Abstract:

Italy and Spain follow different inclusive school systems; in Italy total scholastic integration has existed since the seventies, and in Spain there is still a dual channel divided between ordinary schools and specialized centres for disabled pupils. However, there are borderline areas in the care of mildly disabled people in Spanish schools that see the establishment of a third way, that of special classes. At the university level, however, in both countries, people with intellectual disabilities are effectively excluded. Although in Italy it is possible to enroll in university, it is indisputable that the selective tests allow access only to students with slight difficulties or sensory and motor disabilities. The university degree in both countries is a title that certifies unique professional and cultural skills recognized within the European Framework of International Qualifications (2008). The inclusion processes that have been developed since the Salamanca Convention (1994) urged all member states to carefully adapt the cultural contexts aimed at promoting the inclusion of the person in every context of life, removing contextual barriers that impede its functioning (WHO 2001).

In both countries, the person with a disability, especially cognitive, when leaving the school’s education circuit, suffers a gradual impoverishment and worsening of functional abilities, both cognitive and autonomy. qualification, the University could constitute a place of reception and empowerment for adults with disabilities, even without the acquisition of qualification.

The contribution presents a process of approaching university education to the world of the intellectually disabled. Starting from an initiative launched at the University of Valladolid at the request of the National Foundation, the idea was to build a theoretical-practical course for a class of 28 students with medium-level intellectual disabilities. This training course included, among other things, a period of apprenticeship and job placement. Thanks to the opportunity offered by a teaching period at the Spanish university in an Erasmus Teacher project, it was possible to import some of the typical methodological practices of the Italian school which is used to adapting the teaching processes for disabled pupils, in a group starting from the reference pedagogical framework, for trainees university students at the University of Valladolid. The course was strengthened by implementing a series of adaptations that arise from the methodological-didactic experience of the Italian school and from the rooted intervention approach in school contexts. This path was supported by the adaptation intervention of the activities in collaboration between Spain and Italy. The adaptation was made by keeping one hundred of the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2009), using the criterion of reasonable accommodation. The contribution, exposes the adaptation process implemented, the teaching strategies and the methodologies. The contribution also intends to propose a perspective of integration in the academic context through a universal design model that allows disabled students to be part of the academic context and to promote a better quality of life.

Keywords:

Inclusion, learning, University.