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The relevance of the topic of the article. An analysis of the indicators of irregularity in a child’s speech, speech disorders, and the existing methods of their measurement shows that disturbances in the fluency of speech in preschool children are mainly associated with evolutionary stuttering. There are no methods of objective assessment of fluency of speech and its disorders in stuttering in the Russian literature and speech therapy practice, while abroad there are different models of categorization of indicators of speech irregularity and various objective methods of measuring fluency of speech in children with normal conditions and with stuttering are used.

The aim of the research. The study of physiological and pathological indicators of speech irregularity of preschool children with stuttering and without speech disorders for the differential diagnosis of normal and deviating speech development is the aim of the study.

Description of the research progress. The study involved 35 children aged 4,5–6,5 years: 16 children without speech disorders and 19 children with stuttering of varying severity. The fluency / irregularity of speech was assessed using technology for assessing the indicators of speech irregularity (Vanderbilt technology) based on the analysis of two representative speech samples of 100 words each (a conversation and a story based on a series of plot pictures): the total percentage of speech irregularity, the percentage of physiological and pathological indicators of speech irregularity were calculated, the dominant types of speech irregularity in both groups were identified.

The results of the study. A significant difference was revealed in physiological and pathological indicators of speech irregularity in preschoolers with normal conditions and with stuttering. The article provides evidence of the connection of mainly pathological indicators of speech irregularity with stuttering, and physiological indicators - with normal speech development. In preschoolers with stuttering, a direct relationship was found between the overall percentage of speech irregularity and the severity of stuttering. In the group of children without speech disorders, preschoolers with a risk factor for stuttering were identified, for whose parent’s recommendations on a protective general and speech regime were developed.

Conclusion. The results of the experimental study demonstrate the advisability of including Vanderbilt’s technology in a comprehensive examination of the speech of a preschool child. The specific nature and frequency of manifestation of indicators of speech irregularity in preschool children make important diagnostic information about the typical / atypical development of speech irregularity.

There is Vygotsky and Vygotsky. The Vygotsky who is still alive in his works and their thoughtful readers, and the Vygotsky «from textbooks». This is what Vygotsky looks like «in textbooks» schematically. According to his conception, a child does not develop on his own; he draws his «powers» for development from the sociocultural environment, which is created for him by an adult. To be more precise, it is created by his hands, his mind and, if he is lucky, by his heart. That is why when doing it, an adult acts not «on his own behalf» but «on his behalf and the behalf of the authority» of culture itself, which formed historically when he merely acts as an intermedium between culture and the child. In collaboration with an adult, a child learns cultural patterns – ways of interacting with human things, models of human behavior, samples of world perception, and criteria for evaluating what is happening in the world, deciphering «languages» – the symbols of the culture... And then he applies these patterns and codes to certain situations. It seems reasonable. But the social factors of child development (which included communications with an adult) were written about long before Vygotsky. Usually they were described as something imposed externally, something directive. From this perspective, development appeared to be a gradual «social enslavement», and they searched for the sources of freedom in the primal game of Mother Nature’s forces, which is natural for such logic. However, this «mother» is in some ways is a more rigid «dictator» than society. In fact, Vygotsky’s ideas are much deeper and more interesting.

Violence against children is prevalent across all countries and cultures, with the burden of child injury and violence heaviest in low– and middle-income (LAMI) settings. There are several types of program to prevent child abuse, with family-based approaches to prevention being the most comprehensively researched and successful interventions in high-income settings. In LAMI countries, however, there is very little research evidence for the prevention of child abuse. We conducted a systematic search of relevant databases for studies published between 1995 and 2011 and the search revealed only one relevant study. There is thus a need for research into child maltreatment prevention in LAMI settings, taking account of local resources and contexts. In the light of the lack of evidence, we focus on two case studies that document the use of home visiting by community health workers perinatally to improve maternal and child outcomes. We propose four areas for action moving forward, including increased investment in early intervention and prevention programs, development of a research agenda that prioritizes prevention research, integration of implementation research into efforts to scale up interventions, and improving systematically collected information on child maltreatment.

The article describes the HeadStart program (USA), which is in use for over 40 years in working with preschool children from low-income families. The program includes projects to help the families of migrants, seasonal workers and indigenous people of America. The program provides access to healthcare and healthy nutrition, financial support, employment assistance, and offers parent-child study groups. The examples of program’s standards are provided. Family involvement in education and upbringing of children is considered to be a specific type of work to reduce the risk of child neglect and child abandonment. If children from socially disadvantaged families are provided with an access to resources outside of their families, they develop much faster. The article addressed the issue of evaluating the effectiveness of such programs in the long term. The program fosters personal growth.