How to guarantee the rights of minors with disabilities? What aids are planned to support families in achieving this goal?
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”, says the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights And this indispensable and basic principle is also at the origin of the legal protections relating to people with disabilities, who have the purpose of allowing the enjoyment of these rights. These principles were then reiterated in a specific document, the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities (indicated as CRPD by the acronym in English), approved by the United Nations Assembly in 2006 and ratified by Italian law in 2009.
The fundamental principles
Scrolling through the text of these important documents, let’s see recapitulate some fundamental principles. People with disabilities have the right to respect their dignity and autonomy; to full participation and inclusion in society; not to be discriminated or limited in their possibilities; to be educated and informed; to carry out recreational and sporting activities and to have the necessary aids so that disability does not translate into a failure or insufficient enjoyment of all human rights. It also underlines, among other things, The importance of awareness of the company towards the overcoming of stereotypes and stigmas connected to disability.
The rights of the minor with disabilities
Children with disabilities naturally have the same rights as all children, but their needs can be specific and particular, therefore guaranteeing them the same treatment that reserves the other risks being seriously harmful and discriminatory. It is therefore fundamental guarantee aid calibrated to needs, to allow them to access the same rights as other minors. Families in which there are children and teenagers with disabilities often experience the problem of making it clear, for example to the school or the municipal authorities, that the application of the concept of equal opportunities for children provides, precisely with a view to equity, different ways or more aid.
Law 104
In Italy, the main legislative reference to assert the rights of people with disabilities is the framework law No. 104 of 5 February 1992, which protects the rights of people with disabilities and, for this purpose, also concerns those who take care of it. For example, the law guarantees family members who assist a person with a serious handicap up to 3 days of paid monthly permit and 2 hours daily if we talk about a child under the age of 3. Also provided for concessions on transfers, to approach the person to whom assistance is provided, and relating to work shifts, in addition to the possibility of opposing a transfer that distance away from the assista. You can ask not to work in night shifts and you can take advantage of a 2 -year -old leave, not necessarily consecutive.
Different associations that deal with the rights of people with disabilities ask for the possibility of an early retirement For those who take care of people with serious disabilities, but for the moment this is granted only to a small number of caregiver which fall within certain requirements.
School inclusion
One of the most important elements to guarantee the right to education of children and young people with disabilities is the assignment of the support teacher, who is attributed to the class (it is not a assignment to the person, but to the group) in which there is a pupil or a pupil with disabilities, to favor their inclusion. Before the establishment of this fundamental figure, students with difficulty or disabilities were intended for the so -called “differential classes” or “special” (sometimes it was real schools apart), therefore they were in fact ghettoized, even with the official intention of meeting their training needs. The figure of the support teacher representsInstead, A very important element of school inclusionbecause it allows girls and boys with disabilities to be part of the class group and at the same time have help to overcome their difficulties. Unfortunately, as the most recent data put in highlight and as school managers report with concern, In Italy many support teachers are missingthroughout the national territory but above all in the regions of northern Italy, and this deprives children and young people with disabilities of their fundamental right. The news relating to the new budget law announce the hiring of 25,000 support teachers: a positive signal in a situation that remains strongly problematic.
But what can a family do so that a support teacher is assigned to his son? The first step is the definition of the “operating profile” (former “functional diagnosis”) by the local health company or a private specialist, to be submitted to the school manager, who can thus start the procedure for the assignment of the student to the class and teacher to support it. To meet the specific training needs of the pupil with a certified disability, the school then elaborates the so -called Pei (individualized educational plan); Pupils with specific learning disorders or with other difficulties can, on the other hand, take advantage of the PDP (personalized educational plan).
Together with the support teacher, The student with disabilities can be assigned an assistant to autonomy and communicationthat is to say a professional who deals with pupils with sensory disability (deaf, partially sighted, blind) or psychophysical To help them in their motor, communication and relationship difficulties. Unfortunately, the lack of support teachers determined the aberrant phenomenon for which a student with disabilities often see the hours of support is often reduced, in the belief that the others can be covered by the assistant to autonomy and communication, which has, instead, different and complementary tasks. It is clearly an unacceptable situation, albeit sadly widespread, which limits many children and teenagers in the enjoyment of their rights. It must also be borne in mind that these figures are assigned by the social services of local authorities, which, however, are often defaulting, and thus make access to a right for minors with difficulty difficult. Another important figure, who can provide help in hygiene and daily operations, is that ofhygienic-personal assistant (or basic assistant).
Recall that, as the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities, Transport services must always be guaranteed (Of course, school transport is also included). In Italy these services are governed at regional and then municipal level. As the associations that deal with the rights of people with disabilities, the transport service should provide for the presence of a companion, to ensure the full safety of the person transported, even if the regional regulations are not always perfectly clear in this regard.
The current pandemic emergency represented a critical node for the respect of the rights of students and students with disabilitieswho were strongly limited by distance teaching and deprived of the support of support teachers and assistants. A further problematic element, relating to the return between the benches, is the protection of pupil’s health and pupils that are in a situation of fragility and which would be exposed to a considerable danger in the event of infection from Covid-19: in these cases distance teaching represents the best choice for the protection of the health of the person, but the experience has shown all its critical issues especially in the case of students with disabilities. In this circumstance, the Italian school proved to be unprepared to manage the situation.
Other rights protected by law
The legislation also provides for the coverage of hospitalization costs at structures, with a distribution of expenses between National Health Service and Municipal Authority, depending on the case. For non -scheduled transport, a compartment of the costs between family and the Municipality is expected. The associations that defend the rights of people with disabilities have pointed out how the figure that is not always the case to families is symbolic or reasonably low And this, in fact, involves the limitation or denial of a right.
There are tax breaks for people with disabilities and for those who provide them with them, as is the appropriate guide (1) published every year by the Revenue Agency. The concessions include those relating to cars in the service of people with disabilities.
The pediatrician who cares the minor will also be able to activate home care in relation to the patient’s needsto be paid by the National Health Service, as they are borne by the National Health Service Prostheses, Ortese and Aidi who can help lead an autonomous and healthy life, in the face of a specialist medical prescription. The home care activities to the person (who integrates to the healthcare type) are, instead, to be paid by the municipalities. Unfortunately also in this area there are often delays and defaults of the health service and local authorities.
The support of associations
An important activity that proves to be of great help for minors and their families is carried out by the associations that are fighting for the rights of people with disabilities, which offer, also through the web and social networks, Essential information resources and support for access to the rights required by law. Often they also prominently promote initiatives for the launch of new laws that lead to a full implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities. On the portal Disintegration It is possible to consult the list of the main associations active on the national territory.
