THE SCHOOL
A particular reference for the association is the experimentation-school in Cossato: it’s all about a state school; nursery, primary and secondary classes, where an experimental program is being carried out, authorised by the Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione (ministry of public education) for the first time by decree on the 18th. of April 1996, which foresees the integration of deaf children in the “normal” school (groups with various deaf children together with hearing children) along with the realisation of bilingualism.
This project considers the deaf as a linguistic minority, with their own language and their own culture; it therefore foresees the co-existence of deaf and hearing students, to retrieve the possible residuals and impede that the sensory handicap be transformed into an intellectual one.
The children, deaf and hearing, who attend the experimental school in Cossato have the opportunity to be in daily contact with the LIS (Italian sign language) used by the interpreters, by the LIS teacher and, even if in an approximate manner, by the school teachers, permitting a natural and gradual and correct learning of the LIS.
The primary objective the school proposes is equal opportunities, for deaf and hearing children, learning and acquisition of knowledge, abilities, competence concerning autonomy, socialisation as well as cognitive and psychomotoric evolution; this objective may be carried out only by offering the deaf children the equivalent information of that offered to the hearing ones.
The LIS permits the passage of the necessary information in order to reach the above mentioned targets.
The experimental project, which started in the academic year 1994/1995 with 4 deaf girls, has in the year 2007/2008 24 deaf children and youths, coming form not only the Biella area but from numerous regions throughout Italy.
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