[Reading activity of the elderly visually disabled as a problem of educational gerontology.]

In the article, in the context of the development of educational gerontology, materials of an empirical study of such a specific subject of reading activity as the visually impaired elderly are presented. According to the results of a specially conducted survey, in which the respondents were 356 blind and visually impaired aged 60 to 90 years and older, living in 13 regions of the Russian Federation, the reading preferences of elderly people with disabilities are differentiated and taking into account the action of general and specific socio-typological factors. vision, the intensity of their reading activity, the library practices they implement, the motivation for reading, and the degree of consistency and certainty of their reading position.

[Visually impaired older adults as a target group of social rehabilitation: towards the issue of the peculiarities of lifestyle.]

The article presents materials of an empirical study of the peculiarities of the way of life of visually impaired older people in a social rehabilitation context. In comparison with older people without disabling visual impairment, the older blind and visually impaired, according to the results of the conducted questionnaire survey, are characterized in terms of their position in society, the preservation of the «inner core¼ of the personality, involvement in social and cultural life, the need for novelty and expansion of «spiritual and cultural spaces¼, creative activity and social and cultural communication.