Day September 21st is People with Disabilities Day. It is on this date that we celebrate the advances and achievements made, but we must also reflect on the difficulties that still need to be overcome.
To understand where we are in relation to Disabled people, we went after the São Paulo State Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is the the first state body in Brazil that has its functions dedicated to this topic.
People with disabilities and the challenges to be overcome
According to the Secretary responsible for the department, Marcos da Costa, there are 3.4 million of People with Disabilities living throughout the state. Of these, 1.3 million (40%) have visual impairment, 979.3 thousand (28.8%) physical, 568.5 thousand (16.8%) intellectual and 492.9 thousand (14.4%) auditory.
Even though it is a varied and extensive group of people, ableism (prejudice against People with Disabilities) continues to be widely used against this social group. According to the 2nd edition of the survey carried out by Olddiversity
regarding diversity and advertising, 57% of people with disabilities want more diversity in Brazilian advertisements.The secretary commented on the inappropriate and offensive terms that should not be used to refer to People with Disabilities. See if any of them are in your vocabulary and stop using them, they are: short arm, deaf-mute, special people, people with disabilities, people with needs, among others. The correct term is People with Disabilities.
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How to deal with the challenges of People with Disabilities
Since structural issues, such as the lack of ramps and the absence of a directional tactile floor (reliefs on the floor to help people with visual impairments navigate) to the Hostile treatment and scarcity of job vacancies These are problems that haunt people with disabilities.
What should be done to resolve, or at least mitigate, these problems? The secretary highlights the importance of raising awareness through the press and public policy.
As an example, he commented on the conversation circle entitled "Language and Non-Ability Communication in Practice" that took place on September 20th, in São Paulo. He also spoke about the activities carried out this week, see:
The activities range from seminars, lectures, conversation circles and a training ceremony for students on the Libras (Brazilian Language) course. of Signals) offered by the Secretariat, to the expansion of the free service of issuing the Identification Card for Persons with Disorders of Autistic Spectrum (Ciptea) for another 25 Poupatempo stations in the state, which will also have sensory rooms to welcome people autistic
But, in addition to government practices, which are important, we must pay attention to the language and opportunities aimed at this public in our daily lives. You need to contribute providing voice and space for these people speak out and assert their rights.