On the Support of Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities at Different Age Stages – in the Journal "Autism and Developmental Disorders"

The summer thematic issue of the journal "Autism and Developmental Disorders" (No. 2, 2026) has been published. The theme of the issue is: "Support for Children and Adults with Severe Developmental Disabilities at Different Life Stages." The thematic editor of the issue is Irina Sergeevna Konstantinova, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Expert at the RBOO "Center for Curative Pedagogy," Associate Professor, Lecturer at MSUPE.

The issue is presented in two new sections: "Conceptual Foundations of Support for Children and Adults with Developmental Disabilities" and "Research on Developmental Disabilities."

The first section contains an article by Academician A.G. Asmolov, in which the author proposes shifting from the paradigm of influencing the child to the paradigm of facilitating the realization of their potential. In relation to children with developmental disabilities, this requires a change in society's value attitude toward issues of upbringing, education, and support not only of "special" childhood but also, in the author's conviction, the creation of an "institute of special parenthood" and the development of predictive diagnostics. "Evolutionary optimism, like the great value principle of A. Schweitzer, the principle of 'reverence for life,' should become the moral imperative of teachers, parents – all who work with the world of a different childhood". the author asserts.

The second section presents works devoted to solving the problems of supporting children and adults with developmental disabilities.

In the article by A.A. Sergienko, based on three clinical cases of children and adolescents, the heterogeneity and transience of neuropsychological profiles in ASD are examined to ensure personalized correctional strategies.

E.A. Chernyshova presents a new technology for teaching reading to primary school children with autism and severe intellectual disabilities, based on assessing readiness for learning.

In the work of N.A. Karpova, E.S. Zakharova, and Yu.A. Burdukova, the impact of training conditions on a gastronomic model site and related factors on the level of professional skills development in people with mental disorders is assessed.

The article by I.A. Bobyleva is devoted to a two-circuit assessment of the results of inclusive employment, combining monitoring of the labor activity of people with developmental disabilities in workshops and assessment of their subjective well-being.

The article by T.V. Ryakhovskaya and E.E. Artemova presents the results of a qualitative analysis of various aspects of daily experience, difficulties, and resources of independently living people with ASD for the development of support programs for adolescents.

The work of M.E. Sisneva and S.M. Babintseva contains a review of the effectiveness of the supported decision-making model for people with mental disorders, ensuring their right to self-determination.

The issue concludes with a summary of a decade of the annual All-Russian Inclusive Festival #PeopleLikePeople and a post-release of the annual event "Friendship" Inclusive Walk, organized in Moscow by the "Best Friends" Charitable Foundation and the ROOI "Perspektiva".

The full issue of the journal is available on the PsyJournals.ru portal.