Autonomy and the disabled adult. A factor of personal development and a resource to a growing society

This contribution presents the research design of the project “Autonomy and the disabled adult. A factor of personal development and a resource to a growing society” financed by the University of Bologna’s AlmaIdea Junior Program. This research program engages in the national debate on social policies aimed at adult disabled individuals. Social policies are called upon to supply goods and services, which improve and guarantee abilities to participate in the making of collective and individual decisions, and not merely to compensate for disadvantages. In this respect, the concept of capabilities should be taken into account, looked upon as being connected to individual freedoms and fundamental rights, referred to all the dimensions of human life. The impossibility to make personal life choices regarding their health, work or free time may be considered as a capability deprivation, a failure to start an empowerment process (Sen, 2004; Nussbaum, 2002). The acquisition of capabilities, which contribute to the development of paths of autonomy, to the assimilation of the individual into society, to personal growth from the perspective of being an active citizen, should mean not only a promotion of the individual but also a source of social wealth. The Italian context, set also in a wider international context, remains at the forefront but runs the risk of suffering a setback, due to the current economic situation. The research questions can be summarized as follows: • Pedagogic field: Which capabilities are considered necessary for an individual to live as independently as possible? • Legal field: Which individual powers connected to the ability to act improve when a disabled person lives autonomously? • Economic field: Which economic aspects, costs and investments are involved in the promotion of disabled people’s autonomous lives?