SEND & SLDs

Many psycho-pedagogical studies support how constructivist, person-centered, cooperative, and educational approaches involving “multiple intelligences” are highly effective in accommodating and engaging people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), ensuring a high level of equity in access to science literacy and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines.

Person-centered learning approaches focus on the fully autonomous development of the student's cognitive, social, experiential, and creative potential, which allows personal images and insights to take shape and evolve through action, emotion, expression, iconic and symbolic representation, and the hundred languages with which especially boys and girls tell and explain themselves and their world.

The UNIVERS@LL group is engaged in the study, design, testing, validation and evaluation of activities that facilitate the access of people with SENDs and/or SLDs.

We report below on some of the activities carried out so far.

A chain reaction consisting of a toy car that, after sliding down a track, hits a series of CDs placed next to each other vertically, triggering a domino-effect fall

A chain reaction created by a student at the Marella School in Bologna

Reazioni a catena a distanza (Remote Chain Reactions)

The “Reazioni a catena a distanza” project consists of a tinkering activity proposed to elementary schools in Bologna area during the first covid-19 pandemic lockdown, when schools were closed and boys and girls were experiencing distance learning for the first time.

The paper describing the project won the Best Paper Fablearn Italy 2020.

“Blue and the Sky” and AAC

Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC) is an approach that aims to provide a different communication mode for those who, for various reasons, are excluded from verbal and oral communication. One of the best-known tools of AAC is writing in symbols, a communication system that is proving effective not only in the presence of SENDs (especially in the presence of autism spectrum disorders), but also in many cases of communication difficulties (for example, for foreign boys and girls who are learning a new language) and as a promotion of reading in kindergarten.

The initial phase of the “Blue and the Sky” project led to the creation of an interactive, multimedia, multi device and inclusive ebook, which, in addition to the use of highly readable characters and synchronized reading of the text with natural voice, presents for the first time the transcription of the text in augmentative alternative characters. A booklet, written entirely in ACC, on the topic of star formation was subsequently designed, currently in production.

The text is written using a simple symbol for each word

A page from the ebook “The Adventures of Blue.”

Two boys and a girl are sitting around a table and discussing the material placed in front of them

Boys and girls at work in a workshop organized for the 7th Summer Camp “The Mind in Motion”

Collaboration with StepNet

The StepNet association has been organizing the Summer Camp “The Mind in Motion” for high-potential boys and girls (gifted or plus gifted) since 2015. A week in which families carry out a series of activities aimed at fostering a global experience of stimulation at all levels: cognitive, emotional and relational, to support the recognition and development of all their resources.

INAF participated for the first time in 2019. Since the establishment of the UNIVERS@LL group, this activity has been repeated in the Summer Camp of 2022 and 2023, during which dedicated activities and workshops were developed.

Social stories in astronomy for people with autism spectrum disorders

Since 2021, thanks to a collaboration with pedagogue Marco Pontis, the INAF - Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari has been experimenting with the use of social stories during site visits.

Social Stories are a tool designed by Carol Gray in 1991 to improve the social skills of people with autism spectrum disorders. They describe a situation and provide appropriate role models, presenting the perspectives of others and suggesting appropriate responses to the circumstances presented, following a specific pattern and language. They can be extremely useful tools for informing children about what they can expect and what is expected of them, such as during astronomy workshops or a show at the Planetarium. They also help to reassure the person for whom they are written, both socially and emotionally.

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