Since 2015, the ITE has been working in research through projects with other academic and research institutions, documenting its methodological and practical advances, aspiring to obtain recognition as a Research Group by Colciencias. In recent years, and with the support of other recognized research groups and related institutions, it was possible to work on a structured process that allowed ITE initiatives to be presented as innovative products in the field of intellectual disability.
According to the leader of the research group, “We began to document all the projects and initiatives that had been carried out. Because on many occasions, the wonderful things that were done were left as initiatives, within the different modalities and in practice, but they were not documented or categorized, something that we need to do if we eventually want to be a Research Center”.
In October 2017, the Tobías Emanuel Inclusion, Diversity and Disability Research Group received recognition from Colciencias for its work in structuring innovative products that transform reality. The group is made up of 4 professionals responsible for various areas within the organization and led by Neuropsychologist Juliana Rosado Uribe.
The Neuropsychologist adds ¨More than staying in theory as an institution, we have to put it into practice. Within practice, we are transforming reality, that innovation in process is for example: multisensory classrooms with a series of activities is a new process based on practical experience that is a valuable product, it is not only a theoretical chapter but a reality. Our strength is these types of products more than academic production as such”.
There were 7 products of social appropriation and 4 of innovation that were presented for the measurement of the group, among other series of requirements that Colciencias requires for recognition. Most of these products are the institution’s working tools and are part of the daily actions of inclusion, stimulation, support and accompaniment of the population with intellectual disabilities that the Tobías Emanuel serves.
The recognition of a research group by Colciencias allows organizations to access funding resources through calls made by the same entity and other public entities that promote research within institutions, grant national and international recognition through the support It is facilitated in relation to other national research structures and insertion in international research networks and allows institutions to also obtain positive indicators in High Quality evaluation processes of the National Accreditation Council (CNA).
Regarding the score obtained in the measurement and the future of the Group within the institution Rosado delimits “We obtained a high score in recognition and we were close to category C. The categorization is something that we must formalize during the next two years (…) What we want in the future is to create that research culture, that the ITE research area is a support for teachers and their innovative ideas, so that they transcend ”.
Recognized Innovation Products
Multisensory classrooms
They are spaces of innovation in which multisensory stimulation is advanced through lights, sounds, textures, images through different work tools. During the activities carried out in these spaces, professionals must measure young people’s responses to stimuli. Multisensory classrooms allow sensory stimulation and facilitate the inclusion process of boys, girls, youth and adults with greater motor and cognitive commitment who are part of the internship modality in the different intramural contexts for their quality of life.
ABCD Literacy Methodology
The abcdespañol model was created in 1982 and articulated by the ITE in early 2015 when it was observed that there was a significant difficulty on the part of the beneficiaries of the Program of Supports for Independent Living, in reading and writing with traditional methods.
The pilot test of the same began in March 2015 with a group of 12 children and adolescents, who presented mostly basic notions of writing (scribble-pre-syllabic) and history of school failure in regular school. The favorable results of this methodology have made it evolve, consolidate and strengthen itself since then as part of the institution’s model of social inclusion.
Home with support
They are home spaces created for the beneficiaries of the boarding school in which each of them has a role and is trained and accompanied according to the routines they must have regarding their care, that of their peers and that of their space at home. Part of a model for the development of autonomy and for the projection of the performance of boys, girls,
adolescents and over 18 years as subjects of law, with duties and responsibilities. This model breaks the paradigm of traditional boarding school with confined spaces and a healthcare approach and leads it to make adjustments at the infrastructure level, form multidisciplinary teams and design a support system taking the individual, in order to develop and strengthen their maximum potential, provide dignified, warm spaces with a greater sense of home; and most importantly to leave the assistance, to promote autonomy and independence.
The Casa Hogar with the support of Tobías Emanuel links both men and women, a total of 48 beneficiaries aged between 7 and 40 years approximately. With levels of functionality Mild and moderate disability, some with physical disabilities. Home users also participate in processes within the institute such as the externship program “Support for Independent Living and Social Inclusion”, vocational workshops and extramural activities.
Hypatia Classroom, Interactive and Literacy Classroom
It fosters non-formal pedagogical strategies to raise the level of literacy in Spanish, numerical, science and technology, as well as learning to solve everyday problems. The teachers in this classroom carry out a work of accompaniment and direction encouraging the spirit of investigation and autonomy in the subjects.
The Hypatia Classroom has two different but interrelated spaces, on the one hand is the interactive classroom equipped with a group of networked computers to enable information, training and communicative interaction activities. It is articulated with the training programs and their purposes for work and human development and, in turn, promotes the development of basic knowledge of a computer culture: internet, chats, blogs, attaching documents; presentation design such as powert-point, presentation and systematization of data in Excel, knowledge of Word and its tools, access to literary texts and interactive literary classrooms available on the web, cinema, etc.
It also has a reading and literacy room, which simultaneously serves as a library, an audio and video room, a reading corner and text production.