Abstract: the article actualizes the problems of social adaptation of 9-12 year old pupils with visual impairments studying in Iraqi schools. The author approaches the solution of this problem by referring to the personal structure of the “I” of this category of students. Purpose of the article: to reveal the specifics of the concept of “I”, the peculiarities of its perception by visually impaired students and to determine its relationship with their social adaptation. Research objectives: 1) define the concept of “I”, considering it in the structure of the personal “I”-concept, “I”-image, “I”-position; 2) identify the specifics of the structure of “I” in visually impaired students; 3) identify the main problems of social adaptation of the visually impaired; 4) to identify the psychological and pedagogical conditions for increasing the social adaptation of visually impaired students, taking into account the role of “I”-image and “I”-position; 5) experimentally test the effectiveness of psychological and pedagogical conditions. The article reveals the essence of the concept “I”. The specificity of “I” is revealed in the orientation and readiness of students to change the external environment and themselves. The ways of social adaptation focused on the following main trends are identified: 1) overcoming the limitations of freedom of movement by attracting the potential of intact analyzers and compensating opportunities for integration; 2) overcoming the position of “helplessness” in the minds of visually impaired students of their understanding of space; 3) the development of motivation in creating images based on cognitive interest and cognitive activity for the formation of an activity position and self-reflection. Their effectiveness in increasing the social adaptation of students with visual impairments was experimentally proven.
Keywords: visually impaired students, social adaptation, schools in Iraq, the structure of the personal “I”,”I”-position, social communication, social experience