Educazione inclusiva e disabilità visiva: il cestino dei tesori nei servizi educativi per la prima infanzia

This paper proposes a reflection on the utility of the Basket of Treasures as a pedagogical tool for children in early childhood services. It seems highly inclusive because it is accessible to all children, including children with visual impairment, and promotes children’s autonomy and active participation. The space where the Basket of Treasures is situated is the heuristic play corner, that is a setting containing a lot of everyday objects. These include corks, ladles, ribbons, sponges, natural materials such as shells, pinecones, stones, etc. The objects are of different shapes, consistencies, colours, materials, and the child can explore them freely. This exploratory process, which uses the body as a cognitive device of the external world, is important for a child between 0 and 3 years. However, it becomes even more crucial for a child with visual disabilities of the same age. In fact, a child with a visual impairment requires even more sensory stimulation than a child without a visual impairment in order to exploit the vicarious senses and enable the construction of mental images of reality. This play space has potentially a deep educational value as it offers the child the opportunity to experience contact with a variety of different materials and to interact with them by experimenting with new combinations. The child is able to independently select the objects with which to interact, choosing those that most attract their interest and devoting as much time to them as they deem necessary. This enables the development of the ability to analyse and concentrate, which is particularly necessary for the visually impaired child in their process of learning about the world.