In post-Soviet Kazakhstan, the system of care for children with autism has been transforming over the past three decades. There is little known about the use of complementary and alternative medicine by families raising autistic children in the post-Soviet region. An exploratory qualitative focus group design was employed to study parents’ experiences of using complementary and alternative medicine focusing on the perceived factors driving the utilization of complementary and alternative medicine by families of autistic children and the availability of complementary and alternative medicine. Six focus groups were conducted in five cities of diverse geographical locations in Kazakhstan. Data were analyzed using a framework analysis. Two overarching themes and subthemes are developed. The first “unmet needs” relates to predisposing factors that motivate parents to complementary and alternative medicine uptake and the second “chasing hope” relates to enabling factors that facilitate parents’ uptake of complementary and alternative medicines. In summary, parents of autism spectrum disorder children in Kazakhstan face multiple challenges when seeking treatment for their children’s condition and implement whatever complementary and alternative medicine interventions available. A decision to use, and the choice of intervention, mainly comes from perceptions of having no other choice rather than from rational decisions based on efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines. This study provides the first empirical conceptualization of parents’ motives for choosing complementary and alternative medicine in Kazakhstan. Lay abstract The article reports the findings of a qualitative research study on how and why parents of autistic children in Kazakhstan utilize complementary and alternative medicine. We found that parents turn to complementary and alternative medicine because of the lack of professional care options available to them and in pursuit for hope and opportunities for their children with ASD.

Гелишли Ю., Нурмухамбетовa А.Н. Қазақстан мен Түркияның білім беру бағдарламаларын салыстырмалы талдау («Әлеуметтік педагогика және өзін-өзі тану» және «Басшылық және психологиялық кеңес беру» мысалында

This article deals with the problems of using the Kazakh version of the method of E.F. Zambatsevichene, modified by L.I. Peresleni, "Verbal subtests" and the anxiety scale (the Children's Form of Manifest Anxiety Scale – CMAS), modified by A.M. Prikhozhan. To analyze the dynamics of vocabulary and logical thinking of children of preschool and primary school age, the pre-profile school version of the methodology was translated into Kazakh and applied to the study of vocabulary and logical thinking of primary school children. А psychological and pedagogical experiment was carried out with primary school students using variants of the Verbal Subtests methodology and the Children's Form of Manifest Anxiety Scale (CMAS) modified by A.M. Prikhozhan, and respondents who were fluent in Kazakh Russian languages. The experiment was carried out in two stages, at the first stage, the study of the development of verbal-logical thinking and anxiety in children of 9-10 years old was carried out according to the methodology in the Kazakh language, and at the second stage the methods were carried out in Russian with children of this age. The experiment carried out methods in both versions, and the results of the Russian-Kazakh version of the method were analyzed using mathematical and statistical research methods.

The realities of the modern digital development of the world raise the problems of psychological and pedagogical support of preschool and school children using mobile applications for parents. Of particular interest are mobile applications used in family practice. The experience of developing the most effective directions, forms, methods and technologies of similar applications is of interest. We have carried out a theoretical study of the currently existing applications of psychological and pedagogical support for preschool and school children. It has been established that there is a specific potential of a mobile application based on taking into account personal, cross-cultural characteristics, as well as sensitive, crisis periods of psychological development of preschool and school children. A feature of a number of applications is the support of the process of family education of children from birth to entry into adulthood. To study parent-child relationships, projective methods were used. The relationship between parents and children was studied using the “My Family” methodology. Methods for the study of the relationship between adults and children make it possible to competently build interpersonal relationships of family subjects and form a culture of relations between adults and children in the modern world. Thus, the mobile application can be used as an assistant for parents in psychological and pedagogical support of the child. The difference between the mobile application is the account of personal, cross-cultural characteristics and sensitive, crisis periods of the child's psychological development.

Today, society requires the education system to comply with economic, social and cultural changes. The increase in the value of mass media in the education system is due to their deep and diverse impact on everyday life. Various mobile applications play an important role in providing psychological and pedagogical support to parents in the upbringing of preschool and school-age children. In this regard, a survey of parents in the territory of Kyzylorda region was conducted to determine what specific problems arise in the upbringing of preschool and school-age children and how much psychological and pedagogical support is needed. According to the sixteen criteria identified in the questionnaire, parents expressed their own opinions about the upbringing of children. Based on the obtained data, a mathematical and statistical analysis was carried out. The practical application of the questionnaire in the framework of the assessment of pedagogical and psychological knowledge of parents in the upbringing of children will provide an operational comprehensive information on the usefulness of mobile applications for parents, thereby increasing the effectiveness of decisions taken on the next steps and opening the way to the development of a pedagogical mobile application for parents. And the results of the analysis of the study will be applied to the development of a mobile application for further pedagogical and psychological support of parents in the upbringing of children.