BOOKS BY CATIA GIACONI

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 interroga la riflessione pedagogica e l’agire didattico, educativo e formativo in merito a limiti e possibilità inerenti alle concettualizzazioni e agli interventi per la prevenzione e il contrasto della povertà educativa. Il libro si rivolge alle professioni educative e a coloro che intendano istituire contesti inclusivi e interculturali per comprendere, promuovere e accompagnare le giovani generazioni nello sviluppo di percorsi esistenziali emancipanti lungo una prospettiva di speranza.

Il volume muove da una sintesi della storia degli ultimi venti secoli di assistenza, cogliendo come, mentre i destinatari siano rimasti sempre i medesimi – poveri, malati, orfani, disabili… –, la forma dell’assistere abbia assunto modalità diverse in relazione al contesto storico e socioculturale. A fronte dell’inadeguatezza delle risposte socio-sanitarie del nostro tempo, parcellizzate e incomunicanti, l’autore mette quindi a tema la dimensione comunitaria quale spazio e tempo per un innovativo welfare umano.

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.

Frutto di un progetto integrato di tipo socio-sanitario, avviato dalla Regione Marche, per la realizzazione di iniziative rivolte all’individuo affetto da autismo e alla sua famiglia, il volume presenta i contenuti di un ampio piano di formazione del personale chiamato a operare nei diversi servizi. Raccoglie inoltre contributi che tendono a inquadrare la patologia alla luce delle più recenti acquisizioni della ricerca e modelli di intervento implementabili nell’intero ciclo 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.  

This study is aimed to compare and relate the performance of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and with good academic performance in the perceptual-visual-motor and reading processes, and to verify the eye movements’ pattern of students with ADHD during reading. Twenty students from primary school, both male and female, and aged between eight and twelve years old, participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: Group I (GI): composed of 20 students with an interdisciplinary diagnosis of ADHD, and Group II (GII): composed of 20 students with an equal good academic performance according to gender, age group and education with GI. All students were submitted to the Reading Processes Assessment protocol (PROLEC), Developmental Test of Visual Perception 3 (DTVP 3). PROLEC text reading test was administered to the students, also through the computer support. During this activity, the Gazepoint GP3 Eye Tracker equipment was used, which records the eye movements and analyses their properties by using the Gazepoint Analysis UX Edition Software for capturing eye movement during reading. These procedures were applied individually with students from both groups. The results were statistically analyzed, and revealed that the difficulties of students with ADHD in the reading processes could be justified by the perceptual-visual-motor deficit, and the shorter fixing time for capturing the information of each word read. This compromises the ability to identify and decode words, leading to difficulty in accessing meaning at the level of words and texts.

The topic of university inclusion is today at the centre of the international and national debate. The reasons are related to a significant increase in the number of students with disabilities enrolled in university, as shown by the first report "Disability, Dsa and access to university education", presented these days by ANVUR (Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of the University system and Research) and CNUDD (National Conference of University Delegates for Disability). From this report, several steps forward for the inclusion of university students emerge, but also several critical dimensions that still require the attention of research and academic policies. This article will examine this issue and focus on exploring one of the critical nodes of university inclusion, namely the role of internships in the educational experience of students with disabilities and in their life project. A growing literature has explored their academic experience; on the contrary, there is little research to date that explores the issues and challenges of a central aspect of the higher education and training pathway, namely internships. Completing the study pathway in higher education is identified as a factor that can impact increasing the social and employment inclusion of people with disabilities (Union of Equality Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) and consequent improvement of levels of Quality of Life (Giaconi, 2015). However, one of the main obstacles to obtaining a qualification is the accessibility of internships. This article addresses the meaning and implications of internships for competences’ building and insertion into the labour market of disabled graduates. Therefore, it explores the state of play of research, identifies the most critical issues, and reports about the running debate in the field.

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.