Academic position
From 1 September 2023: Research Fellow on a project entitled “Visual impairment, books and tactile pathways”, supervised by Prof. Valeria Friso.
Education
2014: PhD in Pedagogical, Educational and Training Sciences, Single-Cycle Programme XXIII at the University of Padua with a research project entitled “Reading a TIB (Tactile Illustrated Book) as a context for children with visual impairments to ask questions. An exploratory study” (grade: excellent)
2006: Single-cycle Master’s degree in Educational Sciences, specialising in Educational Processes, at the University of Padua (grade: 110/110 with Distinction)
Academic career
2022/2023 Appointment as Subject Specialist in Special Education for Inclusion, SSd M-PED/03, University of Bologna _ Department of Educational Sciences G. M. Bertin
2021/2022 Appointed Subject Expert in Italian Linguistics and Literature, SSd M-FIL-LET/10, University of Padua _ Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Pedagogy and Applied Psychology
2006/2007 Appointed as Subject Specialist in Teaching and Special Education, SSd M-PED/03, University of Padua _ Bachelor’s Degree Programme in Primary Education
University teaching activities in SSd M-PED/03
2014–2025 Adjunct Lecturer _ Teaching Special Education and Learning for Sensory Disabilities – Visual Impairment within the Specialisation Course for Support Activities, University of Padua
2021–2023 Adjunct Lecturer _ Teaching of Didactics and Pedagogy for Inclusion on the Master’s Degree Programme in Primary Education, University of Padua
Coordinating Tutor (from 1999 to 2007, in 2014, from 2021 to 2023) and Organiser (from 2016 to 2019) on the Single-Cycle Master’s Degree Course in Primary Education, University of Padua.
Teaching support activities (workshops)
University of Padua: teaching support activities from the 1999/2000 academic year to the present in Advanced Training Courses (PAS_Special Qualification Pathways for Upper Secondary School Teachers, Special Qualification Courses for Nursery and Primary School Teachers), Specialisation courses (additional course for support activities for pupils with disabilities, specialisation course for support activities), Master’s degrees (Master’s in Teaching and Psychopedagogy for Specific Learning Disorders – SLD), First and second-cycle degrees (Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Sciences, Bachelor’s Degree in Educational and Training Sciences, Distance Learning Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood and Pre-adolescent Education, Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education)
University of Bologna: teaching support activities in the academic years 2016/2017 and 2024/2025 on the Specialisation Course for Support Activities
University of Ferrara: teaching support activities in the academic years 2020/2021 to 2022/2023 on the Specialisation Course for Support Activities
Other Organisations: Autonomous Province of Trento, SPES_Educational and Social Services for Individuals in Padua, Regional School Authority of Veneto, Comprehensive Schools in the Provinces of Padua, Venice and Treviso.
Research activities
Contact person for the Robert Hollman Foundation regarding the Erasmus+ project “Flex Picture Ebook” (2022–2025), aimed at testing an EPUB (a digital book fully adaptable to all children, including those with visual impairments, in both text and images). European partners: Austria, Italy, France and Lithuania
Member of the research group linked to the “Sensoriabile anch’io” project, which involved collaboration between the University and the Municipality of Padua, the Robert Hollman Foundation, ANIOMAP (National Association of Instructors for Orientation, Mobility and Personal Autonomy) and UICI (Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired) to promote a more sensitive and welcoming culture towards people with visual impairments within the city of Padua through the identification and implementation of relational and environmental adaptations (November 2023 to January 2025).
Tactile imagery consultant for the museum guides “Ravenna per mano”, produced through a collaboration between the Municipality of Ravenna, the Ravennantica Foundation, the Robert Hollman Foundation and the “G. M. Bertin” Department of Education Sciences at the University of Bologna, June–December 2019.
Membership of scientific and editorial committees
Member of SIPeS (Italian Society of Special Education) since 2008
Member of the Executive Committee of SIPeS (Italian Society of Special Education) for the three-year period 2017–2020.
Referee for the Italian Journal of Special Education for Inclusion in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025.
Member of the Scientific Committee for National SIPeS Conferences (Cagliari, 2018), International Conferences (Macerata, 2019) and the Autumn School (Bergamo, 2018).
Awards and recognitions
SIPeS Award 2022 “Good practices: a workshop of inclusive experiences and practices” for a practice entitled “Spaces and pages that include: a park, a book”, relating to the creation of Padua’s first Inclusive Municipal Park, with Maria Eleonora Reffo (Director of the Robert Hollman Foundation, Padua).
Other activities
Vice-Chair of the Jury for the National Tactile Publishing Competition “Tocca a te” in the 7th (Bologna, 2023) and 6th (Rome, 2021) editions. Member of the Senior Jury in the 5th (Milan, 2019) and 4th (Assisi, 2017) editions.
Member of the Jury for the Editabilità 2022 Award, established by the Robert Hollman Foundation alongside the “Typhlo & Tactus” International Tactile Illustrated Book Competition held in Padua in 2022, to identify the TIB with the characteristics most conducive to reproducibility.
Co-creator and facilitator of the training course for nursery and primary school teachers entitled “We think, we build, we play… Together. The Park for Everyone” on the themes of disability and accessibility, promoted by the Hollman Foundation – Padua branch and the Municipality of Padua, 20 and 27 September 2018, 4 October 2018.
