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Introduction
According to the research carried out by Dr. Jaime Caiceo Escudero, between the decades of the seventies and eighties from the last century, special education needs registered a significant growth in Chile, due to, the different researches that have been carried out in the area, and especially in learning disorders. This explains why different schools for special needs have emerged and it also explain why higher education has been concerned with training specialists in this type of education. However, this type of education has more than a century and a half of history.
In this work is being described and analyzed the importance of the studies in that period of time, in which there was participation of well- known people from Chile and abroad, that will begin an educational development in its different fields and levels. The importance of special education will be demonstrated because people with disabilities, will begin to be recognized by society, looking for strategies to promote this type of education and to train teachers who can specialize professionally in this field, with the purpose of delivering knowledge, but above all to achieve a better quality of life for students with disabilities; lately in the country there have been educational reforms that have promoted integration and inclusion- creating the School Integration Program- making the difference between children with Temporary Special Educational Needs and Permanent Special Educational Needs, in all this has meant a notable progress.
In this research it can be observed the development of the active school, especially people like María Montessori and Oviedo Decroly, highlighting their contributions to special education in Chile. The progress of this type of education will be demonstrated, through the analysis of Doctor Caiceo's thoughts concerning to the subject and its progress.
This work is the result of a research carried out at Universidad Mayor and the methodology used in this study is the result of historical studies, using primary and secondary sources. (Articles published in magazines and interviews to the investigator Jaime Caiceo Escudero) (CAICEO, 1988a; 1988b; 2005; 2008; 2009; 2010a; 2010b; 2011, 2018).
1. Disability. Definitions around the concept
There are several definitions of special education needs, and to understand a little more it is important to specify the concept according to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO): "Teaching for children and young people who have learning difficulties, because they suffer from any deficiency (blindness, amblyopes, deafness, mentally retarded, slow learners, physical limitations) or several deficiencies combined"(MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN DE CHILE, 1975, p.20 in CAICEO, 2010a, pp. 32-33). In 1975, the Chilean Ministry of Education indicated that this kind of education:
... It constitutes a system of technical-administrative, financial, material and human elements, meant to the comprehensive development as a human being, of those persons that due to some global or specific deficit, socio cultural environment, sensory or motor problem, cannot achieve their harmonious and complete development through the common general education system (MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN DE CHILE, 1975, p. 19 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 33).
The Ministry of Education points out that according to the International Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled, there are six different types of people with disabilities that are assisted by special education. They are:
1. Mental deficits: it concerns to people with intellectual deficits at trainable levels (moderate or mild deficit); 2. Sensory impairments: human beings with hearing impairment (deaf hearing impaired) or visually impaired (blind, amblyopic); 3. Impaired motor function: people with impairment of the central nervous system (cerebral paralytic) or physical handicap (disabled); 4 people that suffers from impaired speech or language (speech disturbances) (aphasia, dysarthria, and others) or peripheral disabilities (dyslalias, rhinolalias and others); 5. People with specific learning disabilities; people dealing with reading and math skills calculation learning, (dyslexia dysorthography, dysgraphia, dyscalculia); 6. Some cases of irregular social behavior: They are people with behavior alterations of various etiologies (MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN DE CHILE, 1975, p. 25 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 33).
To understand the several meanings that have existed throughout history about people with disabilities, it is important to have in mind certain concepts on this matter.
According to the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) in 1980, disability is being defined as "a restriction or absence (due to a deficiency) of the ability of performing an activity in the way or inside the margin considered normal for any person" (EGEA y SARABIA, 2001 in CSASZAR, ORTEGA y RODRÍGUEZ, 2013, p. 49).
Later in the year 2001 emerges the international classification of functioning, disability and health. (ICF) which aims at "to provide a standardized and unified language that it serves as a point of reference for describing health and health-related conditions" (OMS en EGEA y SARABIA, 2001 in CSASZAR, ORTEGA y RODRÍGUEZ, 2013, p. 49).
Among the definitions stated by the classifiers mentioned above, more than two decades have passed, so it is possible to learn there wasn’t a significant progress concerning the meaning and understanding of disability, even though the concepts of inclusion and social model of understanding of disability are mentioned on several occasions, there isn't a clear contextualization or any changes in the work of the society towards people with disability.
In Chile, through the Law 19.284 (1994) dedicated to the full integration of disabled persons into society, a National Disability Fund was created -FONADIS-, aiming to provide resources and to support people with disabilities in the country. On the other hand, in 2006 the concept of disability was expressly understood by the National Disability Fund, considering the given definitions given by, the World Health Organization and by author Miguel Ángel Verdugo. The World Health Organization (WHO), defined disability in the 90's, as: "... consequence from the interaction of a disabled person's impairment and the environmental variables that include the physical environment, social situations and resources" (ZONDEKet al., 2006, p.11 in CSASZAR, ORTEGA y RODRÍGUEZ, 2013, p. 50).
According to FONADIS, there are different types of disabilities: mild, moderate and severe. Mild disability consists of "those people who present some difficulties in carrying out activities of daily living"; Moderate disability consist of: "Are those that who have a significant deficit or incapacity to develop their abilities or to perform most activities of daily life, they even require support in basic self-care work and they overcome with difficulty only some obstacles of the environment" and a severe disability: "are the ones who are severely hindered or unable to perform their daily activities, they require support or care of a third person and they fail to overcome the barriers of the environment or they do it so with great difficulty" (ZONDEK et al., 2006, p.14 in CSASZAR, ORTEGA y RODRÍGUEZ, 2013, p. 50).
It is necessary to underline that the National Disability Fund -FONADIS- in Chile turns into the National Disability Service -SENADIS- by mandate of Law N° 20.422 (2010) which establishes regulations of equal opportunities and social inclusion of persons with disability. Article N° 1, states the objective of the law mentioned above: "The purpose of this law is to guarantee the right to equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, in order to assure their full social inclusion, ensuring the enjoyment of their rights and eliminating any form of discrimination based on disability".
In the Report made by the World Health Organization in conjunction with the World Bank in 2011, it states that:
Around the world, persons with disabilities have poorer health outcomes, poorer academic outcomes, lower economic participation and higher poverty rates than persons without disabilities. In part, this is a consequence of obstacles for people with disabilities to have access to services that many of us consider obvious, including health, education, employment, transport or information. These difficulties are exacerbated in disadvantaged communities. To achieve the best and most durable development prospects, which are at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and beyond, we must empower people living with a disability and eliminate obstacles that prevent them from participating in communities, receiving quality education, find decent work and get their voices heard (WHO-WB, 2011: w/p).
Accordingly, the Government of Chile has been working since the end of the last century to improve the lives of persons with disabilities with the above-mentioned legislation and the actions derived there from.
The above aspects have been noted to add to the period studied by Dr. Caiceo, specific situations and policies within each for special education needs in the last 40 years, both in Chile and worldwide. According to Doctor Caiceo’s research of, Special Education Needs has to date (2019) 167 years of history in Chile, which allows us to make a distribution between the different moments, which leads us to a classification of it. According to the compiled background of the investigations of Jaime Caiceo, it is possible to propose the following three periods between 1852 and 1980, period of time studied by him: (i) The period of emergence of special education needs (1852-1926), (ii) The period of development and the main precursors of special education needs (1927-1964) and (iii) Period of consolidation and major scientific achievements (1964-1980), the periods will be addressed in the following point.
2. Periods of Special Education Needs in Chile
2.1. The period of emergence of special education needs (1852-1926)
The milestone that is considered the beginning of Special Education in Chile is the foundation of the first school for deaf-mutes in Santiago on October 27, 1852; there people "were taught freely to 'read and write, dogma and religious morality and principles of Spanish grammar and arithmetic" (BOLETÍN DE LEYES, 1852: Libro XVIII, num. 10 in CAICEO, 2010a, p.35).
It should be noted that this event became normal in the development of education in Chile, because in the previous decade, three important institutions had been founded that were unique in the country’s educational history, because of the existence of a well-known group of Chilean and foreign personalities in the cultural field, welcoming by the authorities of the time, especially Manuel Montt, Minister of Justice, Cult and Public Instruction in the 1940s and subsequently President of Chile: The University of Chile in 1842, whose first Rector was Venezuelan Andrés Bello; the First School of Preceptors, whose first principal was the Argentinean Faustino Sarmiento; and the School of Arts and Crafts2 the principal was the French Pules Jaezar (CAICEO, 2009).
In 1854, a second school for deaf-mutes was established in Santiago, with free operation. In this school it is taught: "... reading, writing, Christian doctrine and morality, mental arithmetic, sewing, embroidery and other manual work adapted to the conditions of the students and whose exercise favors their learning" (BOLETÍN DE LEYES, 1854, Libro XX, num. 4 in CAICEO, 2010a, p, 35).
In 1875, two new schools for persons with special needs were founded in Santiago: one for teaching for blind persons and the other school for the deaf-mute people. (BOLETÍN DE LEYES, 1875: Libro XXII, tomo 1 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 35).
On the other hand, Caiceo adds a relevant fact, which is the foundation of the Teacher Training Institute for the Deaf- mute people; in this regard he points out:
[…] In Santiago, April 10, 1889, according to Decree of that day, in Art. 1° The Institute for the Deaf-Mute was created to educate the deaf-mute and to train teachers for special needs schools which it would be appropriate to establish in the Republic for the same purpose. And in the Article. 2°: The method of the articulated word and the labial reading will be adopted exclusively. The minimum system is prohibited and, as far as possible, the exercise of the auditory organ will be applied" (BOLETÍN DE LEYES, 1889: Tomo I, Primer Cuatrimestre in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 35).
In turn, it was added to the first deaf-mute school, the Blind Section, in 1900.
In the light of the background researched by Dr. Jaime Caiceo in this first period, special education focuses only on the foundation of schools for the deaf and the blind in Santiago and hints a concern about mental deficiency (CAICEO, 2010a, pp. 35-36).
2.2. The period of development and the main precursors of special education (1927-1964)
In 1927, special education was given importance for the first time, when in the Educational Reform Decree, "it is indicated that in addition to traditional schools, it is necessary to maintain 'schools-homes for indigent, weak and organically inferiority, abnormal or mentally retarded children' " (LEY 7.500, Art.17 in CAICEO, 1988a, p. 49).
In this period several educational units for people with special needs were created:
* Experimental Schools, standing out among them the Special Development School, established by Decree 5.881 of December 1928, which began to treat handicapped children.
* Schools for blind, deaf-mute and mental impaired people, was created according to Decree 00653 of 11 March 1929.
* A new School for people with special needs was created in Santiago, by Decree 4.259 of 31 October 1933, it was established a section dedicated to the education of mentally retarded children, with a boarding system. In this school stands out one of the main exponents of school for special needs in Chile during the twentieth century: Juan Sandoval Carrasco3, who was first assistant principal and subsequently became the principal of the school. Jean Cizaletti, who was a French psychologist, academic at the University of Chile refers to Juan Sandoval as the one "...He worked a lot in what is called therapeutic pedagogy, meaning, methods that could get the mentally deficient to reach their full potential from all points of view. A legacy that he left, indirectly, are the workshops of vocational training" (CIZALETTI, 1886 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 36). At the same Special School, a "behavioral clinic" was established by Decree 12.289 of 1946, providing "psycho-pedagogical care for mentally handicapped children, involving more the family" (CAICEO, 2010a, p. 36). This school was named in 1980, "School of Special Needs N° 2" and it was located in Larrain Street, in the Commune of la Reina; its director was the Professor Heriberto Castillo.
*By Decree 1.336 of 21 March 1944, a school for people with special needs was created on experimental basis, which will operate in the so-called Ciudad del Niño, in the Commune of San Miguel of Santiago. (CAICEO, 1988a, pp. 49-50).
According to Dr. Jaime Caiceo, in the fifties of the twentieth century, the Ministry of Education initiated a specific policy, with the goal of achieving greater coverage for the mentally handicapped persons, in order to improve this situation. This made it possible to set up a number of special needs schools in the capital:
In 1947, a Special needs School of Phoniatrics was founded (Decree 5.659); on 7 December 1949, it was also created the Institute of Therapeutic Pedagogy (Decree 10.968) with special attention to various disorders (Ministry of Education, 1975); on 5 June 1951, By Supreme Decree 3.871, the School for the Blind and Deaf Mutes was divided into two, both being transformed in 1969 into school for people with special needs (Decree 4,635); in 1953, the School for the Disabled was created (Decree 7.931) A Psychopedagogy Clinic (Decree 70) was established on 12 January 1955 to study and solve the problems of maladjustment of students in primary schools; in 1957 a joint team of specialists was formed, with representatives of the Neuropsychiatry Service of the Roberto del Río Hospital and the Psychopedagogical Clinic, by Dr. Ricardo Olea, with the purpose of studying and treatment of dyslexic children; the same year, the Psycho-pedagogical Clinic started a experimental treatment of a group of dyslexic persons at School N. 29 in the capital; on 27th July, of that year, by Decree 8,407 it was established a course for the deaf, annexed to the Carlos Van Buren Hospital in the city of Valparaiso, subordinated to the School of the Deaf in Santiago; in 1959, the school for special needs N.5, in partnership with Arriarán Hospital, created courses for dyslexic people with mild mental retardation; in 1961 the Leopoldo Donnebaum Foundation, directed by itself, began its activities, concerned about the education and rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped (especially for persons with intellectual disabilities), forming the next year the School of Recovery (El Niño Limitado, 1969, p. 7); the principal of the school was Juan Sandoval, who organized and directed the magazine El Niño Limitado. The Donnebaum Foundation operated until 1980 on the avenue of Pedro de Valdivia,N° 156, in the capital; in 1964 The National Association for Children and Mentally Handicapped Adults was implemented. (CAICEO, 2010a, p. 37).
It is important to emphasize that during this period, education for people with special needs -as mentioned above- begins to take place in hospitals, where schools for different special needs (as they are called today) were created, by forming teams of professionals (doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, etc.), those who are researching on experimental basis on how to deal adequately not only with children with physical problems (deaf, dumb and blind), but also for those with mental disabilities.
2.3. Period of consolidation and major scientific achievements (1964-1980)
According to Dr. Caiceo’s research, there are two facts that stand out in this period: In 1964, the University of Chile began the systematic training of teachers in the special education field and the educational reform of 1965, when President Eduardo Frei Montalva appointed the Advisory Committee to study and propose solutions to the problems of mental deficiency in the country, especially in the field of social, educational and economic protection. This is reflected in a study carried out by the National Association for Children and Mentally Handicapped Adults, with the result that "the aspiration of Mr Donnebaum to contribute to spread the problems of mental deficiency and organize the community to achieve this objective is realized" (EL NIÑO LIMITADO, 1969, p. 7).
The most important aspects of this period in the special education needs area are:.
* The Emergence in several universities of careers in the area and research groups between the years of 1964 and 1979 (Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile en Santiago y Sede Maule, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad Austral, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso y Universidad Católica del Norte).
* Career emergence in the area at Professional Institutes and Technical Training Centers since 1981, when these types of institutions were created.
* The Department of Special Education was founded at the Ministry of Education in 1970.
* Plans and Programs were approved for different special needs, both temporary and permanent between 1976 and 1980, the details of each will be seen below. (CAICEO, 1988b).
2.3.1. Concern for Mental deficiency and diversification of diagnostic centers and special needs schools
In 1967, the above-mentioned advisory committee, "after 15 months of study, developed a working programmme, including various aspects of further education, improvement of adequate infrastructure, research and experimentation in the area and legal situation of the mentally handicapped" (CAICEO, 1988b, p. 136). It is important to notice the bill prepared by Enrique Silva Cimma4 for the purpose of "to provide comprehensive protection for this type of disabled person throughout his or her life, including welfare, work, education, health care and legal assistance"(ROJAS, 1967, p. 9).
In 1965, the Ministry of Education appointed staff specialized in psychiatry at the Luis Calvo Mackenna Hospital, in order to deal with dyslexia problems; the psychologist Luis Bravo Valdivieso5 very well known later in Latin American for his research and publications on this matter, was one of the specialists named there6, who remained there until 1974; the Educator Mabel Condemarín joined the multidisciplinary team that was created, on which a point of its own will be developed later. The School for people with special needs N° 15 was created there to meet this special need. In the following year, 1966, The School for people with special needs N° 19, was founded to deal with problems of aphasia and language disorders, including, subsequently, the assistance of dyslexic children.
In the same year, a seminar to study the topic was scheduled, in which the professionals of the Special needs Schools N° 15 and N° 19 participated, to deepen the scientific and experimental studies of this anomaly. In 1967 two new schools were opened, linked to the same specific disorder and were annexed to hospital centers: The Special Education Needs School Hospital San Borja and Special Education Needs School N° 2 José Joaquín Aguirre.
The School of Special Education, N° 24 Hospital Roberto del Río, was also created, annexed to the Neuropsychiatry Service of the aforementioned hospital. This institution was concerned with the treatment and research on cerebral palsy, dyslexia and minimal brain dysfunction. (CAICEO, 2010a).
In addition, an institute for the education of mentally retarded children was established in Viña del Mar in 1966 with the collaboration of the neurosurgeon Hugo Gárnica. And in 1968, two more special education needs schools were founded: the Special education needs School N° 11 in Valparaiso, located in the Van Buren Hospital and the Special Education Needs School of Punta Arenas. (CAICEO, 1988b).
On 18 May 1967, the Experimental Development Centre, a pilot institution for the education of mentally handicapped children and teenagers, was opened, under the Directorate of Primary and Normal Education of the Ministry of Education, in the commune of San Miguel, with the presence of President Frei Montalva.
By 1970, there were 44 special schools in the country, covering all deficits, including Down’s syndrome.
During the government of Salvador Allende (1970-1973), there will be a special concern for the vocational training of the mentally handicapped. In that context, the First Lady, Hortencia Bussi de Allende in 1972 "laid the foundation stone of the country’s first Labor Training Center for mentally deficient adolescents, called Juan Sandoval Carrasco. It operated alongside the Special Development School (Special School 2) in the commune of La Reina" (CAICEO, 2010a, pp. 40-41).
Prior to the military coup of September 1973, there were 8 diagnostic centers in Chile under the authority of the University of Chile, the Ministry of Education and some hospitals; 34 public schools for the mentally handicapped; 6 private non-profit institutions in Santiago (Escuela de Recuperación Fundación LeopoldoDonnebaum, Pequeño CottolengoDon Orione, Colegio Coocende, Instituto Apoquindo Coocela Ltda., Casa de Caridad Don Orione y Centro Psicopedagógico Holanda) and 3 private schools (Escuela Dr. Kroll, Escuela Moderna Gabriela Mistral y Colegio Juan Piaget) (CAICEO, 1988b).
2.3.2. Formalizing plans and programmes for special education
Dr. Jaime Caiceo maintains that at the beginning of the military dictatorship (1974), a sub-programme entitled "Development of differential education" was created in the CPEIP. In this context, the researcher of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Luis Bravo Valdivieso, presented the result of one of his studies to the Ministry of Education, called "Basic school failure and its consequences in education, health and economics", this public body commissioned the Centre for Pedagogical Development, Experimentation and Research-CPEIP- to quickly organize a seminar on special education needs in Chile. Between 20 and 23 March of the same year, representatives of the Ministry of Education, the universities and the various bodies concerned with this type of education took part (Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and University of Chile) and of the Ministry of Health; Manuel Sandoval Vergara, acted as the president of the event, he was a leading educator in the area, he was the head of the Department of Experimental and Early Childhood Education of the Ministry of Education at that time. This seminar was held in six committees: training and further training; research policy; common basic education and differential or special education; prevention, diagnosis and early care; care or diagnostic centers and administrative and budgetary aspects; this allowed the different aspects of differential education to be addressed with fluidity, exchange of views, clarification of ideas and problems, and the prompt suggestion of actions to overcome them; therefore, a document of the CPEIP indicates "... that the educational authorities will be able to determine a policy of action in relation to the needs of special or differential education that allow a qualitative and quantitative improvement of this branch of education" (CPEIP; 1974, p. 12 in CAICEO, 2010b, p. 41).
Professor Caiceo points out that as a way of finding the best solutions to the results of the above-mentioned Seminar, in November of the same year, various seminars were held with school principals. These included the following: "School organization and current reality of special education needs" and "Diagnosis of cerebral palsy". In addition, a "Differential Education Staff Development Project" was prepared (CAICEO, 1988b).
The main results of the Commission were expressed in various Supreme Exempt Decrees (DSE):
* Development of curricula and programs for several deficits in special education:
DSE N° 310 of 1976 for mental disabilities; DSE N° 125of 1980 for vision impairment; DSE N° 143 of 1980 for specific learning disabilities in literacy and numeracy; DSE N° 148 of 1980 for oral language disorders; DSE 1981 for hearing impairment; Since 1985, various experimental pilot schemes have been set up for Labor Centers.
* Groups of people with special needs are created in regular schools and high schools in order to reduce repetition and dropout rates by Decree N° 457 of 1976 for primary school, and by Decree N° 1,861 of 1979 for high schools, Dr. Caiceo argues that
... the main characteristic of these groups for students with special needs is to assist the pupil within his or her school environment, which favors contact between the class teacher and the group teacher, allowing readjustments and modifications where is necessary, in order to provide complementary care to the student who requires it, providing timely psycho-pedagogical support. (CAICEO, 2010a, p. 43).
* Provision of special education needs schools with a technical staff by Decree N° 911 of 1977. This cabinet is composed of a team of professionals: specialist teacher, psychologist, social worker and speech therapist, in order to "to support and guide the work of teachers and to coordinate school actions with the parents and the community" (CAICEO, 2010a, p. 43).
* Establishment of psycho-pedagogical organizations or diagnostic centers by Decree N° 428 of 1975. This made it possible for the various public and private bodies that existed7 between 1981 and 1982 to assist nearly 25,000 school children throughout the country, with an average of 300 cases per year in the micro-centers and to assist 650 cases in the centers (MINEDUC, 1975).
* To boost and provide encouragement the establishment of other schools for persons with special needs: "In 1982 there were 161 special needs schools in the country, assisting approximately 23,000 pupils. In the same year, there were 31,906 students in several groups for pupils with special needs. The grant law of 1980 encouraged the emergence of private special schools for students with special needs" (MINEDUC, 1975 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 43).
* Professional development of teachers training that didn’t have a special education needs degree to attend groups of students with special needs and courses conducted by the CPEIP and universities.
* Provision of work places for teachers and non-teaching professionals.
* To provide technical and teaching materials for diagnosis and education.
* Construction and repair of facilities for special needs education schools.
* Development of problem prevention programmes. (CAICEO, 2010a, pp.42-44).
On the other hand, at the beginning of the military dictatorship, the wife of José Toribio Merino, a member of the Military government board, Margarita Riofrio, founded the Corporation for the Assistance for children with disabilities, Coanil, a private-law entity, which was non- profit unit that cooperated with State education and in 1980, there were already twenty two centers throughout Chile. The aim of this institution is "... to provide comprehensive attention of the problems of individuals with intellectual and work-related and/or specific motor and sensory disorders in order to integrate them effectively into society" (COANIL, 1975 in CAICEO, 2010a, p. 44).
At the end of the 20th century, in Chile, there were several groups of parents of children with different special needs: the National Union of Parents or Friends of Mentally Handicapped, Unión Nacional de Padres o Amigos de Deficientes Mentales, (UNPADE), the Association of Parents of Spastic Children, la Asociación de Padres de Niños Espásticos, (ASPEC) and the Association of Parents of Autistic Children, la Asociación de Padres de Niños Autistas, (ASPAU)
At the same time, at an international level, relevant events took place around special education needs: "Declaration of the Rights of the Mentally Retarded" at the General Assembly 2,027 of the United Nations in 1971 and "Declaration of the Rights of Disabled Persons" at the Plenary Session 2,433 of the United Nations in 1975(CAICEO, 1988b).
As we have seen, during this period there was a significant advance towards special needs education in Chile, strengthening this type of education in the country, which is so important for assisting children with special needs.
3. - Mabel Condemarín’s Contributions to Special Education
Mabel Condemarín Grimberg (3/11/1931-30/3/2004), the government of Chile awarded her the National Prize for Sciences of Education in 2003, due to her quality as a Chilean teacher, outstanding in the field of special needs education and she also was a disciple of Dr. Luis Bravo Valdivieso. Her main concern was for children, especially those with learning disabilities, in the area of literacy.
Her education is varied and profound: an elementary teacher trained at the Bongard School of La Serena,1951; Education Teacher at the Escuela Normal Abelardo Núñez de Santiago,1960; Postgraduate studies at the State college school of Education in Los Angeles, California, 1966-1967; Post-graduate degree in Special Needs Education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, 1975 and Master in Educational Sciences at the same university8, 1978; holds a Doctorate in Education from the University of Wales in Agreement with the Interdisciplinary Education Research Programme of Chile, 1990 (PIIE). About her Dr. Caiceo Says the following:
She is a teacher ahead of her time, despite of her humble origin and her communist father, and living away from the centers of power, she managed to achieve academic success and obtain the degrees that she wanted, both in Chile and abroad. At the same time, she dedicated her life to a subject that does not bring great benefits: to worry about the poorest children and with learning disabilities could learn to read and write properly and comprehensively. (CAICEO,2010b, p. 106).
In 1966, she was called to form a multidisciplinary team together with Dr. Luis Bravo, with the aim of effectively to attend children that arrived at Child Psychiatry; it was in this way that she started to realize the importance of being able to solve children’s learning problems especially in the area of reading.
Subsequently Dr. Bravo invited her to work in the area at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where Postgraduate degree in Special Education Needs was created, she incorporated herself as an academic at that university in the education, as well as, in the psychology program. With the return of democracy, in 1990 she joined the Ministry of Education together with a group of professionals to participate in the Educational Reform that began that year: For more than a decade, she coordinated the Programme for the Improvement of the Quality and Equity of Elementary Education, which included the programmes of the country’s 900 most deficient schools; she focused all her efforts on those most deprived students; in 2002 she joined the LEM campaign of the Ministry itself, which aimed to focus in reading, writing and mathematics skills in elementary education; while she was involved in this program she died of cancer in 2004. (CAICEO, 2010b).
According to Dr. Caiceo, this educator’s concern for literacy is very important (CAICEO, 2008) and her pedagogical activity can be synthesized in seven thematic axes:
(a) Emphasis in depth mastery of written language, including reading and literature. b) Her proposal of a Balanced Approach or balance Model in the development of the initial reading. (c) The Sustained Silent Reading Programme as a complement to any good plan to acquire and advance reading comprehension for subsequent levels of written language learning. (d) The national coverage design known as the Programme for Children at High Risk of Failure in Reading and Writing Learning and Development. e) The Reading Recovery Program based on the notion of early measurement. (f) Her concern to research pedagogical strategies to guide educational action with adolescents who are not readers. g) The search for updated scientific basis for its pedagogical contributions, for example when it links the Cloze Procedure with the group of paralinguistic strategies, and when it sustains the theoretical closeness of the design of national coverage with the holistic model and constructivism. . (CAICEO, 2010b, p. 114).
As for their contribution to special education needs, according to Dr. Caiceo, they can be summarized in 12 points; here are some of them:
1. It is necessary to make a diagnosis to discover early problems in reading and mathematics learning, problems of handwriting, cognitive problems and attention deficit disorder ... 2. In the context of the development of reading skills in intermediate courses, she developed special techniques for students with special educational needs based on oral reading. 3. She stated that mild mental retardation (bordering children), attention deficit disorder with hyperkinesia, moderate alterations in communication and language, and learning difficulties, including dyslexia and dysgraphia, they are quite common in the school population, and the learning needs of children with them can be met, at least in part, in the regular classroom situation. 4. She considered that another group of disorders, such as mental retardation, impaired vision and hearing (blind and deaf children), incapacity physical problems, autism and psychosis, are severe but rare. She argued that meeting the specific needs of children that suffered from them involves drug treatment, working with the family, individual or group psychotherapy, and remedial teaching. 5. With regard to deaf children, she indicated the importance of identifying the possibilities of the Cloze Procedure as a means of diagnosis and development, as a large part of the non-learning of pupils listeners is achieved by means of silent reading... 6. She performed a characterization of the bordering children, of children with attention deficit disorder with hyperkinesia, of children with impaired communication and language and of children with learning difficulties, providing suggestions to meet their specific educational needs. In relation to bordering children, she proposed that the main indicators of the problem are a slow pace of learning, consistent time lag in most areas of development and adaptive problems ... (CAICEO, 2011, pp. 183-184).
This educator is widely known in Latin America and the Dr. Caiceo's article above- mentioned , is has been widely consulted in the last three years about 10 times a week; she has, in turn, many publications on the areas of Learning, Assessment and Education; Literacy and Special Education Needs; some of them are the following work: Mabel "Niños con necesidades educativas especiales" en Dr. Winter, E.A. & Dr. Puentes, R.R. Medicina Infantil (pp. 1093-1099), Santiago de Chile: SpeedPrinter, 1991; Condemarín, Mabel; Blomquist, MarlysLa dislexia (16a. ed.), Santiago de Chile: Ed. Universitaria, 1998; Condemarín, Mabel; Milicic, NevaTest de Cloze (3a. ed.), Santiago de Chile: Ed. Andrés Bello, 2004; Condemarín, Mabel; Gorostegui, María Elena; Milicic, NevaDéficit atencional (3a. ed.), Santiago de Chile: Ed. Planeta Chilena, 2004.
Conclusions
As we have seen, the issue of inclusion in the republic of Chile is of long time: half of the nineteenth century onwards and Dr. Jaime Caiceo, has highlighted it quite a lot (Caiceo, 2005), fulfilling the proposed objectives. It can be noted that, in the field of Special Education, Chile is a pioneer in South America, when the first School of Deaf-mutes was created in 1852.In addition, the greatest development of Special Education in Chile, in the last period, was due to the interest aroused by it in the universities, in which not only began to train professionals since 1964, but above all, it is researched and published on the subject.
In addition, it is important to note that in the last period described the concern was diversified about the necessity to, study and attention of the various deficits, awareness was made about an indispensable education in the country’s educational system, The parents assumed that the children should not be ashamed of being born with some kind of deficit, but that they should be treated with the appropriate specialists. It was successfully experienced that educational work produces better results with a multidisciplinary team. To emphasize, in addition, the amount of research and theoretical-practical contributions to Special Education, emphasizing the value of persons with deficits as human beings with the same rights as normal ones and that, at their level, they are also perfected and progressed. In turn, several Chilean educators, known throughout America, have been highlighted, especially Prof. Juan Sandoval Carrasco, Dr. Luis Bravo Valdivieso and the Educator Mabel Condemarín Grimberg.
At present there are reforms that have been encouraged by public policies, but as this work is of a certain period, it will be necessary to continue it in a new research, where it will be addressed the current times. However, it should be noted that the Inclusion Act, which entered into force in 2016, provides that all children, with or without difficulties, must be in regular school; this has meant that serious problems have been created in schools, as people with permanent special needs. (deaf-mute, Down syndrome, severe mental deficiency, etc.) it is better to treat them in a School for special needs. (CAICEO, 2018).
