Psychoanalysis and Severe Handicap

The book Psychoanalysis and Severe Handicap: The Hand in the Cap introduces an original look at handicap, a look aiming at capturing the subjectivity, no matter how weak or uncertain it may be, of the ill Other. In this light the work of operators can become an invaluable support to the creation of the self, a crucial help to self-narration, and a valid contribution to making one's way through the entangled intricacies of language.The text falls into six chapters, which elegantly and accurately lead us into the core of the problem tackled. Focusing on the difficulties implied by the recognition of the ill Other and the acceptance of the otherness, Villa attacks those cultural policies which set autonomy and integration as absolute objectives to be achieved in the work on handicap. Instead, the author highlights the need of a path aiming at the structuring of the individuality of the disabled and at the molding of their subjectivity, starting from the subject's peculiarities. This is the only way for the disabled to find his place in the world to fit in.But how could we do it? The author envisages the possibility of replacing the repetition of trite models with creative solutions and of developing new strategies for intervention on handicap, which may finally focus on transcription, that is to say the original rewording of experience, and on laughter, seen as the faithful companion of unexpected events.This is a book that combines years of clinical practice with a solid theoretical reflection on the world of handicap. It will be a valuable support to the work of social operators but, also and above all, a reflection for everyone on the suffering of the human life.