Equal opportunities and a barrier-free future in which full recognition of one’s rights is implemented by guaranteeing real inclusion: this is what deafblind and psychosensory disabled people, over 360 thousand in Italy (0.7% of the population)1 and over a million and 400 thousand2 in Europe (0.3% of the resident population, 2.5% for the elderly). On the occasion of the International Day of Deafblindness (27 June), the Lega del Filo d’Oro ETS Foundation – Philanthropic Institution, a point of reference in Italy for deafblindness and multiple psychosensory impairments for 60 years, is rekindling attention on this unique disability and specific, to promote the rights of those who cannot see or hear and give voice to the many families who ask for concrete solutions for the future of their children.
Because the Lega del Filo d’Oro has always operated in the belief that even with the most serious disabilities it is possible to achieve progress every day, if society is willing to accommodate the needs of the person and recognize their potential. To promote awareness of deafblindness at an international level, this year too the Foundation is promoting the global initiative “Yarn Bombing”, the colorful street art of yarn products revived for the fourth edition by the Deafblind International (DBI) network – of of which the Lega del Filo d’Oro is part – which will live in an explosion of colors on the occasion of the International Day of 27 June.
In order to shine the light on a unique and specific disability, the Lega del Filo d’Oro recently presented, at the Chamber of Deputies, the “Manifesto of deafblind people”, a ten-point document which aims to recall the attention of the institutions on the rights of this non-negligible but often invisible segment of the population who risk remaining confined to the isolation imposed by their disability.
“This anniversary is an important opportunity to reiterate what we have always asked: we want to be the ones to write the novel of our lives in first person. We only ask to be put in the conditions to be able to do it as best we can, pursuing the maximum possible autonomy and enjoying the same opportunities as other citizens – underlines Francesco Mercurio, President of the Committee of Deafblind People of the Lega del Filo d’Oro Foundation – This request was summarized in the Manifesto that we presented a few months ago to the institutions. We express satisfaction with the commitment made by the Government and Parliament in the implementation of delegated law 227/21, most recently with Legislative Decree 62 of 3 May 2024, to finally put the Person in his richness and globality at the center and no longer the his disability. Although the goal is still far away, we believe that the one undertaken is the right path to ensure that every deafblind person can, with the help of the institutions and the support of the Lega del Filo d’Oro, in their own time and using its system of communication, can finally be the protagonist of its own story”.
For sixty years, the Lega del Filo d’Oro has been at the forefront in bringing to the attention of political institutions and public opinion the requests of deafblind and psychosensory impaired people and their families, with the aim of achieving inclusion social, self-determination and autonomy. In particular, many efforts were made to ensure that the process for the revision and full application of law 107/2010 on the recognition of deafblindness as a unique and specific disability was not stopped. In this regard, in recent months, the Council of Ministers approved a very important bill (the so-called simplifications-bis) aimed at guaranteeing the recognition of deafblindness to all people who demonstrate total or partial combined impairments of sight 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 update of the definition of deafblindness with a simplification of the criteria and assessment methods.
The new definition of deafblindness – which it is hoped can also be 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.
YARN BOMBING TO REMEMBER THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DEAF-BLINDNESS
Yarn Bombing, an initiative proposed again for the fourth year by the Deafblind International (DBI) network – an organization that supports the development of services at a global level to improve the quality of life of deafblind people of which the Lega del Filo d’Oro is part – was born to involve people with deafblindness in a fun and creative way in a large-scale tactile art project, breaking down prejudices and raising awareness of deafblindness. Also for the 2024 edition, in the Centers and Territorial Offices of the Lega del Filo d’Oro, deafblind and psychosensory disabled people were involved in the creation of colored squares and pom poms, knitted or crocheted, to be used to “colour the world” through a simple “thread”: an activity made possible thanks to the Foundation’s occupational laboratories, which aim to stimulate the creativity and residual skills of those who cannot see or hear. Added to their artefacts were also those created by family members, supporters, volunteers, staff and friends of the Institution which, on the key day of 27 June, will cover the streets, parks, objects and monuments of the 11 regions in which the Foundation is present , to give life to a large patchwork woven with all the colors and threads of solidarity.
“The ‘thread’ has a very important symbolic meaning for our Foundation: it represents that ‘golden thread of good friendship’, chosen in 1964 by our founder to make the world aware of the condition of people with deafblindness and to ensure that society would notice them. – declares Patrizia Ceccarani, Secretary of the Technical, Scientific and Ethical Committee of the Lega del Filo d’Oro Foundation – This is a very important opportunity to raise awareness which, through a wonderful explosion of colour, beauty and solidarity, will allow us to increase awareness of deafblindness and to remember the rights of those who cannot see or hear throughout the world”.
GOLD THREAD ALLOY YARN BOMBING COLORS THE CITIES
To celebrate the International Day of Deafblindness, on June 27th a colorful explosion of yarn artifacts will cover public spaces, monuments, parks and symbolic objects in several Italian cities. Here is the detailed list of where to go to see the installations:
in Osimo (AN) on the flower boxes in front of the Town Hall, in the panoramic point of the Tre Pini, on the trees of Via Fonte Magna, on the bridge of the Girardengo di Campocavallo cycle path and on the trees in the exercise equipment area at the beginning of the cycle path; in Lesmo (MB) they will be at the entrance to the Municipality, on the gate of the oratory and on all the benches of the bus stop on the Via Provinciale adjacent to the Centre; in Novara in Piazza Puccini; in Padua in various areas of the city (Piazza IV Novembre, via XIII Giugno, Piazza della Vittoria, Via Giuseppe Mazzini, Piazza Giacomo Matteotti); in Modena Pietra Ringadora and outside the Centre; in Pisa in the flower boxes between Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and Corso Italia; in Rome at the Territorial Headquarters of the Institution and the roasting plant located in front of the Headquarters; in San Benedetto dei Marsi (AQ) at the Villa in via Alessandro Torlonia, in front of the Territorial Headquarters; in Naples at the Manzoni Fitness Center; in Molfetta (BA) in the “Baden Powell” urban park, in the camper village/bathing lido “Trullo beach”, at the “Network Contacts” company and in the historic center of the city, as part of the “MolFest” initiative; in Termini Imerese (PA) near Piazza Duomo and Villa Aguglia.
1 “New study on the population of deafblind people, with sensory and multiple disabilities in conditions of gravity”, commissioned by the Lega del Filo d’Oro Foundation and carried out by ISTAT, 2023
2 “New study on the population of deafblind people, with sensory and multiple disabilities in conditions of gravity”, commissioned by the Lega del Filo d’Oro Foundation and carried out by ISTAT, 2023.
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