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Paper long abstract

Thirty years ago and more, a very important law in Italy - repealing special classes - ratified the social inclusion rights for people with mental disability. Today, the most evident outcome is a social and cultural change in common people language (no more "handicap" but "different ability") or the disability presence in the media (prime time on TV).

But it's only an outward change appearance: disability politics are substantially ambiguous and unable to propose a cultural social change.

After several years of field work in Rome, Italy, the research seeks to point out this ambiguity and focuses on the self-representation of the different social protagonists, like a mother, a social worker, the social services, and their different points of view.

The attempt is to highlight a paradox: the present disability discourse and politics has produced the maintenance of the social stigma.