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Academic adaptation of students with mental disabilities and peculiarities of cognitive profile: theoretical analysis // Pedagogical Review. 2023. Issue 2 (48). P. 147-163

Due to the growing number of students with mental disabilities entering universities, it became interesting for researchers to study the problems of their academic adaptation. In addition to a widely investigated range of peculiarities of these students’ cognitive profile, their adaptation and formation of readiness for academic challenges is also attractive for making a research. The nature and number of social, academic and other barriers’ impacts on students with disabilities differ from those, which ordinary students face when entering a University. The number of psychological problems increases owing to the negative impact of external factors, which should be revealed and resolved not only by Support-services of the University, but also by teachers and other stuff in direct contact with students with disabilities. The main problem of improving the process of academic adaptation and overcoming psychological barriers is the lack of available empirical data based on the personal experience of students with disabilities. The article contains the analysis of works and studies on different aspects of the problem concerning academic adaptation of students with mental disabilities. The article defines priority areas for domestic and foreign researches, finds out similarity and differences between approaches and indicates a lack of theoretical summary made by complex and systematic approaches in the field of academic adaptation of students with mental disability.

Keywords: students with disabilities, academic adaptation, academic success, academic challenges, academic and psychological barriers, abuse, cognitive profile, cognitive functions, reduced learning ability