In 1992, the United Nations Organization (UN) instituted the International Day of People with Disabilities, which started to be celebrated every December 3rd. With the creation of this date, the UN's main objective was to make the population aware of the importance of ensuring a better quality of life for all disabled people around the planet. It is important, however, that everyone bears in mind that people with disabilities are no less empowered and, like everyone else, have assured rights and duties.
Read too: What are Human Rights?
What is disability?
According to the UN, approximately 10% of the world population has some type of disability. Most of the time, these problems are treated by the rest of the population as a reason for discrimination, which hinders a quality and dignified life for people with some type of deficiency.
According to the Decree No. 3,298 of December 20, 1999, disability can be defined as:
"any loss or abnormality of a psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function that generates incapacity to perform an activity, within the standard considered normal for the being human".
Types of disabilities
The disability can be classified into:
- physics,
- auditory,
- visual,
- mental,
- multiple, when two or more disabilities are associated.
A person with a physical disability is one who has changes that compromise the performance of a certain physical activity. These changes can exist from birth or be acquired during life. In the latter case, violence and accidents are factors closely related to the increase in the number of disabled people each year.
THE hearing deficiency is the one that is characterized by the bilateral, partial or total loss of hearing. It can be caused by malformation or damage to the structures that are part of the composition of the hearing aid.
A person with visual impairment, in turn, is the one who presents blindness or low vision. In the first case, the wearer cannot perceive images or even light. Patients with low vision, however, can perceive some images, however, they need the help of some instruments, such as magnifying glasses or magnifying materials. People who have problems such as nearsightedness, astigmatism or farsightedness cannot be considered visually impaired.
Finally, we have the mental disability. Is it over there affects the patient's intellectual functioning, which is relatively smaller than the average of other individuals. In this case, the problem appears before the age of 18 years.
See too: Polio - viral disease that can cause paralysis
Importance of inclusion and accessibility
Generally speaking,people with disabilities need greater attention from governments, especially with regard to accessibility and inclusion in society. According to the UN, people with disabilities are more vulnerable to abuse and usually do not attend school.
It is also important to highlight that most disabled people cannot enter the labor market mainly because some employers believe that these people are not able to get the job done efficiently and that building an accessible environment is quite expensive. Therefore, it is clear that it is essential to create policies that better welcome this portion of the population.
Also read the text about the Paralympic Games and see that disability is no hindrance to the achievement of impressive feats!
by Vanessa dos Santos
Biology teacher
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/datas-comemorativas/dia-internacional-do-deficiente-fisico.htm
