Between September 4 and 5, 2025, Dr. Judit Gombás (GYMRI) visited the University of Bologna.

On September 4-5, 2025, I visited the historic University of Bologna as part of the Erasmus+ non-educational mobility program. For decades, Italy has been striving, with varying degrees of success, to achieve inclusive education for students with disabilities. As a result, there are very few places available for students with disabilities in a handful of special schools. During my visit, I wanted to find out what my Italian colleagues know about the education of visually impaired students in mainstream institutions, which we may not yet know due to our shorter history of inclusive education. I learned that in Italy, the quality and quantity of assistance varies significantly depending on whether you are in the north or south, and whether you are in an urban or rural school. What differs from the opportunities available in Hungary is the amount of tactile illustrative materials that can be requested from civil organizations and the Italian Union of the Blind. For example, there is a tactile biology album.

One of the main research areas of my colleague in Bologna, Dr. Valeria Friso, is the creation of tactile books. She showed me several such volumes, and we also visited the Istituto Cavazza. This is a methodological center for visually impaired young people in the Bologna area, where we were able to see more tactile illustrations and 3D models.
In Italy, special education teacher training lasts only one year, and applicants must have a master's degree in education. Prospective professionals learn about all types of disabilities, but one year is obviously only enough to cover the basics—at least compared to our four-year program. I learned that only a fraction of special education teachers are familiar with braille.

At the university, I met several of Dr. Friso's doctoral students who are also conducting research in the field of high-quality production and use of tactile illustrations and books. The university is open to Hungarian professionals, although the English-speaking audience is quite limited. During my mobility, I learned most about the basic principles and methods of producing tactile books and illustrations—knowledge of this subject is still very limited in Hungary.