The present research aims to extend findings from a recent study in which a large sample of primary and secondary school pupils was asked to choose a hypothetical classmate they would invite to share five different activities. Results demonstrated that a visible disability represents a barrier for social participation and involvement. In the…

The research investigates the hypothesis that teachers' attitudes toward inclusive education may be related to their value priorities. Specifically, it is hypothesized that some teachers' personal values correlate positively with their attitudes toward inclusive education. The study, conducted during a pre-service teacher training course, involved…

In recent years, inclusive education has become a major challenge for school systems in both Western and Eastern countries, and many countries have been putting considerable efforts into making their education more inclusive. The present study was undertaken to investigate Chinese and Italian teachers' understanding of inclusive education based on…

The present study was aimed at contributing to the understanding of the role of pre-service special education teachers' attachment styles and empathy dimensions in sentiments, attitudes, and concerns towards disability. Participants were 536 pre-service special education teachers (78.4% females and 21.6% males), Results of the path analysis showed…

This paper aims to present an analytical tool called "Model of Becoming Aware," to explore the production of the subjectivities of disabled students and new forms of exclusions during the enactment of disability policies in the Italian higher education context. It deploys Foucault's governmentality studies to frame the changing…

This paper describes the attitudes of pupils ranging from late childhood to adolescence towards diversity expressed as disability, other gender and race in a context of full inclusion. For the study, two experiments were carried out asking a large sample (i.e. 764 + 160) of participants to choose a hypothetical classmate to share a series of…

Former literature found that various 'different' students experience exclusion and rejection by their peers in schools. This may be linked with the attitudes that their school and classmates hold towards them. Identifying someone as 'Other' may indeed result in prejudicial attitudes which, in turn, can lead to his/her marginalisation and…

People interact with individuals who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) based on personal attitudes and perceived communicative competence. The purpose of this study is to investigate how different means of communication, such as an iPad-based Speech Generating Device (SGD), a communication board, and natural speech influence the…

This paper aims to bring research findings on the curricular teacher's and curricular support teacher's attitude toward students with intellectual disabilities. The results bring to imagine possible changes in the current training system that, deepening intellectual disability in discipline and laboratory terms, not necessarily and intentionally…

Background: Attitudes of classmates has been considered as one of the major problems in inclusive education, negatively influencing the participation of students with disability in school contexts. The goal of this study was to examine Italian typically developing children's attitudes towards their peers with disabilities. Method: In a sample of…

By providing evidence that sign language is an autonomous language, research has contributed to various changes both within and beyond the signing communities. The aim of this article is to present an example of how sign language change is driven not only by language-internal factors but also by changes in language perception, as well as in the…

The article presents a research developed collaterally within the framework of the European research project "LUDI. Play for Children with Disabilities" (http://ludinetwork.eu/, 2014-2018). One goal of the project is to provide guidelines on play for children with disabilities. To reach this goal, first of all the needs of users have…

Employers play a significant role in the process of hiring workers with intellectual disability. Through an in-depth interview, this research aims to investigate the attitudes of 30 representatives of small and medium-sized Italian companies involved in a process of recruitment. The data were analyzed using a phenomenological approach. The results…

This paper draws from our experiences of an EU Life Long Learning Programme Project: GATE Understanding Dyslexia Phenomena Between Pre-Primary And Primary (2009-2011) to discuss different conceptual positions concerning dyslexia. It compares medical notions of dyslexia with perspectives from childhood and disability studies to question the ways in…

Aim: Understand the social representations of disability in the school context. Methodology: Purpose-built questionnaire with open answers, consisting of 10 questions, was used. Results: (1) The operators interviewed undoubtedly framed the disabled student in a non-medicalization perspective, albeit with qualitative differences; (2) All teachers…