Special Education in the Italian context: the life project, from school to adult life

Abstract

This work aimed to analyze the concept of life project in the Italian context. The project con-sists of a pedagogical action, an educational planning produced in school context from an Individualized Education Plan, which is a document that follows the process of inclusion of students with disabilities throughout their school years. We understand that the inclusion of people with disabilities goes beyond the school years and, thus, it needs a perspective that considers the entire arc of existence of the person with disabilities, from birth to adult life.In order to contemplate that, we have organized the work into three concomitant plans: the current Italian context of inclusion of people with disabilities; the construction of a life project through school years; and the social inclusion through life project in the adult life, with highlights to the insertion of the individual in the job market. The methodological and theoretical background is based on the works of leading authors in Special Education and its relations with the educa-tional and job market contexts, including Andrea Canevaro and Charles Gardou. From this writ-ing, we reinforce the importance of multidisciplinary work performed during the schooling peri-od, which is guaranteed by law, and the understanding that educational and social inclusion of people with disabilities pervade all their lifetimes,starting from their self-understanding as ca-pable human beings.