In compliance with current legislation, the Rossini Conservatory promotes the inclusion of students with disabilities and learning disorders (DSA) in its educational programmes (preparatory courses, first- and second cycle academic programmes), ensuring that all students can effectively participate in lessons and be assessed with appropriate tools during examinations.
Legislation
The law guarantees the right to education for students with disabilities and learning disorders (DSA) up to the highest levels of education, including universities and Higher Artistic and Musical Education Institutions (AFAM), and ensures individualized and personalized teaching that provides equal opportunities and supports the development of each student’s abilities.
Disabilities: The reference legislation is Law No. 104/1992, as amended and integrated by Law No. 17/1999, which establishes accessibility to facilities, certain financial benefits, and the right to use specific technical and educational aids.
Learning Disorders (DSA): The reference legislation is Law No. 170/2020, specifically aimed at protecting students with Specific Learning Disorders. The subsequent Ministerial Decree No. 5669 and its attached guidelines outline the compensatory tools and dispensatory measures most useful for facilitating learning, study, and exams.
On 25 January 2024, the National Conference of AFAM Institution Directors unanimously approved guidelines for students with disabilities and DSA.
Entrance Exams
Ministerial Decree D.M. 477/2017 and subsequent guidelines define the procedures for admission tests for degree programmes (and, by extension, AFAM academic courses) and the accommodations granted to candidates with disabilities or DSA:
- Dedicated rooms providing suitable conditions for the exam and allowing extra time for eligible candidates.
- Additional time for the exam: up to 50% extra for students with disabilities (upon specific request); 30% extra for students with DSA (automatically granted).
- Other necessary compensatory tools based on the specific condition.
Allowed compensatory tools according to the legislation: non-scientific calculator, video magnifier, assistance from a tutor (human reader).
Not allowed compensatory tools: dictionary, formula sheet, periodic table, concept map, personal computer, tablet, smartphone, smartwatch.
Foreign candidates with disabilities or DSA who wish to use these accommodations must provide certification issued in their country of residence, accompanied by a sworn translation in Italian or English confirming a disability or DSA recognized under Italian law.
Lessons
Students with disabilities are entitled to:
- Specific technical and educational aids, also provided through agreements with specialized centres
- Specialized tutoring
Students with DSA can use certain legal accommodations during lessons, which facilitate skills rather than content; learning objectives remain the same as for non-DSA students.
- Compensatory tools are educational and technological instruments that replace or facilitate the skill that is impaired, such as tables, concept maps, word processors with spellcheck and voice synthesis, and recorders.
- Dispensatory measures allow students to skip certain tasks that are particularly difficult due to their disorder but do not affect learning, e.g., avoiding reading long passages.
Ministerial Directive 27.12.2012 includes within BES (Special Educational Needs) all students with difficulties, including those that cannot be formally certified, extending to them — for the purposes of broader inclusion — the right to personalised learning and to the use of compensatory tools and dispensatory measures provided for DSA (Specific Learning Disorders).
Exams
Students with disabilities are entitled to:
- Equivalent tests
- Extended time for written exams
- Assistants for autonomy and communication
- Necessary aids
- Specific technical tools according to the type of disability
Students with DSA are entitled to:
- Oral exams instead of written exams
- Up to 30% extra time or quantitative reduction
- Evaluation focused on content rather than form
- Personal computer with spellchecker and voice synthesis
For AFAM institutions, the MIUR allows exams to be held in two separate sessions, using score sheets and computers with music writing software (Prot. 2623/2011).
Since DSA characteristics vary greatly among individuals, students should coordinate with their teacher well in advance to agree on the most appropriate exam format based on their abilities.
- The teacher communicates to the Examination Committee which legal accommodations the student will use.
- The Committee records in the exam minutes which accommodations were used by the student.
Frequently Asked Questions
Access to legal accommodations is subject to submitting your certification to the Student Academic Office, which will file it in the student’s personal record and notify the Director’s Delegate.
A DSA diagnosis obtained during developmental age is valid if issued by the National Health Service (SSN) or another accredited institution and if no more than three years have passed since the date of issue. Although a DSA is a chronic neurobiological condition and does not expire, the functional profile must be updated every three years for minor students; for adult students, there is no obligation to update it.
The Director’s Delegate serves as a guide, support, and mediator for students, faculty, and families. They provide information on the legal accommodations available during the educational programme and exams and can work with students and teachers to determine the most suitable arrangements for assessments and exams.
The Delegate also monitors agreements with specialized centers that provide pedagogical consultancy and produce or adapt specific educational materials.
Contact:
Director’s Delegate for Disabilities and DSA: Prof. Pietro Diambrini – Email:
p.diambrini@conservatoriorossini.it
