One of the primary objectives of the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) is to bring science and the study of the ocean closer to all kinds of people, especially Chilean students, making them aware of the importance of the sea. This is why, through its Outreach team, IMO carries out a number of activities particularly focusing on the school community.

In this context, the monitors who conduct these activities have found many times that they need to interact with children with special educational needs, but also realized that they lack the tools necessary to do so. Therefore, IMO decided to organize “Approaching Inclusion”, a training activity seeking to provide monitors with tools that will make them more effective as they help all kinds of children.

Special education teacher Marcela Medina was in charge of this event and highlighted the necessity of working hard to create more inclusive environments. “There are many wrong ideas about disability and special educational needs. What really helps to advance towards inclusion is talking and teaching about these things.”

For Medina, the fact that the scientific community is interested in bringing its work closer to all children without distinction of any kind is important because “very often we tend to exclude some people, especially those with intellectual disabilities, when we deal with these subjects. So, when you bring this knowledge closer to them, that helps them integrate into a common environment with their peers, which is important and valuable.”

She also emphasized that providing everybody without distinction with information is essential. “They shouldn’t be considered as different. What we seek is for society to accept that we are all different, that we all have different characteristics, but that we all belong to the same group. They are part of what we are.”

IMO’s Outreach deputy director Bárbara Léniz stressed that these events are needed according to their experience. “During these years, sometimes we have had to interact with students with special educational needs, and we have noticed that it’s very important not only to include them in our activities, but also to have some basic knowledge about disabilities, how to interact with people with disabilities and also about special educational needs. Without this information it’s difficult to carry out activities that favor inclusion.”

Léniz added that it is essential to make an effort to teach all kinds of children about science. “Science belongs to everybody, we all should have the same opportunities to discover science and learn about it. This is a first step in that direction, but we still have a lot to learn and put into practice. We hope that our activities will become more and more focused on diversity.”