I am twenty-four students with DSA in the third year of middle school who will take the state exams in these days after following the experimental project launched by the Municipality and the Albatros cooperative. The project, aimed at supporting pupils with specific learning disabilities in eighth grade in preparation for the licensing exam, is financed with the contributions of the Let’s Together 2023 call from the Lombardy Region. From the second half of April, the twenty-four pupils chosen, as most in need of support among the 72 with DSA (dyslexia, dysorthographia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia) reported by the head teachers of the four comprehensive institutes of Legnano, followed laboratory activities, for a total of 24 hours, supporting the writing and preparation of the final essay and the interview.
The project accompanied students with DSA through a personalized study plan also thanks touse of compensatory software. The Albatros cooperative, in fact, has made use of in laboratory activity, as well as specifically trained operators, of E-PICO!, a program that helps children with difficulties in reading and understanding the text, writing and organization of study to study, learn and do homework independently, and of SupermappeEvo, the program for create organized and tidy multimedia concept maps and present them on paper, on the screen or touch screen and on IWB whiteboards.
«Specific learning disabilities are a phenomenon that the world of schools, for several years now, has been facing with growing commitment, with a view to ever-increasing inclusion of all young people – notes Ilaria Maffei, councilor for the inclusive community. Often, in fact, specific learning disabilities, if not addressed promptly, can lead to educational failure, create low esteem and, therefore, cause school dropout. In this sense, having supported the students who are taking the eighth grade exam with a specific project, even if experimental and open to a limited number of places, is an important signal: we need to include all the kids, each with their own specificities , in the conditions to express themselves at their best at school in order to then be able to express themselves at their best in subsequent studies and in the activities that await them once they have finished their school career. I must remember that, as part of the “School becomes City” project, we planned to strengthen this type of offer by reinforcing what schools already do for pupils and students who have special needs”.
It should be remembered that, based on MIUR data which refer to April 2020, on a national basis the percentage of pupils with specific learning disabilities was at 7%.
