PEOPLE WITH DISABILITY

PROBLEMS AND ADVANCES

Disability condition
• Over 1 billion people live with disability
• The number of people with disability are
increasing
• Almost everyone is likely to experience
some form of disability at some point in life
• People with disability are
disproportionately affected during the
COVID-19 pandemic due to that many
people don’t have medical security and
belong to the poorest sectors of the society
• Although the World Healt Organization consider
that disability refers to “the interaction between
individuals with a health condition and personal
and environmental factors”, people with
disability consider that the social factors play an
important role in establishment of negative
conditions that constitute disability, because the
social barriers difficult hinder their access to
rights, medical services, job, and in general terms
to do a “dignified life”.
• People with disability around the
world suffer discrimination and
diverse problems related to
invisibility of their problems and
discrimination.

• Since to sixties people have struggled by their rights,

for obtain a major conditions of life, such as access to
University, job, medical services and can move them in
public spaces.
• Although people with disabilities live as if disability were a
private or family problem, it is not just an issue that affects some
people due to unexplained or unfortunate conditions, there is a
social or structural system behind certain vulnerable groups that
can increase the probability of having a child with a disability or
facing this condition at some point in their life, either due to
illnesses, malnutrition conditions during conception, work-
related accidents or the living conditions of people
• In the 1800s, people with
disabilities were considered
meager, tragic, pitiful individuals
and unable to contribute to
society, except to serve as
ridiculed objects of
entertainment in circuses and
exhibitions. They were also
forced to enter medical
institutions where many spent
their entire live
• In the 1960s, civil rights inspired
the fight for the rights of people
with disabilities to demand equal
treatment, equal access and
equal opportunities for people
with disabilities. The movement
tried to challenge negative
attitudes and stereotypes about
people with disabilities
• In numerous countries, many
children and adults with
disabilities are confined or
unlawfully detained in closed
state and private institutions
where they may face violence
and neglect
• In 1988, in the USA was introduced the Americans
with Disabilities Act.
• The Americans with Disabilities Act banned
discrimination on the basis of disability in
employment, public accommodations, public
services, transportation, and telecommunication. It
finally afforded people with disabilities the same
protections that the Civil Rights Act.
• Since 2000, more than
180 countries have • Although many people with disabilities consider that
passed laws inspired by the Act are not perfect, it is only the beginning to
build better living conditions
this law