The article is devoted to the problem of developing pre-professional training, which can help children with disabilities understand the range of options available to them and unlock their potential. The issues of labor education, training, vocational guidance and employment of students occupy a central place in the general system of educational work in an auxiliary school, since the success of social rehabilitation of mentally retarded students depends on their solution.

Pre-professional training and support were considered as a purposeful direction of pedagogical activity, taking into account the individual needs of students, including: psychological support, information education and organizational measures aimed at self-determination of students, allowing them to make a choice of the direction of study to determine the scope of professional activity in the future. In the course of a specially conducted study, the purpose of which was to organize psychological and pedagogical support in the process of pre-professional training of students with disabilities.

Based on the generalization of various points of view of leading foreign and domestic scientists on this issue, as well as on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of a number of difficulties in pre-professional training that arise in practice for special teachers, the authors indicate that auxiliary school students most successfully master general practical and labor skills in 7-8 years of study. Ideas about the chosen profession are, as a rule, practical, which is related to the nature of labor training at school and with already acquired labor skills and abilities.

To determine the appropriate research practice, we used a review of foreign and domestic literature, a semi-structured interview with a focus on high school students with disabilities. The psychological and pedagogical study of a student's work opportunities begins with an examination, which is conducted by a medical and pedagogical commission, and lasts the entire period of study. The integrative qualities of a personality (character traits, interests and the state of motor qualities) and the degree of preparedness for educational and work activities are revealed. In the course of the experimental work, conditions were identified that contribute to the formation of professional interests and intentions and, ultimately, a conscious choice of profession.

The dataanalysismethodusedinthisstudyis the categorizationformula. As aresult of the conductedempiricalresearch, somepedagogicalrecommendationsweredevelopedandproposedforworkingwithstudents of an auxiliaryschoolbyprofessionaldefinition,basedontheirprofessionalinclinations.