Vittore Mariani is a pedagogue who currently serves as supervisor for disability services in Northern Italy and Switzerland for both Don Orione's Works and Don Guannella's Works. He collaborates with the Center for Studies and Research on Social Distress and Maladjustment at the Catholic University of Milan and chairs the ANPE (National Association of Pedagogues). We are already familiar with his two earlier works from the early 1990s: The Adult with Mental Handicap (Elle Di Ci, Leuman, Turin) and Sexual Education for People with Handicaps (Elle Di Ci).
Both books presented here grow out of deep expertise, long experience in residential care centers, and admirable sensitivity.
In the first book (The Individualized Educational Rehabilitation Plan for Adults with Mental Disabilities), Mariani focuses on the PEI—the Individualized Educational Rehabilitation Plan. This is a tool that sharpens attention and intervention on behalf of the people served, even in settings where adults with severe mental disabilities are accompanied through their life journey. The individualized plan rests on three foundations: educational objectives, the means of relationship and intervention, and resulting activities. The author gives particular weight to the team of caregivers and to the educational relationship itself—how confirming another person, offering steady support and appreciation, and trusting in their capacity to grow helps them discover their own potential and express the best in themselves. The second half presents and comments on several useful working templates.
In the second book (Programming and Operational Projects in Settings for Adults with Mental Disabilities), Mariani explores two essential tools of the work: the educational project and programming itself. The first asks three questions: Who are we? Whom do we serve? What are our goals? He never loses sight of the ultimate aim—"the cultivation of the whole person, a true concern for the person, which should always remain the backdrop to any proposal, however specific its objectives, lest the intervention become reductive." Programming identifies the means to reach the goals set by the educational project. Again, theory is grounded in concrete examples drawn from various initiatives.
These books, written for supervisors, educators, and caregivers, offer practical support to parents and friends of people facing such challenges. We warmly recommend them to our readers.
- Natalia Livi, 2001
Documentation
In January, as it does each year, the Educational Consultation Service of Trento published the 24th volume of the Italian Bibliography on Hearing, Vision, and Language Disorders (2001), compiled by S. Lagati. Running to 128 pages, the volume contains more than 700 bibliographic entries—books, journal articles—on the topics named in the title. But the scope widens to touch other types of disability: educational challenges, mental retardation, various forms of therapy, school and social integration, family life, religious education, conferences, associations, and more.
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