International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3.12.21. Open letter

International Day of Disability, Égalité and Disability Pride Senegal in Genoa

27th November 2021

Rome, Genoa, Italy. Public transport, disability and discrimination

6 December 2021

Published by Dario Dongo on 3 December 2021

1) BARRIERS (ARCHITECTURAL BUT NOT ONLY) AND AUTONOMY

Architectural barriers in Italy they are ubiquitous, in metropolitan cities as well as in small towns. Each Municipality of Italy should have adopted, by 1.3.87, a Plan for the Elimination of Architectural Barriers (PEBA). But this did not happen. (2) Schools are still inaccessible to students with motor disabilities in 2 out of 3 plexuses, to those with sensory disabilities in 98% of cases. (3) And the situation is equally serious both in public places and in private ones with public and non-public access. Furthermore, by now the concept of barrier has extended well beyond the physical ones and it is essential to consider the sensory, cognitive and communicative ones.

It is asked therefore of:

- affirm the removal of barriers as a priority political objective to which adequate resources should be dedicated to the purposes. To this end, define programmatic guidelines - after agreement with the Conference between the State, Regions and Autonomous Provinces - where to establish the urgent priorities (schools and universities, hospitals, public bodies, urban and extra-urban means of transport, pedestrian and cycle paths, sports and recreational) and the mandatory timetable for the execution of the program (4,5),

- to establish a Commissioner in each Region and Autonomous Province to act, to coordinate the implementation of the program, including through the PEBAs in all the municipalities of Italy,

- set a deadline for the adaptation of private spaces to public access (starting from medical offices and analysis laboratories, pharmacies, public and commercial establishments, offices),

- introduce a tax credit for the removal of barriers in private spaces and homes, as well as the adaptation of collective means of transport, the 110% tax deduction already granted for energetic redevelopment and seismic risk reduction interventions,
update the accessibility requirements to the ISO / FDIS 21542: 2011 (E) Guidelines (Building construction - Accessibility and usability of the built environment) and introduce deterrent sanctions for their violations.

The autonomy of people with disabilities must be guaranteed by:

- definition of minimum levels of personal mobility services, (6)

- recognition of equivalence of wheelchairs with electric motor to scooters and electric bikes, (7)

- direct contributions to the purchase of personal mobility devices and means (e.g. wheelchairs with electric motors, cars and other vehicles adapted to driving and / or transporting people with disabilities, devices to adapt vehicles to driving and / or transport of the disabled) and enabling technologies.

2) INCLUSION

Birth points and hospitals: at every hospital, public and private, the presence of a listening / advice point for families with children with disabilities and for people with disabilities must be guaranteed, with the presence of experts in the field of disability, in collaboration with socio-health services and with competent territorial associations with experience in disability issues, without one collaboration excluding the others. The creation of these points must be adequately funded in budget local health and social services regarding the place and any initiatives to be undertaken in favor of the support of people with disabilities.

School: the guarantee of educational assistance to students with disabilities must constitute conditio sine qua non for starting school activities. And it is necessary, to this end, to recognize the professional figure of the assistant to autonomy and communication (ASACOM) and to internalize this figure in MIUR employees as they are highly specialized and fundamental for respecting the right to education and study of pupils. with disabilities.

It must be started a plan to solve the inherent problems within a certain time frame and within the next school year:

- continuity of school support and assistance,

- the presence and role of an adequate and balanced number of specialized support teachers, deciding how to guarantee their presence in a support post at least for the entire cycle of studies of the class of pupils and of the pupils to whom they are assigned .

University: it is necessary to make the DAD a practice to allow students with disabilities whose pathologies or conditions make it impossible to attend in the presence of being able to enroll and obtain a degree in any university they wish. The DAD is a fundamental tool, then, for the caregiver family members, that is for all people who are unable to attend in person and are penalized both in performance and in their relationship with teachers due to the continuous assistance work they carry out at their home.

Training. Continuous training of people with disabilities and of caregiver of seriously disabled people - even remotely - must be incentivized by means of an extraordinary tax credit in favor of employers and clients who contribute to at least 50% of the income from work.

Work. The job placement of severely disabled people must be promoted by extending their rights to extra-curricular internships, faculty of smart working outside the cases of strictly necessary presence. With compulsory hiring, as a share of the total, associated with tax and social security bonuses.

Then it is necessary:

- encourage corporate welfare policies aimed at favoring workers with disabled family members. As well as the extended support for vulnerable people, in the context of the Corporate Social Responsibility (8)

- provide that entities with over 150 employees assign to one of the disabled people hired the task, albeit not exclusive, of disability manager,

- introduce dissuasive sanctions against entities that do not respect the mandatory hiring quotas. (9)

3) CAREGIVER

I caregiver family, based on the definition contained in paragraph 255 of the 2018 budget law, they should be recognized as workers and included in the category of strenuous jobs. As foreseen by our Constitution, bearing in mind that 90% of them are women and therefore doubly discriminated against at work, all have the right to an income and to the protections related to professional status of worker (vacation, sickness, pension). They should be able to take advantage of life insurance as is provided for housewives, as they carry out their care work at home.

4) DEAFNESS

It is necessary that the state guarantees the inclusion of all deaf people, most of whom have seen real social, school and work inclusion wane in the last two years. For this reason, after the due recognition of the LIS - Italian Sign Language - it is urgent to set up an inter-ministerial table to:

- the management / examination / supply / financing of technological tools for deafness, guaranteeing the right to free technological updating of individual hearing devices, a fundamental element for the universal inclusion of people with deafness (see LEA in point 5 below );

- the acquisition of reliable data on deafness in order to guide policy choices in a conscious and scientific way.

Furthermore, it is equally urgent:

- program a training / information plan on deafness for the Italian population;

- guarantee it screening methods neonatal and for all ages in every hospital;

- train basic pediatricians on deafness;

- review the associative representativeness for people with deafness;

- guarantee subtitling for all in all forms / information and entertainment tools (TV cinemas theaters museums);

- provide for the continuous training of school communication assistants, and that they are also professionalized with regard to technological aids and oral strategies.

5) DIGNITY

Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA), Essential Levels of Social Benefits (LEPS), Essential Levels of Social Assistance (LIVEAS). It is requested to return to the State - through the reform of Title V of the Italian Constitution - the exclusive competence on social benefits in favor of persons with disabilities, in order to guarantee compliance with the UN Convention for the protection of their rights. In the meantime, it is necessary and urgent to establish:

- uniform procedures at national level for LEA, LEPS and LIVEAS. Starting with the assignment of disability devices and aids,

- peremptory and coherent response terms to the needs of the disabled, by the ASL / ASST / ATS, in the event of breakdowns of devices and aids,

- biennial update of the tariff nomenclator,

- obligation of online publication, by each Region and Autonomous Province, of effectively guaranteed LEA, LEPS and LIVEAS. With annual update on non-personal data relating to beneficiaries and related payments.

Dario Dongo

Note

(1) ISTAT, report 'Knowing about disability', 3.12.19; Eurostat (2019). Disability statistics, poverty and income inequalities. V. https://www.egalite.org/conoscere-la-disabilita-rapporti-istat-ed-eurostat/

(2) Architectural barriers, systematic non-application of the laws in force. V. https://www.egalite.org/genova-dopo-il-ponte-le-barriere-architettoniche-appello-al-sindaco-e-denuncia-allamt/

(3) ISTAT (2020). The scholastic inclusion of pupils with disabilities, school year 2018/2019. V. https://www.egalite.org/2-scuole-su-3-inaccessibili-agli-alunni-con-disabilita-rapporto-istat/

(4) Metropolitan inaccessibility, the example of Rome https://www.egalite.org/disabili-inaccessibilita-metropolitana-roma-ennesima-denuncia-alla-procura/

(5) Railway stations in Italy, 83% inaccessible. Places reserved for disabled people on trains, from 0 to 1,2%. V. https://www.egalite.org/treni-e-disabilita-in-italia-stop-apartheid/

(6) Personal mobility of the disabled, the duties of the public administration defined in the UN Convention. V. https://www.egalite.org/mobilita-personale-dei-disabili-diritti-negati-e-blackout-a-roma/

(7) For this purpose, a medical certificate must be provided for patients with neurodegenerative diseases, in order to certify their suitability for driving on the road. On the subject of the equivalence between wheelchairs with electric motors, bicycles and electric scooters, see https://www.egalite.org/sedie-a-rotelle-egalite-e-legambiente-chiedono-il-riconoscimento-di-equivalenza-alle-bici-elettriche/

(8) See https://www.assinform.it/innovabile/welfare-aziendale/welfare-aziendale-e-disabilita.kl

(9) On disability and work, see https://www.egalite.org/disabilita-e-lavoro-incontro-con-il-sottosegretario-al-welfare/