Starting from the recognition of deafblindness as a unique disability, the Lega del Filo d’Oro, with the “Manifesto of deafblind people”, intends to identify some of the main barriers that prevent deafblind people of all age groups from being able to concretely enjoy their rights. Accessibility, recognition of rights, After Us, school and work inclusion, etc…: the requests to the institutions
Yesterday’s initiative at the Chamber of the Lega del Filo d’Oro Foundation anticipated an important anniversary in the history of the rights of those who cannot see or hear, since on 1 April 2004 the European Parliamentwith the “Declaration on the Rights of Deafblind Persons”, recognized deafblindness as a distinct disability for the first time, inviting all Member States to recognize the specificity of this disability and to guarantee deafblind people adequate support in the health, welfare, inclusive, communication and mobility fields. “However, despite regulatory progress, there are still significant challenges to address in ensuring full implementation of the rights of deafblind people,” underlines the Lega del Filo d’Oro.
Which states: “In Italy, the Law 24 June 2010, n. 107 ‘Measures for the recognition of the rights of deafblind people’, has implemented the recommendation of the European Parliament. Although appreciable in intent, the practical implementation of this law has proven difficult. In practice, in fact, the recognition of deafblindness remains linked to the verification of two distinct impairments, effectively excluding from full legal protection people who, despite being blind, they became deaf after the age of twelveor born without any sensory impairment, have become deafblind after the age of twelve. To overcome this criticality, the Council of Ministers recently approved a very important bill (the so-called simplifications-bis) to guarantee the recognition of deafblindness to all people who demonstrate total or partial combined impairments of vision and hearing, congenital or acquired, regardless of the age of onset. This measure is part of the broader reform plan launched with the Delegation Law for Disability (Law 22 December 2021, n. 227)which will accompany the updating of the definition of deafblindness with a simplification of the criteria and methods of assessment”.
For the Lega del Filo d’Oro, “la new definition of deafblindness – which it is hoped can also be quickly approved by Parliament – marks a fundamental change of pace for deafblind people. Having a definition that finally recognizes deafblindness, regardless of age, is of crucial importance to fully guarantee the right to health and assistance of deafblind people, as well as to promote their real self-determination. The challenge of full recognition of deafblindness as a specific disability must not, therefore, be limited to a – desired and necessary – improvement in health and social care, but consists in translating inclusion policies generally aimed at people with disabilities into fully enforceable rights for all deafblind people”.
The Manifesto of deafblind people
Starting from the recognition of deafblindness as a unique disability, the Lega del Filo d’Oro, with the “Manifesto of deafblind people“, intends to identify some of the main barriers that prevent deafblind people of all age groups from be able to concretely enjoy their rightsasking the institutions to commit to:
– recognize as deafblind all people affected simultaneously by blindness and deafnessregardless of the age at which they develop such disabilities, updating Law 107/2010;
– guarantee access to healthcare services outside the Region for all deafblind people and people with psychosensory disabilities who need specialist care;
– promote a greater presence of LIS and LIST interpreters in public structuresespecially in the healthcare sector;
– promote the educational inclusion of deafblind children and young people in primary and secondary schoolsthrough the training of staff and volunteers in the use and knowledge of Braille, LIS, LIST, Haptic and/or the communication system most suitable for the individual;
– promote the independent mobility of deafblind people through the training of assistance staff in public transport, particularly railway and airport transport;
– promote the full implementation of the so-called After Us Law (Law 112/2016), recognizing the role of the family caregiver (art. 1, paragraph 225, Law 205/2017);
– promote the development of inclusive working policies;
– promote forms of housing and cohousing for the specific needs of deafblind people e guarantee forms of assistance suited to the needs of elderly people;
– promote the accessibility of websites institutional (and otherwise) for people with psychosensory, auditory and visual impairments;
– promote access to sport and culture of deafblind people and those with psychosensory disabilities through the elimination of physical, sensorial and cognitive barriers.
