Disabilità grave e gravissima: la questione della defi nizione
Natascia Curto, Cecilia Maria Marchisio
The article investigates the aspect of the distinction between serious disability and very serious disability. The considerations are based on the research work performed in 2009 on the quality of life of the caregivers of persons with very serious disabilities resident in Turin. The attention paid to language, when dealing with disability is very important: in fact, language does not only have a denotative function, but implies a way of viewing the reality that can condition choices and practices. The condition between serious and very serious disability is a particularly delicate distinction. Various defi nitions are reviewed concerning this subject from the operative defi nitions, associated with the context of services to the defi nitions in scientific and economic literature. This aspect involves the needs and the quality of life of families which live in situations which are also very different. Endeavouring to identify a summary of the factors which emerged, it could be possible to defi ne the level of seriousness of the disability as the relationship between existence and the need for assistance.
