JavaScript is Disabled
Your browser's JavaScript functionality is disabled. It has to be enabled to use this function of ConfTool.
Here you can find information on how to enable JavaScript
If you have any problems, please contact the organizers at sdconference2026@scuolademocratica-conference.net.

Conference Program

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

F.01. Ageing with Disability, Life Projects and Democratic Citizenship: Rethinking Special Pedagogy for Older Adults (2/2)
Location: Aule di Botanica (CU028): Aula Blu4

Convenor(s): Filippo Gomez Paloma (University of Cassino and Lazio Meridionale, Italy); Claudia Maulini (University Parthenope, Napoli); Enrico Miatto (Iusve, Mestre (Ve)); Chiara Gentilozzi (University Giustino Fortunato, Benevento); Antonio Cuccaro (University Niccolò Cusano, Roma)

Presentation 5

Ageing With Disabilities Between Ageism And Ableism: Towards A Special Pedagogy Of Double Vulnerability

Giovanna Amendola¹, Fortunata Romano², Rosa Yessenia Barros¹, Pio Alfredo Di Tore¹

1: University of Cassino and Lazio Meridionale, Italy; 2: MIM

Ageing with disability (AWD) is one of the most relevant and insufficiently explored theoretical and practical issues in contemporary special pedagogy (Jeppsson Grassman & Whitaker, 2012). Older people who have lived with a disability since childhood or early adulthood face a condition of double structural vulnerability, determined by the convergence of ageism (Butler, 1969) and ableism, i.e. cultural and institutional devaluation (Campbell, 2009; Goodley, 2014; Devlin & Pothier, 2006). This requires a theoretical reinterpretation of the epistemological foundations of special education (Jeppsson Grassman & Whitaker, 2012; Shakespeare, 2018).

This contribution interprets AWD as a complex pedagogical phenomenon, bringing together Disability Studies (Goodley, 2014; Devlin & Pothier, 2006), critical gerontology (Jeppsson Grassman & Whitaker, 2012) and democratic education theory.

The CRPD (2006) and the European Disability Strategy 2021–2030 (European Commission, 2021) highlight how the intertwining of ageism and ableism contributes to the marginalisation of older people with disabilities, fuelling a structural risk of social and institutional invisibility.

The Life Project, introduced by recent national regulatory reforms on disability, is analysed as a theoretical and operational tool to combat double vulnerability, promoting the integration of social, educational and care dimensions while respecting the self-determination of the individual (Wehmeyer, 2005).

The importance of support communities as democratic mediators in transforming recognised rights into practices of authentic inclusion (United Nations, 2006; European Commission, 2021) is highlighted, restoring epistemic centrality to those who risk 'voicelessness' in decision-making processes (Walmsley, 2001; Strnadová & Walmsley, 2018).

Special education for older people with disabilities must establish itself as a driver of emancipation and social change, promoting a culture of inclusion so that no one is left behind on life's journey (Goodley, 2014; Oliver, 1990).