EVERYONE BELONGS: SCHOOL INCLUSION
AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
IN ITALY

Carol Berrigan and Dennis Taylor

Background: Inclusion in Italy

What influenced people to begin total inclusion without the intermediate stages endemic to other nations? Prior to the establishment of Italy's National Law 118 in 1971, which mandated the right of compulsory education for children with disabilities in regular classes of public schools, inclusion of all children was already beginning in some areas of Italy.

Leaders of the movement that welcomed all students to regular public education in Italy cite four elements that emerged as critical to the movement's success: (1) support teams (operatori sociali) for the classroom teachers comprised of special education teachers (sostegni), physicians, psychologists, social workers, nurses, speech and physical therapists; (2) sharing of responsibility by parents, teachers, medical personnel, and community, forging an effective coalition to create an alternative to the traditional medical model for children with disabilities; (3) educating the public, using various media and public meetings; and (4) the presence of charismatic leaders early on, such as Dr. Franco Basaglia and Dr. Adriano Milani Comparetti. Their passionate concern was the right of every human being to full participation in society. They saw limitless benefits for all children, nondisabled and disabled, to learn together. They saw the segregated individual's potential destroyed. They acted on these convictions by closing institutions and joining parents to present their children in the neighborhood school. In 1984, Dr. Adriano Milani Comparetti stated, "When we began in the late sixties we found that the best approach to acceptance was to have students appear at their neighborhood schools. We found that attitude changes were made in response to concrete happenings, not to abstract concepts."

Two decades ago, the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), headquartered in Paris, cited Italy as the most advanced country among its member nations in its policy to include all children with disabilities in regular public schools. An OECD publication (1994) stated:

Integration in Italy consists in placing virtually all children in ordinary classes, and results in the presence in mainstream schools of multi-handicapped or severely handicapped children who would be placed in special schools in any other country. These children are physically integrated in the ordinary classroom, and work with the class teachers and/or the support teacher. The support teacher works in the classroom, and rather than take the child individually, teaches the disabled child as part of a small group. Such a group may be taught interchangeably by the support teachers or the class teacher, and this is meant to avoid isolating or in any way stigmatizing the disabled child who is receiving special education provisions.

The Italy model is described in the OECD publication as having the primary focus of attention on a "search for better interpersonal interaction," one with the closest links to past and present experiences of the person, rather than having the primary focus on better equipment. Professor Andrea Canevaro, University of Bologna, writes that a child with a disability,

is not respected if he is simply left to live with his handicap as best he can, but neither is he respected if the fact that he is handicapped is denied. If, on the other hand, his identity and his originality...which includes his handicap...are encouraged to assert themselves and to increase, he is being respected. This is active, realistic consideration, in regard to both his situation and his relationships (Canevaro, 1984).

Inclusion and Friendship

Support for friendships in young people of all levels of ability, and the nurtured natural development of positive relationships, is a keystone of Italian educational philosophy. Cooperative and collaborative teaching models encourage possible social exchanges between individuals of diverse abilities on a regular basis. An important piece of this philosophy is the respect for the integrity of the neighborhood's school and the diversity contained within as a basis for community, friendships, and social relationships.

We have moved slowly in the United States. We have pockets of exemplary inclusive education, but nationwide the struggle has not abated. Celebrated litigation, case by case, establishes precedents. What a travesty that our national law has to be litigated in school district after school district because parents want an inclusive setting for their children! Over and over again they have had to battle for the rights of their children. It is commonplace in the United States for school districts to reject regular placement of students with significant disabilities. It is commonplace in Italy that students with significant disabilities go to regular classes of their neighborhood schools.

Current research in educational policy for individuals with disabilities is examining the social relationships individuals have, particularly the types, nature, and quality of friendships they experience. It is clear that substantive friendships lend meaning, self-esteem, structure, and support to the lives of everyone. Full inclusion is clearly fundamental to the achievement of positive relationships in Italy, and indeed, everywhere.

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