THE rights of the deafblind people are still a long way from a dignified and just recognition. That is why, on the occasion of the V National Day which is celebrated on June 27, the League of the Golden Thread and theItalian Blind Union and visually impaired invite everyone to urgently reflect on Law 107/2010 “Measures for the recognition of the rights of deafblind people”. Even today, in fact, there are some inconsistencies in the text of the law that prevent a significant number of deafblind people from being recognized as such.
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What does it mean to be deafblind people
Currently, in Italy, a person can be defined as deafblind if in addition to the visual impairment – which may have arisen throughout life – a hearing impairment is also added as long as the impairment is congenital or, if acquired, arises during age evolutionary and is such as to have compromised the normal learning of spoken language. Therefore, people who, although blind, have become deaf after 12 years of age, or those who, born without any sensory impairment, have been affected by deafblindness after the age of twelve are not considered deafblind.
For the Lega del Filo d’Oro and the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired, it is therefore necessary and urgent to make the current legislation more current and to remedy this regulatory limbo.
The Minister for Disability Erika Stefani also declared: «Attention to these particular situations is maximum and must be daily, not just today. We must work in order to modernize the protection and assistance systems, so that they are increasingly inclusive and able to reach all citizens who are entitled to them, thus remedying the known criticalities and adding new rights to those already existing “.
Almost 190,000 deafblind people in Italy alone
According to it ISTAT study commissioned by the Lega del Filo d’Oro in 2016 on the population of people with sensory and multiple disabilities in severe conditions, in Italy the people with problems related to both sight and hearing are about 189 thousand. Of these, about 108,000 are in fact confined to their homes, because they are unable to provide for themselves independently due to the comorbidity of other forms of disability.
The European Parliament and the declaration on the rights of deafblind people
With the approval of the Declaration on the rights of deafblind persons (April 1, 2004), the European Parliament recognized deafblindness as a distinct disability, calling on the Member States to recognize the specific nature of this complex disability and to guarantee the rights and the consequent regulatory protections to those affected by it. These recommendations have been implemented in our country thanks to the Law 107/2010 “Measures for the recognition of the rights of deafblind people”, which recognizes the deafblindness as a unique specific disability (previously it referred to the sum of the two minorities).
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What is missing from the law
Law 107/2010 represents only a first step for the recognition of the rights of people with deafblindness. In fact, there are still many inconsistencies in the regulatory framework that make it ineffective in legal protection that includes all persons with additional disabilities. Just think that in Italy a person can be defined as deafblind if in addition to visual impairment – which may have arisen throughout life – a hearing disability is also added provided that the impairment is congenital. Or, if acquired, that it arises during the developmental age and is such as to have compromised the normal learning of spoken language.
Who remains excluded from the law
Therefore, people who, although blind, have become deaf after 12 years of age are not considered deafblind., or those who, born without any sensory impairment, have been affected by deafblindness after the age of twelve. This effectively excludes a substantial number of deafblind people. According to ISTAT, in fact, most people with vision and hearing impairments experience such impairments in old age.
“To ensure greater inclusion and full recognition of the rights of deafblind people is essential to clarify the application of Law 107 and to promote effective coordination between the central level and the regions to overcome operational discrepancies ”, says Rossano Bartoli, President of the Lega del Filo d’Oro Onlus Foundation.
Furthermore, according to the latest INPS surveys requested by the Lega del Filo d’Oro (September 2021), despite the multiple disabled people who simultaneously receive civil invalidity benefits, of blindness and deafness are 664 and there are over 8000 medical certificates of deafblindness produced by INPS medical examiners from 2016 to today, currently in Italy the number of deafblind people recognized by INPS is zero. This is why it is necessary and urgent to update the current legislation, to offer the possibility for all deafblind people to realize themselves and access the world of work.
A paradox to be overcome as soon as possible
«The surveys that the Lega del Filo d’Oro requested from INPS show that infrastructures and procedures that recognize people with deafblindness pursuant to the aforementioned law have not been implemented in Italy. To date, no person who is simultaneously deaf and blind is recognized as deafblind. IS it is necessary to recognize as deafblind people with a combined total or partial impairment of sight and hearing, congenital or acquired, which involves difficulties in orientation and mobility, in accessing information and communication “, Bartoli concludes.
Lega del Filo D’Oro
«Attention to these particular situations is maximum and must be daily, not just today. – declared Erika Stefani, Minister for Disabilities – We need to modernize the protection and assistance systems, so that they are increasingly inclusive and able to reach all citizens who are entitled to them. Thus remedying known criticalities and adding new rights to those already existing ».
Act now for disability
“The Day of deafblindness is only an occasion, albeit perhaps the most important, to reaffirm the commitment of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired alongside the tens and tens of thousands of people affected and affected by this complex disability who still do not see today fully recognized their specific condition and rights – he comments Mario Barbuto, President of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired. There is an urgent need for an amendment to law 107/2010 which can no longer be postponed and for which we ask for a specific commitment from the Italian Government and Parliament. Talking about disability, especially these days, is not easy. Acting for disability, unfortunately, is much, much more difficult. This is why we await precise regulatory responses and concrete support and support actions that must no longer be procrastinated ».
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