21 July 2025
Bilbao Campus
Throughout this academic year, students on the Primary Education degree have participated in creating a series of inclusive stories for deaf children. These inclusive stories, written in Spanish and Basque, were created in collaboration with the Biscay Association of Families, Friends and Relatives of Deaf Children, ULERTUZ, through the Kontaidazu! project.
The Kontaidazu! project has a twofold aim: on one hand, to ensure that children with hearing impairments can see themselves reflected in the stories they read; on the other, to provide ULERTUZ with publications that can be made available in their waiting room and used as a resource in their daily activities.
According to the Faculty of Education and Sport, the initiative responds to a reality that often goes unnoticed: characters in stories rarely wear hearing aids or cochlear implants, or experience situations similar to those faced by deaf children. This means that many children do not feel represented in the children’s literature they read.
“Kontaidazu! aims to put an end to this situation and take a step forward. The stories not only feature deaf protagonists but also thoughtfully portray their everyday experiences, emotions, and challenges with respect, creativity, and inclusivity,” explain project coordinators Nerea Gutiérrez, Lucía Barrenetxea, and Ariane Díaz Iso.
The stories will be available at the ULERTUZ headquarters and used as educational and support resources. "A way of uniting pedagogy, empathy and social commitment from the classroom", they conclude.
The positive response to these stories by the ULERTUZ Association, along with the interest shown by a leading educational centre in Biscay specialising in support for deaf children, will allow the inclusive initiative to expand its impact during the 2025–26 academic year.
