LIBRI DI NOEMI DEL BIANCO

Al fine di indagare criticità e potenzialità del Digital Learning nei percorsi di formazione per docenti specializzati sulle attività di sostegno, il presente contributo focalizza l’attenzione sulla qualità e sull’efficacia delle metodologie di insegnamento-apprendimento veicolate proprio tramite l’utilizzo delle Tecnologie dell’Informazione e della Comunicazione (TIC). In particolar modo, oggetto della presente indagine sono le percezioni di un campione di 237 futuri docenti di sostegno circa l’uso di un repository online di video tutorial, di cui hanno beneficiato durante il loro percorso formativo, in qualità di mediatore e dispositivo didattico. Tramite la valutazione dei risultati di apprendimento e dei feedback formativi, la riflessione si direziona, in conclusione, sulle modalità di implementazione dei percorsi di formazione volti alla costruzione di profili professionali in grado di utilizzare le tecnologie a supporto del Digital Inclusion nei contesti formativi.

In the present paper, after a description of the theoretical framework used to define self-determination, we will describe the importance of structuring a research context that fosters the self-advocacy of people with disabilities. In this direction, a protocol of participatory research with people with intellectual disabilities will be presented in the third paragraph. Specifically, we will expand the procedure to support the creation of accessible museum captions, thanks to the application of Easy-to-Read guidelines.

Writing is extremely important for our academic and professional life and can affect our performance in productive educational activities, favouring us or not. Schoolchildren with dyslexia bring difficulties and reduced school performance due to their condition of deprivation in written production. This is because schoolchildren with dyslexia have difficulty acquiring spelling knowledge and show poor phonological skills. This study aimed to characterize the performance of schoolchildren with dyslexia in “gaze” for the handwriting of High and Low-frequency words. A total of 24 schoolchildren participated in the study. They were between 8 to 11 years and 11 months of age, of both sexes, and they were attending the 3rd to the 5th year of Elementary School in the city of Marília-SP. The schoolchildren were divided into groups: GI, composed of 12 schoolchildren with an interdisciplinary diagnosis of developmental dyslexia, and GII, composed of 12 schoolchildren with good academic performance, paired with GI according to the school grade level. These schoolchildren were submitted to computerized handwriting evaluation using a Brazilian adaptation of the Software Ductus. All schoolchildren were submitted to a copy of words already selected according to Brazilian Portuguese criteria of frequency and codification rule. A measure of “gaze” was used, that is, when the schoolchildren stopped their handwriting to search/look up at the screen to confirm the information about the words. The results indicated a significant difference between GI and GII, with GI schoolchildren performing more gaze when compared with GII, i.e., taking longer motor breaks to perform the gaze. Therefore, there was a rupture in the central processing with the peripheral when the child performed the gauze more times since he had to confirm the characteristics of this word during the writing process (difficulty in accessing the orthographic lexicon) and with that, there was a break in the movement of handwriting (since there was not enough information in the central plane to complete that motor memory and finish the word). It was concluded that there were gaps between the central (orthographic) and peripheral (motor pauses) processes, suggesting deficits in the formation of motor programs for GI and the lack of automation of motor processes.

The concept of quality of life (QOL) has become a measurable construct of great value to all people, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In particular, the field of IDD is currently experiencing a paradigm shift related to beliefs, assumptions, policies, and practices concerning people with disabilities and their families and the place and role they play in society. This article starts by reconstructing the state of the art of the application of QOL in Social Services, reconstructing its research developments, operational declinations and influences in social policies in Spain and Italy.

Il volume intende affrontare una delle principali sfide della pedagogia speciale, ovvero l’implementazione dell’autodeterminazione nelle persone con disabilità intellettive. Il lettore potrà avvicinarsi all’argomento da diverse prospettive attraversando contesti reali ed esemplificazioni, per giungere poi a tracciare significative linee guida volte alla promozione dell’autodeterminazione delle persone con disabilità intellettive. Un testo particolarmente utile per gli studenti universitari, per gli operatori dei servizi alle persone con disabilità intellettive e per le stesse famiglie con figli con disabilità intellettiva.

Puntando sul potenziale euristico e formativo delle narrazioni, il volume offre diversi percorsi di approfondimento all’interno del complesso scenario della pedagogia speciale: dallo studio delle famiglie con disabilità, alla valorizzazione dei processi di autodeterminazione e di emancipazione delle persone con disabilità, alla promozione dei progetti di vita e delle diverse e possibili traiettorie di senso. Un testo per studenti in formazione – verso la professione di educatore, di docente, di insegnante di sostegno, di pedagogista – o per lettori attenti al “potere” delle storie di vita.

In the face of the growing number of students with disabilities enrolled at the University, it is necessary to rethink the educational and teaching proposals from an inclusive perspective. This necessarily implies careful planning of even one of the most delicate phases of the teaching and learning process for all students: the final exam of a discipline. An event full of expectations and anxieties, very often attention to the construction of a welcoming environment becomes essential to provide the basis for a welcoming atmosphere and success, especially for students with Specific Learning Disorders (SpLDs) or disabilities. Therefore, this contribution, starting from a pilot study conducted by the University of Macerata, analyzes the role of Emotional Feedback in the assessment procedures in university contexts.  

Over the past decade the growing number of students with Attention and Learning Disorders in universities has been documented all over the world. Difficulties experienced by students during their academic career have led to an increase in the support services offered by Universities to meet their needs. This development has taken place as a result of changing attitudes and instructional practices across many countries. In this paper, we highlight an example from the Unites States where one university provides multiple services to increase optimal outcomes for this specific population.

Il volume raccoglie storie di atleti con disabilità e porta alla luce i valori trasformativi dello sport nei loro progetti di vita. Puntando sul potenziale euristico e formativo delle narrazioni, i curatori offrono diversi percorsi di approfondimento all’interno dello scenario della Pedagogia speciale. Un testo consigliato sia a studenti in formazione verso la professione di educatore, pedagogista, docente, insegnante di sostegno, sia a professionisti già in servizio.

This paper presents a pilot project, developing at the University of Macerata and of the University Arizona, that is called “EduPlan4Inclusion”, oriented to implement accessibility in academic contents for all students, through the use of technology. The project wants to highlight the possible direction for Universities to balance the demands of an inclusive curriculum to a diverse student cohort within a technology-rich environment. In conclusion, the research proposes in this paper can be used to directly guide the reform of curriculum design and teaching methods in Colleges and Universities, with the aim to activate the possibility of implementing a more shared inclusive culture

Considering the Students’ Voice takes us into a varied international and today also national pedagogical movement. The issue relating to the promotion of Students’ Voice research paths with young people with disabilities is delicate. The authors, after a presentation of the movement, address the important issues of ethics and methodological critical issues in the research paths within the Special Pedagogy. It is important to highlight that also in Special Pedagogy research the focus must be not just to ‘listening the students voice’, but also to help students to become ‘change agents’, because they are the potential of transformation.

Among the present critical issues that pedagogy and special teaching have to deal with it is possible to notice the contrast between writing and technology, up to the pertinent field of prevention and observation of dysgraphies. The authors present in the following article a study conducted in Italy aimed at evaluating writing, specifically in the speed and pressure parameters in early literacy using NeuroScript Movalyzer Software. The aim is to implement suitable research paths to support the dissemination of observation procedures and inclusive teaching practices, capable of enhancing the fluidity of writing by all students.

The paper presents a transdisciplinary reflection on emergencies that young people with disabilities find themselves in today. Compared to the population of young people and university students, those with disabilities have a greater risk of having "limited worlds" to experience themselves as adults. In this paper, we will consider one of the most difficult dimensions: work and job inclusion. It uses a case study in a productive organisation focused on recognising the capacity to work of intellectually impaired persons. The process of labour inclusion through apprenticeship transcends purely technical questions and brings reflections on the concept of hospitality. The paper concludes that education is a powerful tool to promote important themes of social cohabitation and to build real opportunities to the youngsters to experiment themselves in the role of adults.