Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti COTTAS Fermo 6 – 10 October, 2013 Protocol and Legislation regarding Students with Special Needs Paola Ammazzalorso Comenius Cottas Project Coordinator-Italy

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Have the right to an education

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS Disabled Students Students with Specific Learning Disabilites Socio-economically, linguistically, culturally disadvantaged students

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti STUDENTS WITH SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITIES Dyslexia Dysgraphia Math disabilities

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti SOCIO-ECONOMICALLY, LINGUISTICALLY, CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS “Any student can experience special educational needs, continually or temporarily”

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti WHO ARE THE PARTIES INVOLVED? SCHOOL: Headmaster, class teachers, special needs contact person FAMILY STUDENT PSYCHOLOGIST (sometimes)

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti All parties work together to draw up an individualized/personalized plan which best fits student’s needs and meet periodically to evaluate its effectiveness and modify it when needed.

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL Secondary school requires students to have full mastery of instrumental competences (reading, writing, calculating), an effective study method and adequate prerequisites for learning more and more complex knowledge. These things can be difficult for students with special needs and lead to demotivation. These difficulties can be limited and overcome if the appropriate strategies and compensatory tools and dispensatory measures are adopted.

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti WHAT ARE WE DOING? Individualized/Personalized programs Compensatory Tools Dispensatory Measures Adequate forms of evaluation and testing

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti INDIVIDUALIZED/PERSONALIZED PROGRAMS Flexible forms of school work which take into consideration particular characteristics of the student, by adopting adequate educational methodology and strategies

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti COMPENSATORY TOOLS Substitute or facilitate requested task in the ability which is lacking  Voice synthesis  Recordings  Word Processing Programs  Calculator  Tables, Formularies, Concept Maps

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti READING DISORDERS Dyslexia Promote ability to comprehend texts Students should: - Read silently - Read for gist, key words

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti DYSLEXIA Compensatory tools Transform reading task into listening task Have a person read test items, homework assignments, multiple choice questions Use digital books and dictionaries Present new material orally Simplify texts Use concept maps,diagrams and other didactic mediators

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti DYSLEXIA Dispensatory Measures: Student is exempted from: Reading out loud in class Reading passages longer than his/her level can handle All activities in which reading performance is evaluated.

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti DISORDER OF WRITTEN EXPRESSION Compensatory tools: Double reading of written text: first to correct spelling mistakes, second to correct syntactic and overall organizational aspects. So, student needs more time to complete writing task. Use maps or diagrams Computer with automatic spelling and voice synthesis for proof-reading Recorder for taking notes

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti MATH DISABILITIES Manage part of actions individually Help students overcome helplessness by guiding him/her toward esperiencing own competence Individual error analysis Strengthen cognitive processes

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti MATH DISABILITIES Compensatory tools, dispensatory measures Use of calculator, pythagorean table, personal formulary are support tools. They ease load on student but don’t improve competence.

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti FOREIGN LANGUAGES More importance to oral skills over written skills Students should be given texts a few days before lesson so they can decode them at home and then work on text comprehension at school. Writing: more importance to effectiveness of communication

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti FOREIGN LANGUAGES Compensatory tools Audio books Voice synthesis Computers with automatic spelling corrector Digital dictionaries

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti FOREIGN LANGUAGES Dispensatory measures Extra time Adequately reduced work load Serious disorder: student can be exempted from taking written test

Liceo Scientifico T.C. Onesti RELATIONAL DIMENSION Relationship with classmates Teacher must foster understanding that compensatory tools and dispensatory measures are not facilitations, must explain why they are implemented, to prevent stigmatization and negative psychological consequences.