Sanremo 2021 and the narration of disabilities

7 March 2021Leave a comment

Let me first say that I’m not a huge fan of Sanremo Festival, or of variety shows in general. Nevertheless, today I’m talking about it since this year it also talked about disability, during one of its nights, with two “themed” interventions: the monologue by the actress Antonella Ferrari and the little show between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Donato Grande, bomber of the Italian national power-chair football team. Two very different moments, both for their “format” and for their style: on one hand, Antonella Ferrari’s mologue, focused on her disease (multiple sclerosis) and on the narration of her path to the right diagnosis; on the other hand, the “duet” between the A.C. Milan champion and his “sitting” colleague, with a few passage of the ball in favor of cameras. But, in both cases, watching the videos, I’ve found some “dissonances”, more or less evident. Let’s analyze them more in detail, to understand what I mean.

Antonella Ferrari presented herself on Sanremo’s stage wearing a very elegant red dress, with a short, very engaging monologue narrating her path to the diagnosis and, then, her happiness, when she, finally, had not to “hide herself” anymore (did she feel ashamed? Was she afraid of what others might think? We don’t know), reaching the climax at the end: “My disease hasn’t to be the main character. I’m not my multiple sclerosi: I’m an actress, I’m Antonella Ferrari”. That’s true and totally right. But, then, why did she focus her monologue exclusively on that topic?Of course she wanted to raise awareness towards it. But are we sure that it has been the message that reached the viewers? Judging by the comments I read on social media the day after, I don’t think so: they were totally positive, praising her courage, her “example” and so on with the same old rhetoric surrounding who lives with a disability.

But that’s still “nothing” compared with what we saw when it was the turn of Donato Grassi, with Amadeus and Zlatan Ibrahimovic: he wearing casually (jeans and his football shirt), in the middle of the other two men in evening clothes (as that occasion would have required); a situation that, on the whole, seemed more an interaction among two adults and a kid (obviously, the kid was intended to be the man with a disability…) rather than among three adult men and the feeling that, rather than a tribute to Donato and his sport ability, it was a way to highlight his much more famous colleague. Not to mention Amadeus who had started, all in all, well, but then slipped in many occasions: from talking about the rights of those “suffering from disability“(it is a condition, not a disease…), to “handicapped“, to the paternalistic lecture to those who, using the parking lots reserved to disabled people, cause troubles to those who would be entitled to use them (his original words were “slightly” different…). In short, again the same old rhetoric…

How can it be possible that, in 2021, we are still unable to show and talk about disabilities avoiding the dualism among “superheroes” and “poor fellows”? Yet, it would be so easy… You’d just have to remember that beind different is absolutely normal, there’s no need to use childish language and attitude: respect for people is enough, in short.

Will we make it? I hope so, despite all.”Perché Sanremo è Sanremo“…

Campus Party: digital, innovation and diversity

11 August 201911 August 2019Leave a comment

On July 27^th, I had the pleasure and the honor to take part as a speaker in the Job Factory organised by HRC Digital Generation during the third Italian edition of Campus Party, a global event focused on innovation and creativity and mainly addressed to young people, communities, universities, companies and organizations that, for some days, had the opportunities to discuss and build the future together, using technology as a tool to change tomorrow, in an aware and responsible way. The subject of the 2019 edition, that took place in Milan from July 24^th to 27^th, was “Diventa Div3rso” (Become Different): below, you can see one of the pictures used on social media to advertise the event.

Then, it was the best occasion to “officially” introduce Move@bility, particularly talking about di work and, therefore, social inclusion of people with a disability, wasn’t it? Here below, you can watch the video registration of my speech, that launches Movea@bility’s YouTube channel.

It was really exciting and valuable to have the chance to meet at Campus Party so many interested young people, who carefully listened to my speech and shared their views about such an important topic, that’s often overlooked even when talking about diversity. I hope I was able to spread the idea, that is also the Move@bility’s starting point: despite our respective diversities and peculiarities, we all are people and, then, have the same dignity, the same rights and, obviously, the same duties. Not only at work.

Would you like to have a look at the presentation I shared at Campus Party? Here you have it! 🙂

I hope to have further opportunities to discuss these topics with a “mixed” audience, not necessarily made up by people who are directly involved it them. Since I believe that a real “disability culture” can only be established involving the whole community, not limiting to look at our own backyard. What do you think about it?

“More Than Dis”: why don’t you put yourself on the line?

26 May 2019Leave a comment

In this space, we often talk about work and how tricky it still is, despite legal obligations, for people with a disability or included in the “protected categories“, insert in the fabric of society and succeed also under a professional perspective (with all the social, psychological and economical consequences). Then, why don’t you try to take the leap and start your own business? This is the starting point of “More Than Dis“, the contest promoted by Fondazione Italiana Accenture, founded, as its website claims, to “transfer technologies, skills and expertise from the profit environment to the non-profit, to enable the development of abilitating conceptual and digital platforms in the scenario of digital social innovation and sustainable economical development”. For this initiative, it partners with Jobmetoo, a job board exclusively dedicated to job opportunities addressed to “protected categories” workers, and with the startup incubator specialized in highly socially valuable enterprises Make a Cube. Auticon, an IT consulting business that exclusively hires people with autism spectrum disorders, and FISH (Italian Federation for Handicap Overtaking) also cooperate in this contest.

THE LAUNCH EVENT OF more than dis

All the details about how to participate in More Than Dis and the contest regulation will be communicated during its launch event that will take place in Milan, in the Community Room of Fondazione Accenture in Maurizio Quadrio street, near Garibaldi metro station, on Tuesday June 4^th from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM. The registration to the event is free of charge and can be done through this link. It will also give the opportunity to discuss and compare different perspectives about how to promote diversity and self-entrepreneursphip opportunities for people with a disability.

It sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Why don’t you take this chance and try to put yourself personally on the line, instead of keeping on waiting for others to pick you or give you an opportunity? It’s not easy, indeed. But, supported by experts who are also aware of the peculiarity associated to a condition of disability, it’s worth trying!

Stay tuned for more details about More Than Dis!

Personal branding and job search: a workshop in Milan

10 February 2019Leave a comment

I’m quite sure you’ve heard about “personal branding” and how important it is, mostly nowadays, in the “social media era”, also for those who are looking for a job. In fact, in a time when the demand for a job is higher than the offer, creating and curating your own personal “brand” is crucial to stand out in the crowd: what distinguishes me from the other hundreds (or thousands) of people with the same skills and experience as mine?

Designed by Waewkidja / Freepik

“Personal branding” is important for people with a disability willing to position themselves in the job market, whether they’re looking for their first job or wish to find a new one. In order to help them succeed, Inclusive Mindset and LinkedIn (the well-known “business social network” I suggest you to sign up to, shouldn’t you have done it already) have organized a workshop where, supported by the most important experts in this field, the attendees will get to know the basics of personal branding, plus tricks to leverage social media in their job search.

workshop about personal branding: where and when?

Save the date! The workshop about personal branding is scheduled on Friday, February 15^th at 5:00 PM in Milan, at LinkedIn Italy offices, in one of the skyscrapers in Porta Garibaldi. After the workshop, a cocktail will give the attendees a valuable opportunity for netwoking and exchaning useful information.

LinkedIn offices in Milan

how to attend the workshop?

In order to ensure the best experience, only a limited number of people will have the chance to attend the workshop (for free), upon registration. Are you interested in participating? Go to Inclusive Mindset’s website and fill in the registration form, also specifying if you need support (for instance, a LIS interpreter or a helper, should you have reduced mobility). What are you waiting for? Whether you’re looking for your first job or, maybe, you’re willing to find a new one, more suitable for you, don’t miss this opportunity!

Recruiting Day Verona 2018: a concrete opportunity

4 November 2018Leave a comment

We’ve had already many chances to talk about the Diversity Day, the event that facilitates the direct and personal meeting among businesses and people with various disabilities who look for a job opportunity. Following the success of Rome and Milan, this year the Diversity Day adds a new destination to its “tour”: Verona. The city of Juliet, on November 7^th, will host the Recruiting Day, a day of meetings and scheduled job interviews among prestigious businesses and people with a disability willing to be known beyond the same old resume.

The Diversity Day in Milan

recruiting day: where and when?

The Recruiting Day will take place from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm in the wonderful Gran Guardia Palace, in the very heart of the city. In addition to having individual job interviews with the businesses that will participate in the event (including, just to mention a few of them: Accenture, ENI, Tigotà, Decathlon, GSK, Marriott, LIDL, Umana, Unicredit), who will participate in the Recruiting Day will also have the chance to have access to industry expert advice to review their resume and prepare themselves to the meeting with their potential employers. Moreover, as it happened during the other editions of the event, also in Verona deaf people who will request it will have two LIS interpreters at their disposal. How to request this support? It’s easy: just send and e-mail to info@diversityday.it.

how to register to the recruiting day?

To register to the Recruiting Day in Verona, from the official website of the event, you can reach the online platform allowing to complete the registration process in a few steps, with the chance, for those who like it, to access also using their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles, so that some of the required fields will be automatically filled in. My advice? If you have a well-curated and updated LinkedIn profile (shouldn’t you have it, I suggest you to create one now, most of all if you’re looking for a job!), use that one: “social recruiting” is increasingly used by businesses!

Ready? Update your resume and LinkedIn profile, register to the event and… Good luck!

“Tutti in piedi”, an unusual story about love and disability

7 October 2018Leave a comment

A few days ago, in the Italian cinemas, came out “Tutti in piedi” (“All stand“), a French comedy that unusually approaches a topic that movies have confronted with many times, mainly in these latest years: love and disability.

What’s unusual in “Tutti in piedi”? First of all, that, somewhat, the tables turn. Jocelyn, the male character, is the typical irredimeable lady-killer, who tries to win every woman he bumps into over. It’s exactly this “predator” instinct that leads him to meet Florence, a charming woman living a very active life, as a refined musician and a tennis champ, who, due to a motoric disability, uses a wheelchair. He immediately falls in love with her and, due to a series of misunderstandings (Florence’ sister, who lives next Jocelyn’s dead mother, having found him sitting on his mother’s wheelchair, thinks he has a motoric disability as well) ends up feeling forced to keep on with his facade, being afraid that Florence wouldn’t accept him anymore, should he show her the way he really is.

A frame from “Tutti in piedi”

That precisely represents, in many ways, a “new” element in the narration of the “standard” dynamics among disabled and non-disabled people: it isn’t Florence who feels to be “unqualified” due to her own condition, but Jocelyn, who’s afraid she wouldn’t like him anymore, should she get to know the truth about him.

The director of “Tutti in piedi”, Franc Dubosc, who also plays the role of Jocelyn, said that the idea to make a movie about disability rose from his mother’s experience, who, in her old age, ended up being unable to walk anymore and having to face the numerous architectonical barriers that, until that time, neither she or her relatives had particularly noticed. From that experience, for the director, arose a new awareness and a growing curiosity towards the daily life of people with a disability, including their relationships with others. While making the movie, he realized that, as time passed by, his fear to hurt the disabled people feelings disappeared, as he kept on shooting. So, he came to the conclusion that, ultimately, you don’t need to pay particular attention while interacting (even for romantic purposes) with a disabled person: you just have to remember that you have a person in front of you, not a disease or a tricky condition.

“Ciak si aggira”: bypassing architectonical barriers is a game

8 July 2018Leave a comment

We all know how many architectonical barriers who lives with a disability, but also who goes around our cities with little children or bulky luggage, has to face on a daily basis. Many of these barriers arise from disregard or carelessness (for instance, cars parked in front of ramps which enable people on a wheelchair to access a sidewalk). How to raise the awareness of the community, and, hence, of the (local and national) administrations towards the need to project spaces that are really “accessible”? An effective way can be, for instance, starting from the children, getting them used to this mindset through a game. This is the starting point of “Ciak si aggira“, a board game for children from 6 years old created by Ermio De Luca, an engineer with a disability, who, as a consequence, directly knows this issue.

the plot

The “Ciak si aggira” characters are six children: Fabio, Giorgio, Mauro, Adele, Fanny and Marta, plus the “guest star” Isotta, the wheelchair Fabio uses to move around. The six friends live together a lot of adventures and enjoy moving around the city, to discover new places: will they be able to do it without having architectonical barriers to rain on their parade?

how does “ciak si aggira” work?

The principle “Ciak si aggira” is based on is the same as the well-known game of the goose: the players, using pieces, must move along the path designed on the board, recognizing and, precisely, bypassing the architectonical barriers they bump into, also getting to know the effects that those obstacles have on the mobility of people using a wheelchair or walking sticks to move.

The game is issed by La Macina Onlus, costs € 19.50 and can be requested sending an e-mail to emailtowork@libero.it. If you’re looking for a gift idea that is funny, but also useful and smart for your children, you’ve found it!

“The shape of water”: a fable about diversities

8 April 2018Leave a comment

Should you still be among the (few) people who haven’t watched it, I hope to convince you to immediately go to the cinema! Since “The shape of water“, the movie by Guillermo del Toro that won the Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival in 2017 and four Oscar awards just a few months ago, tells a story that you’ll hardly forget, since it wrings the deepest heartstrings of everyone.

“The shape of water” is a modern fable set in Baltimore at the beginning of the Sixties, during the Cold War among the USA and the URSS. Its main characters represent various diversities: Eliza, an orphan young woman who is speechless after her vocal cords had been cut off when she was a child; Zelda, an Afro-American woman who works with Eliza as a cleaner; Giles, the old homosexual advertising illustrator living with Eliza, who is subjected to discrimination at work. Plus, of course, him: the Deus Brânquia, the “shape” the title of the movie (and of the novel that’s the other part of this project), who is worshipped as a god by the Amazonian people and has been captured and taken in chains at the State laboratory Eliza and Zelda work at, to examinate and use him against Russia. Marginalized human beings who, inevitably, meet and end up making an close and odd group.

Eliza, who succeeded establishing a relationship based on silent empathy with the creature, decides to do her best to save it from an apparently sealed destiny and, helped by Giles, Zelda and one of the laboratory scientists (who is actually a Russian spy in disguise), rescues it and takes it in her flat. Here, they end up falling in love, but, before the happy ending, they’ll have to overtake several obstacles, in a crescendo of suspense and thrill.

The end of “The shape of water” (which I won’t unveil to you) is definitely a fable, as much as the tone of the whole movie. Nevertheless, with its sensitivity and poetry, it launches a very important message, in its simplicity: beyond our differences, we all are equal and deserve to be treated (and loved) with respect and humanity.

“Non volevo morire vergine”, the sentimental education of a disabled woman

4 December 201727 March 2018Leave a comment

All of us have a more or less long list of books that, for any reason, have won a special place in our hearts. My personal list also includes “Non volevo morire vergine” (“I didn’t mean to die a virgin”), the last book by Barbara Garlaschelli, issued a few months ago and already (and deservedly!) a little literary success.

The book tells the story of the writer, who became a quadriplegic when she was 15 after having bumped into a stone while she was plunging into the sea. Barbara Garlaschelli had already told her story in “Sirena (mezzo pesante in movimento)” (“Siren, heavy truck in movement”, a title that, in itself, suggests the self-deprecating tone the woman uses to describe her own condition, softening its hardest and more dramatic sides). But, this time, the perspective is quite different. In “Non volevo morire vergine”, Barbara Garlaschelli shares with her readers her sentimental and sexual education, which, soon after her accident, had seemed to her a chapter that, inevitably, was meant to stay close even being actually open.

Page by page, in “Non volevo morire vergine”, we follow Barbara’s evolution from her condition of “self-hidden” in her own armour to a young woman who becomes aware of the fact that, despite her accident and her being a disabled, still keeps her own femininity and, together with it, the possibility to please, seduce, stimulate desire and – why not?- even love in men. So, she starts a series of more or less engaging relationships (there are also some asshole, as in everyone’s life, disabled or not), ‘til she meets her Love with the capital L.

Virginity Barbara wants (and succeeds) to get rid of isn’t just the strictly sexual one, but has a wider meaning:

“A virgin not just in my body, but also of experiences, life, mistakes, successes, failures, journeys, sun”

Barbara Garlaschelli tells everything using a light style, which invites to read, but without too much censorship. It, sometimes, can floor some readers, who have still, more or less consciously, a radicated taboo that sees disabled people (and, particularly, women) as beings who, at most, inspire pity, but sure don’t have, as the writer says, “right to physical and mental pleasure, joys of life, in all its declensions” (with everything it implies, also in terms of the incomplete fulfilment of serious policies about accessibility and inclusion).

What led the writer to share such an intimate part of her life through the pages of “Non volevo morire vergine” isn’t exhibitionism, but rather her will to transmit a strong message, not just addressed to the community as a whole, but also to so many people who, more or less voluntarily, renounce love or even, simply, pleasure, convinced (maybe, not just by themselves) they cannot be subject to it.

“Ascolta i miei passi”: autism meets prison

3 December 201723 March 2018Leave a comment

Autism is still an almost unknown disease, both as regards its causes and, therefore, potential treatments and, generally speaking, the most suitable ways to establish a contact with who is affected by it. People with autism are often victims of bias and wrong certainties (also influenced by the way this condition has often been described in movies), as well as set aside because they’re seen as “strange” (and, then, potentially dangerous, according to many people). How can we understand the world of who lives with autism? How can we create proximity and dialogue? The “Ascolta i miei passi” (“Listen to my steps”) project, promoted by the Ortica Association in Milan aims to raise awareness towards this topic, starting from the direct listening of people with autism, who talk about themselves in short audio files, allowing others to know their daily life, their path, dreams and hopes.

During the Disability Week (November 27^th – December 2^nd), Ortica Association brought “Ascolta i miei passi” inside a place that, according to collective imagination, also represents “a world apart”, despite being in the heart of the city: San Vittore prison. Thanks to an agreement with the prison management, during the five meetings organized, the prisoners had the chance to listen, using headphones, the stories told directly by people with autism. Not just it: they also had the chance to identify with the storytellers reality, symbolically wearing their shoes: those of children who have already been diagnosed, training shoes of the teenager who continuously walks up and down to let his angst off or, more, the shoes of a man who would like to become the protagonist of his own life, but cannot do that due to bias.

Bias are a common issue for people with autism- or other disabilities- and prisoners, after all. If we only knew these worlds closely, we’d realize that, all in all, differences are less marked than we used to think. And that’s exactly the meaning of the name chosen for the “Ascolta i miei passi” project. As a native American proverb states:

Before you judge my life or my attitude, wear my shoes, walk the path I’ve travelled. Live my pain, my doubts, my fears, my laughs. Remember that everyone of us has his own story. When you’ve lived my life, then you can judge me

Move@bility

Idee per un mondo a misura di tutti

Tag: disability