Progetto MAPS - Musei Accessibili per le Persone Sorde

In 2001 the World Health Organization (WHO) revolutionized the idea of disability starting from the concept of individuals’ functioning and defining all lacking or insufficient responses from the society to specific needs as ‘disabling’. Conversely, WHO identified ‘facilitators’ as all those available factors that can improve the individuals’ functioning, thus reducing ‘disabilities’. This new perspective complies with the provisions from the principles of Universal Design and puts emphasis on mankind as a core of a network ecosystem linked to Heritage Places. In this view, peoples functioning is the necessary starting point to design accessibility consciously and responsibly, not only to overcome barriers, but especially to support the functional change. This change can come from a real interaction between Heritage Places and their audiences, also supported by legal provisions, operational tools (the Peba) and new professional roles (the Accessibility Manager). Thus, the Heritage Places should be considered as architectures, likewise the individual’s architecture, on which we need to invest to extend the functioning levels.