Abstracts
- Length: 250–350 words
- Structure: objectives, methodology, results/conclusions, relevance for practice
- Keywords: 4–6
- Accepted languages: Romanian or English
INTERDISCIPLINARY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION
Registration: paper About the Conference
The National Interdisciplinary Conference on Special Education reaches its 3rd edition. It is a scientific event organized by the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași, in collaboration with the universities of the EC2U alliance (European Campus of City-Universities). The conference brings together researchers, teachers from pre-university and higher education, specialists, parents, and representatives of civil society and non-governmental organizations.
The 2026 edition - Beyond Diagnosis: Neurodiversity, Psychosocial Context and the New Lenses of Disability - addresses the life circumstances that can become disabling and the ways in which they limit participation in education and community life. The conference is held in a hybrid format (in person and online), with practical workshops, a plenary session, and oral presentation sessions.
Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași · Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences · EC2U - European Campus of City-Universities
Core Themes
The conference is organized around seven core themes, reflecting the shift from a medical to a psychosocial understanding of disability:
- Neurodiversity across the lifespan - autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neurodivergent profiles in childhood, adolescence and adulthood; identity, masking and burnout; from the deficit paradigm to the difference paradigm.
- Disability redefined: models and paradigms - from the medical model to the social and biopsychosocial models; psychosocial disability.
- Disabling life circumstances: the family in crisis - divorce and high-conflict separation, bereavement, domestic violence, parental migration; the impact on the child's development, learning and mental health.
- Chronic illness and invisible disability - diabetes, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases, cancer, chronic pain; medical absenteeism, school reintegration, reasonable accommodations.
- Disadvantaged social environments and early adversity – poverty, rural isolation, institutionalization, adverse childhood experiences; toxic stress and its effects on school and social functioning.
- Resilience, family and community as protective factors – individual and relational resources; support networks; stories of resilience, told by those who lived them.
- Inclusive policies, assessment and practices - beyond the disability certificate: access to support without a label; functional assessment; the role of schools, social services and technology in early intervention.
Thematic Sections
Authors are invited to submit papers to one of the following sections:
Section 1: Neurodiversity across the lifespan
Autism, ADHD, specific learning disorders and other neurodivergent profiles, from childhood to adulthood; from the deficit paradigm to the difference paradigm
- The neurodiversity paradigm: theoretical foundations, critiques and practical implications
- Neurodivergent identity, masking (camouflaging) and burnout
- Late diagnosis in adolescents and adults: impact on educational and career pathways
- Executive functions and cognitive profiles: strengths-based assessment
- Reasonable accommodations and Universal Design for Learning
- Neurodivergence in higher education and the workplace
Section 2: Disability redefined: models, paradigms and policies
From the medical model to the social and biopsychosocial models; disability as an interaction between the person and their living environment
- The medical, social and biopsychosocial models: convergences and tensions
- Psychosocial disability: concept, recognition and rights
- Beyond the disability certificate: access to support in the absence of a formal diagnosis
Section 3: Disabling life circumstances: the family in crisis
Divorce, high-conflict separation, bereavement, domestic violence and parental migration - effects on the child's development, learning and mental health
- Divorce and chronic parental conflict as risk factors for school functioning
- Grief in childhood and adolescence: recognition and support in school
- Children whose parents work abroad
- Domestic violence and exposure to trauma within the family
- School and community interventions for children from families in crisis
Section 4: Chronic illness and invisible disability
Chronic physical and mental health conditions that limit participation in education and social life, without always being recognized as disability
- Diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in the school context
- The child with cancer: between hospital and school
- Chronic pain and chronic fatigue: the impact on learning
- Medical absenteeism and school reintegration
- Long-term mental health conditions as psychosocial disability
- The family of a child with a chronic illness: stress, adjustment and resources
Section 5: Disadvantaged social environments and early adversity
Poverty, social exclusion, rural isolation and institutionalization - how social contexts produce functional limitations
- Poverty and its effects on cognitive and socio-emotional development
- Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress
- Education in isolated and marginalized rural communities
- Children in the child protection system and young people leaving care
- Trauma-informed practices in schools and social services
Section 6: Resilience, family and community as protective factors
Individual, family and community resources that enable adaptation in the face of disabling life circumstances
- Resilience as a process: theoretical models and empirical research
- Parental stress and families' coping resources
- Support networks among families and parent groups
- The family-school-specialist relationship: barriers and solutions
- Stories of resilience and testimonies of lived experience
- Community projects and replicable models of good practice in the Romanian context
Section 7: Assessment, intervention and inclusive practices
Tools, services and technologies that respond to real functional needs, not just diagnostic labels
- Functional assessment and comprehensive assessment of the child: critical perspectives
- Screening for psychosocial vulnerabilities in school
- Early intervention and inter-agency collaboration
- Transition to adult life, employability and independent living
- Assistive technology and artificial intelligence in support of inclusion
- Teacher training for a psychosocial understanding of disability
Submission Guidelines
A. Oral presentations
- Presentation length: 10 minutes + 5 minutes for questions
- Accepted languages: Romanian and English
- Presentation format: in person
Key Dates
- 3 November 2026 - Registration deadline for attendees
- 15 November 2026 - Abstract submission deadline
- 20 November 2026 - Notification of acceptance
- 4-5 December 2026 - Conference
Who Can Attend?
The conference is open to everyone who believes that inclusive education is a collective endeavor:
- Researchers and academics in psychology, special education, pedagogy, social work, sociology, medicine and related fields
- Pre-university teachers - classroom teachers, support teachers, school counselors, speech and language therapists
- Students and PhD candidates
- Specialists from early intervention services, day centers, speech therapy and psychotherapy practices
- Parents and representatives of families of children with disabilities and/or special educational needs
- Representatives of NGOs and civil society
- People with and without disabilities who wish to share their own experiences and perspectives
Event Format
The conference is held in a hybrid format, with in-person attendance in Iași and the option to participate online. The program includes:
- Talks by invited keynote speakers - leading researchers and practitioners from Romania
- Oral presentations of accepted scientific contributions, in parallel thematic sessions
- A dedicated segment for stories of resilience and lived experience - voices of neurodivergent people, people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, families and teachers
- Practical workshops - Friday, 4 December 2026
- Plenary session - Saturday, 5 December 2026
Conference Program
Friday, 4 December 2026 – Pre-conference workshops, Building D, UAIC
14:00–16:00, Room D316, Workshop 1. From diagnosis to functional profile: understanding and supporting the neurodivergent student
Facilitator: Psychologist Rodica Efros
Participants will learn to build a strengths-based functional profile for students with autism, ADHD, or specific learning disorders. Through case studies and group work, they will develop concrete, reasonable classroom accommodations (sensory, organizational and assessment-related) and practice using non-pathologizing language.
16:00–18:00, Room D206, Workshop 2. When the family falls apart: the child in the context of divorce, the loss of a loved one and chronic illness
Facilitator: Assoc. Prof. Oana Dănilă, PhD
The workshop offers a practical tool for identifying psychosocial vulnerability in school and a 3-step support protocol: observation, dialogue with the family, and an individualized support plan. Participants will practice handling difficult situations: communicating with parents in conflict, supporting a student after a loss, and reintegrating a student after long-term hospitalization.
16:00–18:00, Room D316, Workshop 3. Adult ADHD from a neurodiversity perspective: challenges, resources and adaptation
Facilitator: Psychologist Ana Maria Gordita
The workshop “Adult ADHD from a neurodiversity perspective: challenges, resources and adaptation” offers a current, integrated approach to ADHD in adulthood that goes beyond an exclusively deficit-centered perspective. It will discuss specific manifestations, difficulties in everyday functioning and the impact on professional and relational life, as well as the resources, compensatory strategies and strengths associated with neurocognitive diversity. The focus will be on understanding how individual characteristics interact with environmental demands and on identifying adaptation and intervention strategies that support the functioning and autonomy of adults with ADHD.
Saturday, 5 December 2026
“Mihai Eminescu” Aula Magna, Building A, UAIC
08.30-9.15 | Participant registration
09:15–9:45 | Conference opening
Plenary lectures - Keynote speakers
9:45–10:15 | Lecture: Prof. Ovidiu Gavrilovici, PhD, UAIC Iași. Well-being. Challenging and contradictory contemporary perspectives.
10:15–10:45 | Lecture: Dr. Laura Chezan, Old Dominion University – Virginia, USA. Implementing evidence-based practices in educational settings
10:45–11:15 | Lecture: Psychologist Alexandra Hasnaș, Association of Recovering Alcoholics (ACAR), Don Orione Residential Center, Romania. Addiction – a disabling condition?
11:15–11:30 | Coffee break and networking
11:30–12:00 | Lecture: Lena Schmitz, EC2U Associate Researcher, University of Jena, Germany. Towards (more) inclusive European higher education institutions: the role of organizational culture in behavioral and structural health promotion interventions
12:00–12:30 | Lecture: Dr. Laura-Elena Runceanu, Jönköping University, School of Education and Communication, Communication, Culture and Diversity Research Group (Sweden). Intersectionality in the context of inclusive education: contributions, dilemmas and challenges
12:30-13:00 | Lecture: Lecturer Alexandra Cobzeanu, PhD, UAIC Iași. The disabling potential of bullying experiences: moral injury and the courage to intervene
13:00–13:15 | Presentation of the EC2U Alliance
13:15–14:00 | Lunch break
14:00–17:00 | Parallel oral presentation sessions (Building D, UAIC)
17:00 | Conclusions and conference closing