Through the study of the cases of two deaf patients, this article will offer some thoughts on the subjectivation of the handicap in adolescence. This process seems to be closely tied to the ability of the patient’s environment to welcome his or her desire for autonomy and otherness, and to enable encounters with new love objects and with peers. This necessary pre-condition helps the patient to move from a body that may need rehabilitation to a desiring body and to integrate the handicap as part of his or her being and history.

Adolescence, 2016, 34, 3, 499-510.