Handifobia, a scaring word... Reflections around the social fear of disability and the in/dis-abled body

Abstract

This paper exposes and discusses the connections between the construct of fear of disability and the cultural dimension of the in / disabled body, uncovering those socio-cultural aspects that refer to representational forms of disability inspired by abilism and efficiency. Ample space for in-depth analysis is assigned to the relationship that exists between the construct of handiphobia and that of attitude, also recalling the three sub-dimensions: cognitive, behavioral and affective ones. In relation to this last dimension, the article concludes with a deep dive on the emotional issue of the attitude towards disability: fear of death and emotional and curious openness towards disability and the disabled body thus become the two polarizations within of which the educational challenge of managing and overcoming annihilating fears and cultural prejudice is built.