Abstract:

This study is part of a broader research project that examines Outdoor Education for All in marginalised contexts with the aim of understanding whether this approach is applicable in the same contexts with young people with intellectual disabilities. In particular, this study aims to investigate the role of parental implicit knowledge in the perception of risk and the creation of educational opportunities.

Therefore, the problem is posed to understand how family implicit knowledge about fear and risk influence the participation of young people with intellectual disabilities in outdoor activities. The hypothesis is that a family perception of outdoor experiences as a threat, which therefore generates fear and overprotection, is linked with a lower propensity to allow such experiences, thereby limiting opportunities that nevertheless have proven positive effects on the physical development, self-determination and independent mobility of young people with intellectual disabilities.

This paper presents the results of a qualitative research conducted at the Casa Raoul semi-residential community, which serves young people with intellectual disabilities who experience social risk, territorial vulnerability, and limited opportunities to contact with the natural environment.

Semi-structured interviews with parents, analysed using phenomenological thematic analysis in MAXQDA, revealed implicit knowledge related to risk. The findings show that the outdoor environment is often perceived through the lens of fear, precariousness, and unpredictability, fostering overprotective tendencies linked to 'zero risk culture' and Risk Deficit Disorder.

These representations may limit the possibility of accessing the profound and transformative physical experiences that Outdoor Education makes possible, depriving young people with intellectual disabilities of exposure to beneficial risk and of the sensory, motor and emotional dimensions that form the basis of experiential learning. Unlike danger, risk can be a constituent component of growth, and its removal may hinder the construction of identity and self-determination processes. The next phase of the research will focus on reworking the results through focus groups with parents, with the aim of promoting critical awareness and a change of perspective with regard to risk, distinguishing between real danger and educational opportunity.

Keywords:

Outdoor Education for All, Risk, Marginality.