Abstract
Inclusion, communication and representation of disability
Orientations and trends in online journalism
The realization of inclusion processes requires the transition to a pluralistic view of persons with disabilities as an active resource of their own society, with equal rights of citizenship and equal participation opportunities. The medias have an important role in the awareness of the public opinion and in the construction of representations that reflect a progressive image and support the transition to a society that could be defined “inclusive” at all levels.
The traditional cultural models described by the scientific literature are based on stereotypes and prejudices that frame persons with disabilities in a passive and medicalized image or in an eroic one (“supercrip model”). These approaches not realistically represent the various experiences and daily realities of disability.
The content analysis of the online editions of “La Repubblica” and “Corriere della Sera” and the interviews made in France, Canada and Malta to the so-called “privileged witnesses” have allowed us to explore the different contexts and do a review of disability representation models.
In Italy, the results show the persistence of traditional approaches focused on assistance and care.
However there is also a pluralistic and inclusive model based on the recognition of equal rights and participation opportunities. In the other countries, our interlocutors reveal the high presence of traditional and polarized models that are based only on a medicalising and pathological vision of disability. In these cases, the persons with disability are framed in charity, poverty and disadvantage, which contrasts with the heroic image of who has been able to realize his/her life in spite of own impairment and physical and social handicap.
It is therefore necessary to monitor the situation in order to build educational and training strategies to promote systematically the inclusion processes through the knowledge and the encounter with diversity, involving the various actors that participate in these processes.
Keywords: disability, inclusion, social representations, mass media, education, training, press
