Comparative Studies in Special Education

16. Russia

16 ---------------------------------,Russia VLADIMIR I. LUBOVSICY EVGENIJA NIKOLAEVNO MARTSINOVSKAJA Translated bySvetlana VishnevkslJja Prevalence of Developmental Disabilities Of the existing special education situation in Russia, we may give only approximate indices of the school-age developmental disabilities prevalence. Through the present in Russia, statistics on developmental disabilities are not available. Physicians from the infantile health care system (children's polyclinics, local pediatricians) observe a child from birth and may discover some handicaps in development. But this information from the health institutions does not go either to the system of state statistics or to the system of education. About the Authors • Dr. Vladimir Lubovsky is a professor and member of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Russia. He is a graduate of the Department of Psychology of Moscow University and was engaged in postgraduate study under the leadership of Professor Alexander Luria. Since joining the Institute of Defectology (recently renamed the Institute of Remedial Education) in 1953, he has been a researcher, scientific secretary, and head of the Laboratory of the Psychology of Developmentally Backward Children. From 1986 to 1992, he was the director of the Institute. His research interests include the psychology of mentally retarded and developmentally backward children, the diagnostics of impaired hearing, the visual peculiarities of partially sighted persons, problems of psychological diagnostics of mental deficiency, and general questions ofspecial education organization. He has more than 150 publications, including a number of works published in English, Japanese, and German. • Professor Evgenija Nikolaevno Martsinovskaja is a candidate of pedagogical science and scientific secretary at the Institute of Remedial Education (formerly called the Research Institute of Dcfecrology) of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Russia. 260 Russia 261 Developmental disabilities are registered according to the indices of children enrolled in special educational institutions. Because the available institutions cannot provide all children in need with education, these indices are much lower than the true number of existing developmentally disabled children. Along with this factor, children with different handicaps are not involved in special education to an equal extent. Whereas all or almost all hearing-impaired and visually impaired children are educated under adequate conditions, the considerable part of the population of children with mental deficiency do not receive any special educational support. Also absent are any kinds of special pedagogical measures or educational structures for emotionally disturbed children and children with behavior problems. There are no educational provisions for severely motor-disordered children. The most reliable of the prevalence indices are those for pronounced visual impairments-blindness and partial sightness (.064 percent)-and hearing impairments-deafness and hard of hearing (.11 percent)-because children in these categories are fully involved in special education. As far as other categories are concerned, it is only possible to obtain data by examining separate samples. According to these samples, the prevalence of developmental backwardness-specific learning difficulties-among the elementary school population is 4.5 percent. Speech disorders have a prevalence of up to 12 percent. But many children from these groups do not need special education and their development may be normalized after slight individual help. As for mental retardation, its evident prevalence is 2 to 3 percent, as in other countries. A comparison of the data concerning the origins of developmental disabilities testifies to the fact that there is not any Russian specificity in etiology . The exception is ecologically unfavorable places, such as regions affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe and some other places where the number of children with learning difficulties is increasing. Identifying Developmental Abnormalities and Making the Diagnosis Identification of possible disabilities in the prenatal period is the function of women's medical consultations. However, these examinations are mainly limited to observing the state of a pregnant woman's health and identifying the Rh factor. Sometimes there is testing for the presence of phenylalanine (for indication of PKU) in the newborn. Children's clinics and local pediatricians observe each child from the first day of life, paying attention to the state of his or her health and physical development. Physicians use conventional medical methods. At the end of 262 SEGREGATED SPECIAL EDUCATION the first year, the child is examined by different specialists. However, a countrywide system of disability screening does not yet exist. In the case of severe defects in development, the child is specially registered. Psychological service in the system of infantile health care is absent; psychologists are available only in children's psychiatric clinics. Psychoeducational methods in the assessment...