1.3 Disability

Views about the existence of discrimination on the grounds of disability vary
quite significantly among the countries surveyed .
On average, there is little
difference between the former EU15 countries and the 10 new Member States
(53% and 52%, respectively). However, there are nonetheless considerable differences in
opinion between the countries surveyed.
Discrimination on the basis of disability is perceived to be most widespread in
Italy (68%) and France (66%) and least so in Denmark (32%).

In the two acceding countries , close to half of the interviewees feel that
discrimination on the basis of disability is widespread.

The analysis of the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents shows
that views about the existence of discrimination on the basis of disability vary
somewhat depending on people’s gender and their age. Women are more likely
than men to feel that this form of discrimination is widespread (56% versus 49%).
Furthermore, the older people are, the less likely they are to feel it is widespread (48%
among those aged 55+ compared to 57% among those aged 15-24).
Finally, although people with disabled friends or acquaintances 5 are slightly more likely
to feel that discrimination on the basis of disability is widespread (55% versus 50%), it
is interesting to find out that views do not differ so much.
The same phenomenon can be observed regarding people suffering from chronic
physical or mental problems 6 : their opinions on this issue are the same as those of
people who do not suffer from such health problems (both 53%).
In line with the widespread public acceptance of the plight of the disabled, the survey
reveals a clear sense of consensus in all the Member States that more money
should be spent on improving accessibility (91%).

www.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/eyeq

Trainers’ team of center for Independent Living Serbia, Svetislav Marjanovic and dimitrije Gligorijevic, will held seminar on Fhilosophy of Independent Living, experiences of Personal Assistants project in Serbia and support services 15/16th of May in Skopje. This Seminar is organised on initiative of Association of Disabled Students and POLIO + from Macedonia and between 30 and 40 participants announced their presence.This is another exapmple of good cooperation between organisations of persons with disabilities in surrounding countries.

It’s Deaf Awareness Week and you can get involved by spreading the word about our 7 simple steps to changing the world.

There’s a new step for every day of the week and they all aim to raise awareness of the issues that affect deaf and hard of hearing people and people with tinnitus.

The steps can help people to learn how to communicate better, how to fingerspell and how to protect their hearing – each step can make a real difference.

Monday
Don’t SHOUT, just speak clearly
Take the time to communicate properly with someone with a hearing loss.

Tuesday
Check your hearing
Phone 0845 600 5555 (local rate) for a five-minute check-up 

Wednesday
Learn to fingerspell
It’s as easy as A-Z! 

Thursday
Watch your favourite TV programme with the sound off
Without subtitles, what would you miss out on?

 Friday
Turn your music down a notch
Protect your hearing – don’t lose the music. 

Saturday
Look out for the loop sign
How accessible are public places if you have a hearing aid? 

Sunday
Get involved
Campaign…join in…volunteer…donate…we need you!

Keep checking our website – we’ll be adding more information on each of the steps every day of the week at www.7simplesteps.org.uk

In 1993, the General Assembly decided that 15 May of every year should be observed as the International Day of Families (resolution 47/237 of 20 September).  In 1989, by resolution 44/82, the Assembly had proclaimed 1994 the International Year of the Family, to increase awareness of family issues and improve the capability of nations to tackle family-related problems with comprehensive policies.

 

UNITED NATIONS TO ADDRESS FAMILIES AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

A panel of experts will address the issue of families and persons with disabilities on Tuesday, 15 May, 1:15 – 2:30 p.m. at the United Nations (Conference Room 4).

The panelists are Ms. Megan Kirshbaum, Founder and Executive Director, National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities “Through the Looking Glass”, Berkeley, California; Ms. Sue Swenson, Executive Director, The Arc of the United States, Silver Spring, Maryland; Ms. MiJoo Kim, Director, Women with Disabilities Arts and Culture Network, Seoul, Republic of Korea; and a representative of a UN Member State.

Seminar on “European Coalitions for Community Living” was held in Zagreb on 20/21^st of April. Miss. Ivanka Jovanovic represented Center for Independent Living with the presentation “Freedom and Independent Living throught Direct Payment and Personal Assistant Scheme”. This presentation is partly experienced with the CIL project Personal Assistant’s Service in Serbia.

International Seminar on “Access to Social Services for Persons with Disabilities in South East Europe” is taking U Skoplju se 23/24. aprila odrzava medjunarodni Seminar “Pristup osoba sa invaliditetom socijalnim servisima u Jugoistocnoj Evropi”. This Seminar is jointly organized by EDF/CARDS programme for Serbia and Handicap International.

Center for Independent Living will represent Gordana Rajkov and Borivoje Ljubinkovic preseting the experiences from CIL project Personal Assistant’s Service. This Seminar also attend representatives from Association for Persons with Autism in Serbia, Union for Para/Quadriplegics Serbia, Union of CP and Polio Serbia and Association for Persons with Intellectually Disorders Serbia.

BBC News 2^nd of April 2007 

Baby ‘name test’ may spot autism

Routinely checking to see if babies can respond to their name at the age of one could help detect autism earlier than other tests, US experts believe.

The disorder is usually not diagnosed until a child is three or four, as the symptoms are variable. However, parents of autistic children often say they have noticed early tell-tale behaviour. The ‘name test’ described in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine appeared to aid earlier diagnosis.  

Simple screen

The researchers studied two groups of infants – a healthy control group and a group of children deemed to be at higher than normal risk of autism because they all had older siblings with the condition. At 12 months, all of the 46 infants in control group passed the name test, responding on the first or second call of their own name, while only 86% of the 101 ‘at risk’ infants passed. The University of California Davis, Sacramento, team followed 46 of the ‘at risk’ infants and 25 of the controls up to their second birthday. Three-quarters of the ‘at risk’ children who had failed the name test were found to have developmental problems at the age of two. Of the children who were later diagnosed with autism, half had failed the name test at one year, and of those who were identified as having any type of developmental delay, 39% had failed it. Aparna Nadig and colleagues had tried the name test on the children when they were only six months old, but found this was too young an age to get any meaningful result.

Routine check

They stressed that if the name test were to be used routinely, it should not be relied on solely to diagnose autism – it merely indicates that a child may need more assessments. Equally, a child who fails the test will not necessarily have autism. However, one who fails repeatedly and consistently has a high likelihood of some type of developmental abnormality and should be referred for further checks and possibly early intervention, they said. Judith Gould of the National Autistic Society said there was good evidence that early intervention could help. But she also cautioned: “Just because a baby does not respond to their name does not necessarily mean that he or she has autism. “The diagnostic assessments for autism are thorough and wide-ranging, taking into account a variety of other factors such as eye contact, pointing and showing. “If parents are concerned about their child’s development, they should call the NAS helpline on 0845 070 4004 or seek the opinion of a medical professional.”  

More findings could be found on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6509469.stm 

Today at UN Headquarters in the General Assembly plenary room, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol were formally opened for signature, marking the first opportunity for States to become signatures and start the process to become States Parties.

The session began at 10am, and after initial statements by the President of the General Assembly, the Deputy Secretary General, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, countries who had played a leadership role in the Convention negotiations process (Mexico, Ecuador and New Zealand), and a representative of IDA and IDC, the official signing ceremony began.

It was previously predicted that approximately 45 States would sign today, but this number was more than exceeded!  81 States and the European Commission signed the Convention and 43 States signed the Optional Protocol.  All those signing today are considered the “first” to sign.  The UN Office of Legal Affairs noted that this represented the highest number of States ever to sign a human rights treaty on its opening for signature.  Jamaica also deposited its instrument of ratification, making it the first country to become a States Party to the Convention.  The list of those signing today is provided below.

The afternoon session involved a high level dialogue “”From vision to action: the road to implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.”  The dialogue was opened by statements by Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour.  There then followed statements by numerous Member States, a representative of National Human Rights Institutions, as well as DPI Chair Venus Ilagan (speaking on behalf of the IDC).  She noted in her remarks that the “rights-based” approach to disability at the core of the Convention is a basic shift in the way that disability is viewed globally.  She said “we people with disabilities have very high hopes and expectations for the success of the convention in the future.”  (A full copy of the speech is posted on the DPI website, a link to which is at the bottom of this bulletin.)

The ceremony today marked the first opportunity for States to start the process to become States Parties to the Convention.  It is hoped that many more States will sign soon, and that those signing today will follow Jamaica’s lead and ratify as soon as possible!

The following is a list of those who participated in the signing ceremony, provided in the order in which they participated.

Republic of Austria

Republic of Chile

Republic of Croatia

Kingdom of Denmark

Republic of Ecuador

Republic of El Salvador

Gabon

Republic of Indonesia

Italian Republic

Jamaica (also deposited its instrument of ratification for the Convention)

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Republic of Lithuania

New Zealand

Federal Republic of Nigeria

Republic of Panama

Republic of Poland

Portuguese Republic

Republic of Korea

Republic of Slovenia

Republic of South Africa

Kingdom of Spain

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Kingdom of Sweden

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentine Republic

Republic of Armenia

Australia

Kingdom of Belgium

Federated Republic of Brazil

Canada

Republic of Cape Verde

People’s Republic of China

Republic of Colombia

Republic of the Congo

Republic of Costa Rica

Republic of Cyprus

Czech Republic

Commonwealth of Dominica

Dominican Republic

Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Republic of Finland

French Republic

Federal Republic of Germany

Republic of Ghana

Hellenic Republic (Greece)

Republic of Guatemala

Republic of Honduras

Republic of Hungary

Republic of Iceland

Republic of India

Ireland

State of Israel

Republic of Kenya

Republic of Liberia

Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Republic of Malta

United Mexican States

Republic of Moldova

Kingdom of Morocco

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Republic of Nicaragua

Republic of Niger

Kingdom of Norway

Republic of Paraguay

Republic of Peru

Republic of San Marino

Republic of Seychelles

Republic of Sierra Leone

Republic of the Sudan

Republic of Surinam

Syrian Arab Republic

Kingdom of Thailand

Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Tunisia

Republic of Turkey

Republic of Uganda

United Republic of Tanzania

Republic of Yemen

European Commission

Damjan Tatic, CIL and Serbian representative at UN Ad hoc Committee, presented the UN Convention on rights of persons with disabilities on Monday, 26 of March, to members of Council for improvement the status of persons with disabilities within Serbian Government.  Special attention was dedicated to adjustments the certain parts of Convention with Serbian legislation. The Convention will be open for signing on 30 of March in New York and it is expected that Serbia will sign this document this spring.Ministry of Foreign Affairs already started the procedure for adoption the decision of signing the UN Convention.

SHARE SEE training on „Involvement of disability issued into the local policies“ for Belgrade cluster was held in Hotel Slavija on 13/14 of March. Milica Ruzicic-Novkovic, Dimitrije Gligorijevic and Dusko Savic facilitated the training for 19 participants, representatives of ten organisations of persons with disabilities.

On Thursday, 15th of March 2007 Red Cross Jagodina hosted the Round table on „Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities: The first document in new millenium on human rights“. The whole event was organised by Center for Independent Living Jagodina branch. The speakers at the Round table were representatives of local authorities and organisations of persons with disabilities from Jagodina and Damjan Tatic, representative of Center for Independent Living Serbia and representative of Serbia at UN Ad hoc Committee, which worked on the draft of convention.

All participants have got the brochure „Introduction to International Convention on rights of persons with disabilities“, edited and published by Center for Independent Living Serbia.

The Round table was the opportunity to analyse the measures for creating the accessible environment, access to informationa and support services for persons with disabilities in Jagodina.

This event was covered by local media agencies TV Palma+ and RT Jagodina.

The last training on „Involvement of disability issued into the local policies“ organised by CIL was held on 15/16th of March 2007 in Motel Predejane. This training facilitated Vojislav Mladenovic and Svetislav Marjanovic for the group of 13 extremely active participants, representatives of eight organisations of persons with disabilities.