Students\u2019 Voice and Disability: Ethical and methodological reflections for Special Pedagogy research

Considering the Students\u2019 Voice takes us into a varied international and today also national pedagogical movement. The issue relating to the promotion of Students\u2019 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 \u2018listening the students voice\u2019, but also to help students to become \u2018change agents\u2019, because they are the potential of transformatio

Families with young people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Crisis or rebirth?

L'epidemia di Coronavirus, che attualmente stiamo ancora vivendo, ha portato diversi individui a un periodo di isolamento domiciliare o in quarantena. Questo articolo solleva la questione dell'impatto che questa situazione ha avuto sulle famiglie con persone con malattie o disabilità. Inoltre, in termini di Qualità della Vita, esiste una stretta relazione tra la Qualità della Vita del giovane con disabilità e la sua famiglia: livelli più bassi di Qualità della Vita del giovane corrispondono ad una significativa diminuzione della Qualità della Vita della loro famiglia. In quest'ultima direzione, le ricerche si focalizzano sull'impatto in termini di Qualità della Vita, in relazione al carico assistenziale richiesto dal profilo di funzionamento della persona con disabilità. In questo caso, molti studiosi mettono in relazione la Qualità della Vita delle famiglie con la presenza o assenza di adeguate politiche socio-sanitarie, risorse e servizi volti a fornire forme di sostegno alla famiglia. In particolare, la presenza di una persona con Disabilità Intellettive Profonde e Multiple (PIMD) richiede a tutti i familiari di adottare una risposta quotidiana ai bisogni assistenziali estesi e generalizzati, che spesso rimangono stabili per tutto l'arco della vita, rendendo particolarmente impegnativi i compiti genitoriali e assistenziali. L'interesse della nostra ricerca è evidenziare le criticità dei nuovi contesti di vita che colpiscono le famiglie con giovani con PIMD, al fine di implementare nuovi percorsi di ricerca finalizzati alla raccolta di dati e sui nuovi bisogni di supporto

New perspectives for Inclusive University Teaching: EduPlan4Inclusion

This paper presents a pilot project, developing at the University of Macerata and of the University Arizona, that is called \u201cEduPlan4Inclusion\u201d, 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

Societal Attitudes Toward Persons with Disabilities in the Italian Province of Macerata

Persons with disabilities are a marginalized group in most nations. They are often subjected to both subtle prejudice and explicit discrimination. The purpose of the present study was to examine the attitudes of university students toward persons with disabilities. A total of 124 participants were recruited from a public university in Macerata, Italy. The Attitudes to Disability Scale (Power et al., 2010) was used to measure attitudes. The results showed thatalthough many of the participants did not see having a disabled family member as a burden to family, they saw it as a burden to society. Age, major (course), prior contact, and gender were not significant variables in the acceptance of disability. Future directions for research were discussed

Inclusione 3.0

The curators, on the occasion of the World Day of Disability, have gathered together contributions, reflections, projects and workshops presented to offer an interdisciplinary reflection on the theme of disability and inclusion, beginning with "Unimc for Inclusion", a week rich in meetings on the theme of inclusion held at the University of Macerata. The authoritative contributions of scholars from diverse disciplinary fields, allow readers to retrace the theme of inclusion from different theoretical research perspectives, reconstructing an interesting corollary of reflections and operational paths ranging from special pedagogy, general pedagogy, psychology, social robotics, virtual reality, economics, law, literature, philosophy, art, etc. It is due of this approach that the text is particularly pertinent to teachers, educators and pedagogues in active service and in training, not least because of the range of workshop proposals and transferable experiences in school contexts and in day and residential centres

Inclusion at the University through technology: A case study in Italy

During the pandemic, it was important to recognize the need of involving students in the process of understanding and improving their academic experience. This study aimed to investigate whether or not the online learning environment provided by the university was accessible and which teaching strategies were most conducive to learning. Data were collected through a survey, of which 116 university students with disabilities and SpLDs took part in; 78 were female (67.2%) and 38 were male. Specifically, the study was meant to deepen how the voices of all students can be recorded even during an emergency period, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, and how students’ feedback can be the first step to start new cooperation in the implementation of educational paths, where dialogue and critical confrontation represent crucial elements to direct inclusive processes in the University environment

Co designing inclusive museum itineraries with people with disabilities. A case study from self-determination

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

Inclusione 3.0

The curators, on the occasion of the World Day of Disability, have gathered together contributions, reflections, projects and workshops presented to offer an interdisciplinary reflection on the theme of disability and inclusion, beginning with "Unimc for Inclusion", a week rich in meetings on the theme of inclusion held at the University of Macerata. The authoritative contributions of scholars from diverse disciplinary fields, allow readers to retrace the theme of inclusion from different theoretical research perspectives, reconstructing an interesting corollary of reflections and operational paths ranging from special pedagogy, general pedagogy, psychology, social robotics, virtual reality, economics, law, literature, philosophy, art, etc. It is due of this approach that the text is particularly pertinent to teachers, educators and pedagogues in active service and in training, not least because of the range of workshop proposals and transferable experiences in school contexts and in day and residential centres

Progettazione e Quality of Life nella presa in carico di persone con disabilità intellettive: l’agricoltura sociale come nuovo spazio e tempo generativo

Starting from the theoretical framework of Quality of Life (Giaconi, 2015b; Schalock, Verdugo Alonso, 2006, 2002), the paper explores the continuity between the results of two assessment scales (POS and SIS) in a case study. The case concerns the initial condition of a young person with intellectual disabilities involved in a social agriculture project, called “Tuttincampo”. The project involves the synergistic collaboration of an inter-institutional network composed of public and private entities, and is aimed at testing a new format of social and labour integration, with the goal of offering a viable alternative to classic rehabilitation day centres. In detail, we want to explore the first useful data to support the project pathway aimed at deepening the practices and methodologies to support the social and labour inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.Starting from the theoretical framework of Quality of Life (Giaconi, 2015b; Schalock, Verdugo Alonso, 2006, 2002), the paper explores the continuity between the results of two assessment scales (POS and SIS) in a case study. The case con­cerns the initial condition of a young person with intellectual disabilities involved in a social agriculture project, called “Tuttincampo”. The project involves the synergistic collaboration of an inter­institutional network composed of public and private entities, and is aimed at testing a new format of social and labour integration, with the goal of offering a viable alternative to classic rehabilitation day centres. In detail, we want to explore the first useful data to support the project pathway aimed at deepening the practices and methodologies to support the social and labour inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities

University as agent of change in terms of inclusion in working environments

Education can be considered an agent of change and one of the primary aims is to create feasible and inclusive pathways to strategically favour the realization of values and social change. The authors explore the role that universities can have in terms of agents of change for inclusion in the work environment, giving some methodological approaches. The results emerging from the literature analysis carried out during the IN-WORK (inclusive Communities at Work) project funded by the Erasmus + European Community will be presented