Sostenere la famiglia che vive la disabilità di un figlio: il ruolo dell’associazionismo familiare

The family plays a very important role in the education process of a child with disability. In recent years, studies have increasingly highlighted its significant role not only in terms of care, but also as a protagonist of a network of support services. The whole community is, therefore, called upon to take responsibility in front of the awareness that family is central and needs support: only through becoming capable of listening and understanding the parents’ needs, the community will offer support to rebuild the parental identity and to accompany the child with disability along the life path. One of the main resources is certainly the family association reality, a form of solidarity and support, which in recent decades is acquiring a growing relevance and social visibility. The group dimension, which is essential for every human being, thus acquires an higher value when the link between its members is represented by experiences of struggle and crisis: the group becomes the place where the family is listened and respected, in cooperation and solidarity with the community providing support and solutions. Based on these aspects, the article aims to analyze some emerging dimensions in recent pedagogical studies on family education in the presence of disability or frailty condition