Title: Beyond the apparent: Nutrition, perception, and resilience in contexts of cognitive vulnerability a transdisciplinary proposal inspired by the Volume Oltre l’Apparente (Conversano & irace, 2026)
Abstract:
This contribution originates from the theoretical and narrative work developed in the volume Oltre l’Apparente, authored by Raffaella Conversano and Ciro Irace, which introduces a new epistemology of fragility grounded in the Pedagogy of the Elastic and in the Dis(ease)Ability Theory – New Step. The book proposes a radically innovative vision of resilience as a Constant Condition of human existence and of disability as a relational construct, moving beyond the traditional clinical-compensatory approach to restore centrality to the Real Person and to their capacity to transform impact into forward momentum.
In continuity with this theoretical framework, the present research explores the relationship between nutrition, perception, and cognitive vulnerability, with particular attention to individuals with Borderline Intellectual Functioning (BIF). Starting from the analysis of color as a cognitive, affective, and identity-shaping threshold, the study demonstrates how food perception becomes a privileged space for observing resilience in action: The color of food shapes expectations, safety, trust, and emotional regulation, especially in contexts of fragility. In this perspective, food is not merely nutrition but a perceptual and relational experience, capable of activating emotional memory and self-regulatory processes.
The contribution integrates conceptual and operational tools derived from the book, including the Pedagogy of the Elastic, Functional Empathy, the Clinic of Effort, the heuristic reformulation of the Zone of Proximal Development, and the Instruction Leaflet (“Bugiardino”), all of which enable the transformation of fragility into evolutionary potential. Narrative—central to the work of Conversano and Irace—becomes a process of functional identity reconstruction: The Apparent Person, defined by diagnoses and protocols, gives way to the Real Person, capable of integrating impacts and tensions into an autonomous and resilient trajectory.
Expected outcomes show that food perception can become a space of nutritional and identity re-functionalization, fostering autonomy, safety, and well-being in individuals with cognitive vulnerability. The proposed approach allows for the design of inclusive food environments, calibrated sensory strategies, and personalized nutritional interventions in which color, rituality, and food choice become tools of empowerment rather than exclusion. The Pedagogy of the Elastic also provides a theoretical framework for understanding how resilience—conceived as a constant condition—can guide the design of inclusive nutritional settings capable of accommodating the perceptual and affective complexity of fragile individuals.
This work aligns fully with the mission of Nutri 2027, offering a transdisciplinary perspective that unites science, narrative, and resilience to rethink nutrition as a lever for health, dignity, and social innovation. Within this framework, the collaboration between Conversano and Irace—between clinical-pedagogical rigor and narrative depth—restores to fragility its generative value, showing how every tension can become evolutionary architecture and how every life, when welcomed in its complexity, can finally move beyond the apparent.
