New directions in (Paleo)Parasitology

democratization of knowledge through inclusion and university extension

Abstract

To build an effectively inclusive society, everyone's involvement is essential. This process of awareness, starting in childhood, with the construction of welcoming environments, free from prejudice and ableism, the chance for the emergence and perpetuation of the main barriers imposed on people with disabilities (PWDs), such as attitudinal ones, can certainly be drastically reduced. In the university environment, several difficulties are also experienced in meeting the specificities of students with disabilities, or even in raising awareness of the entire community on the topic. In this experience report we present the Parasitology extension projects at the Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF): @toxo_uff, @parasitologiatátil @paleoparasitologiaparatodos and @parasitologiahoje, which have among their objectives the search for tools that enable concrete actions in the production of knowledge of inclusive way. We thus aim to share not only our “walk”, but also the inclusive educational products generated by the projects, as well as their forms of application in practice. The methodological strategies of the projects consist of training teams through courses in inclusive and special education, whether long or short, in which assistive technology, accessibility strategies, universal design, the use of digital modeling with printing 3D, thermoforming, crafts (such as sewing, manual biscuit modeling, painting) among others, are used and then brought to our face-toface activities and in digital media, culminating in the creation of workshops and inclusive products for society in general, with a special focus on basic education. In this way, the projects have returned to society a diversity of inclusive physical and digital materials in open access, which have been used in formal and non-formal teaching spaces, and above all, the workshop moments have constituted spaces for exchanging experiences, improving and new inspirations and creations.