Students with Special Educational Needs at University: autobiographical narration and self-functioning in the inclusive perspective

Abstract

The university period can be analyzed as the intersection point between adolescence and the adult: the young adult is called out to confront with their goals, motivations, values and interests that will orient future choices. The presence of a disability or Specific Learning Disorder can have an important influence on self construction, with consequences on its growth and adaptive results.
A student in these situations can struggle with failure experiences that may occur within the social and educational context and develop an image in terms of inability and inadequacy, which can result in a lack of security, low self-esteem can drag along the whole life. According to the narrative approach which this research project is based on, self-narrative can be a key for developing and
maintaining the sense of identity, allowing the person to give meaning to his own experiences of transition. The narrative rebuilding of the Self allows the subject to seek balance and better focus on his/her story, in equilibrium between agency aspects related to individual motivational factors and aspects of communion that relate to interpersonal motivational traits. Consistent with the
preconditions the following research project aims to investigate the evolutionary needs of the population examined through a semi-structured interview that detects narrative identity, investigating the process of building self into the young adult by evaluating the students’ profiles in terms of self-esteem, autonomy, self-awareness and resilience.