Maria Elisabetta Ricci

Working with Parents to Support Their Disabled Children’s Social and School Inclusion: An Exploratory Counseling Study

This article synthesizes the long-lasting counseling process of a family with a child suffering from a chronic illness. The provided intervention model draws on a series of principles from various theoretical approaches, namely systemic, psychodynamic, and resiliency. Family functioning and support is considered a catalytic parameter in assisting children with disabilities to fully develop their potential. This project is based on a family and child-centered integrative counseling model adopting the nonmedical conception of disability. Through the presentation of a case study of a couple who faced a critical situation in the life of their child, this article briefly describes the way the family dynamics were readdressed through this intervention counseling model. In addition, this work attempts to give a picture of the complex and confusing emotional states parents may go through when dealing with physical and psychological health-threatening situations and present guidelines for integrated counseling models.

Promoting the development of children with disabilities through school inclusion: clinical psychology in supporting teachers in Mozambique

This article presents an intervention study developed within an international cooperation program, and aimed at promoting the school inclusion of children with disabilities in Mozambique. To avoid the risk of exporting models from a local context to another, and in order to favour a sustainable social change, a participatory and ecological framework was adopted. The main aim of the Participatory Action Research (PAR) carried out was to explore teachers’ views and beliefs concerning disability and inclusion, and determine best practices to fully include students with disabilities. The paper illustrates the overall outcomes of a participatory research development process, and the results achieved in each phase. The final purpose is to increase the knowledge on school inclusion of children with disabilities in the Global South. Potentials and challenges of using clinical psychological, ecological and collaborative paradigms to address issues concerning health promotion and development of children with disabilities and local development are also discussed.

Inclusion in Mozambique: a case study on a cooperative learning intervention / La inclusión en Mozambique: un estudio de casos sobre una intervención de aprendizaje cooperativo

Abstract Illiteracy is one of the main obstacles preventing a country from overcoming poverty. The Mozambican government’s recent efforts aim to guarantee education for all its citizens, including those with disabilities, in order to reach both cognitive and social skills which maximize their growth and development. This paper offers a complex analysis of a case study dealing with an intervention based on a cooperative learning approach for the inclusion of students with special education needs (SEN) in a class of a secondary high school in Maputo city. A clinical and qualitative perspective is adopted in reporting the data, attempting to analyse the organizational, psychosocial, relational and emotional dimensions. Some reflections are provided which refer to key factors which could affect the sustainability of good inclusive practices over time.