Social representations of disability

Social inclusion represents the framework and background within which every person, including persons with disabilities, acquires a sense of life project. This contribution reflects on the development of the social representations of persons with disabilities that has taken place in the western world. The way in which we approach disability today is in fact the result of a series of representations which have met, integrated, overlapped and mixed over time. We are aware that the encounter with diversity has always aroused fear, anxiety, worry, indeed repulsion – feelings which can lead to exclusion and distancing – and Pedagogy works precisely in the opposite direction, promoting inclusion through encounter and knowledge.