The Visible ‘Difference’ of Disability. Exploring Paralympic Games and Media Representation through an Educommunicative Approach

This paper proposes a critical reflection on Paralympic Games as spaces of hypervisibility of disability (Pullen et al., 2018; Silva and Howe, 2012), for at least two reasons. First, the spectacle of Paralympic sport demonstrates disabled people’s access to the dimension of «mega-events» (Roche, 2001), thereby breaking the ‘spiral of silence’ on the topic and entering the public discourse. Second, the media narrative of disability plays a crucial role in the construction of interpretive models to promote the recognition of disabled people, challenge aesthetic norms, and normalize diversity. Adopting the gaze of people with disabilities means overcoming a reductive, deficit-centered view to place them within a horizon of normalcy and citizenship. From this perspective, the paper analyzes disability as a social issue and a form of ‘visible difference’, exploring the tensions between sport, media, and disability representation. Preliminary findings from a national research project aimed at deconstructing media images of Paralympic athletes through the voices of athletes themselves, media professionals, and stakeholders offer valuable insights for developing new keys to a culture of full inclusion. The present analysis may serve as a potential application of Edu-communication processes (Barbas, 2020) in Paralympic sports, where education, communication, and participation become a form of agency for all participants in the sporting event.