representations of students about the personal qualities and psychological needs of people with disabilities. The ideas about the social environment of persons with disabilities, as well as about their own personality, were formed to a lesser extent. Conclusion. The obtained results allow us to draw general conclusions regarding the fragmentation of ideas about a person with limited health opportunities. The psychology students have the right ideas about the psychological resources needed by people with impaired development for successful social integration and partially correct ideas regarding the needs of this category of people. The obtained data reveal new information about the features of the formation of professional ideas in psychology students specializing in the psychological and pedagogical support of people with limited health opportunities.