Accessibility and scientific research in Italy: the participation of people with disabilities and SpLD in PhD studies

Abstract

The contribution aims to reflect on the participation of people with disabilities in scientific research, with a specific focus on PhD courses. Through an interdisciplinary reading, which combines the pedagogical dimension with the legal profiles linked to the existing legal framework and its critical aspects, the aim is to analyse both the reasonable accommodation processes envisaged for students with Special Educational Needs and the specific training profiles, in this sense, envisaged for university lecturers. The intention is to identify, also in the light of the experience of other European countries, possible ideas for the design of public policies for the construction of a system that would make the right of persons with disabilities to access the world of university research in general and PhDs in particular effective, abandoning the "policy of facilitations", the legacy of a substantially welfarist idea and, therefore, far from the paradigmatic logic of social inclusion.