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Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany, Norway and Russia Challenges and Perspectives By Halgeir Holthe 1
Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany, Norway and Russia
Challenges and Perspectives
By Halgeir Holthe
Report from the international conference “The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Practice: Experiences from Germany, Norway and
Russia” Arkhangelsk June 2013
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PREFACEThis book deals with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, as the title indicates. Throughout the text we
will give some practical examples of how the intentions of the
convention have been implemented in Germany, Norway and in Russia.
The report is best understood in a context of a rather long-term
engagement of the Association of Blind and Partially Sighted People in
Norway Troms County in cooperation with Disabled Peoples’
Organizations in North-West Russia. Since around 2001, we have
collaborated extensively with partners in Murmansk as well as in
Arkhangelsk. The aim has been to facilitate an exchange of experiences
among disabled persons facing quite different living conditions. But we
have also engaged teachers, education and service administrators as well
as politicians in a debate about how to facilitate integration among
persons with disability in the best possible manner.
One striking difference between Russia and Norway at present is the
level of local organization among disabled people themselves. It should
be fair to state that while Norway to a large extent have organizations of
disabled persons, in Russia the organizations are established by help
providers on behalf of persons with disabilities. We hope we have at
least to some extent been able to illustrate the importance of strong
political organization to our disabled Russian friends. At the same time,
these people have helped us keep our own arguments sharp, and our
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mutual activities have surely helped us face a serious problem of
diminishing recruitment of young disabled persons in Norway.
It has been my privilege to be asked to contribute to the projects briefly
described above right from the turn of the century 15 years ago. I am
glad not only for the stimulating practical and political challenges
presented to me, but also for the opportunities to meet people who would
else not have come my way.
Tromsø, 6 October 2014
Halgeir Holthe
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Table of Contents
PREFACE.................................................................................................................................................. 2
THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN PRACTICE by Halgeir Holthe.................................................................................................................................. 5
Part I. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: goals and perspectives at a national level..................................................................................................... 17
1. Wolfgang Baasch....................................................................................................................................... 18The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany..............................182. Berit Vegheim.............................................................................................................................................. 23Implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities in Norway.......233. Peter Klein.................................................................................................................................................... 34Implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities in Germany......................................344. Halgeir Holthe............................................................................................................................................ 40The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities: a blind man's perspective.. .405. Aleksandr Yevstegneev........................................................................................................................... 48On the experience from creating accessible environments for people with disabilities......48
Part 2. The UN Convention and the right to education..........................................................586. Ilya Ivankin.................................................................................................................................................. 59Providing conditions for the training of disabled children in educational institutions of the Arkhangelsk region....................................................................................................................................... 597. Gudrun Ytterstad....................................................................................................................................... 67Inclusion of disabled children in Norwegian schools – status and challenges.........................678. Klaus Mangold............................................................................................................................................ 75Isolation – Integration – Inclusion. How to support hearing-impaired children at school: Proposals based on practice from Schleswig - Holstein...................................................................759. Susanne Voß............................................................................................................................................... 85Education for mentally disabled people in Germany........................................................................8510. Maria Perfilieva....................................................................................................................................... 89Public campaign “Children Should Learn Together”. The activities of Disability Non-Governmental Organization “Perspektiva” aimed at promoting inclusive education...........89
Part 3. Employment: The UN Convention as an instrument for integration..................9211. Mikhail Novikov...................................................................................................................................... 93Facilitated workplaces: Experience and problems of its implementation in the Russian Federation........................................................................................................................................................ 9312. Wolfgang Medrisch............................................................................................................................... 102Employment of people with disabilities in Germany......................................................................102
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13. Roger Riise............................................................................................................................................. 109Integration of disabled people into the Norwegian labor market – possibilities and restrictions.................................................................................................................................................... 10914. Maxim Larionov.................................................................................................................................... 115Some aspects of situation improvement with hearing-impaired people employment in Russia.............................................................................................................................................................. 11515. Wolfgang Baasch.................................................................................................................................. 120Employment of people with disabilities in Germany......................................................................12016. Pavel Shevelev....................................................................................................................................... 124Employment of people with disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region: problems and perspectives.................................................................................................................................................. 124
Part 4. National legislation and the rights of persons with mental disabilities..........13117. Susanne Voß.......................................................................................................................................... 132The system of services for mentally disabled people in Germany.............................................13218. Tatyana Kulimanova........................................................................................................................... 137Guardianship of people with mental distress in the Arkhangelsk region...............................13719. Martin Ligmann.................................................................................................................................... 144Providing assistance for children with mental disabilities..........................................................14420. Galina Shashurina................................................................................................................................ 153Problems with protection of interests of persons with disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region.............................................................................................................................................................. 153
List of Authors........................................................................................................................................................ 158
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THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN PRACTICE by Halgeir Holthe
Prelude
On the 3rd of June 2013, Norway ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. By incidence, we opened our conference on “The UN Convention in practice” on the same day in Arkhangelsk, NW Russia. Both Russia and Germany had already ratified the convention, in 2012 and 2009 respectively. The aim of our seminar was to exemplify the implementation of the convention's regulations and recommendations as seen from Germany, Norway and Russia.
“Full participation and equality” has been the parole of the disability movement in Europe since the 1980’s. Still, many disabled persons face the risk of institutionalization, or being denied access to the labour market and to mainstream educational organizations. Characteristically, the Norwegian National Anti-discrimination legislation (The Norwegian Anti-Discriminatory and Accessibility Act) is restricted to services directed towards the public, omitting working life and schooling from its field of regulation since these spheres of society by some clever definitions are not being regarded as geared towards “the public”.
In Russia, institutionalization of disabled persons is still common practice, and the mainstreaming of children with special needs into 6
common local schools is in its beginning phase. Also in Norway and Germany, disable persons may be institutionalized if the municipal authorities find such arrangements suitable.
The rights of persons with disabilities have been the subjects of much attention in the United Nations over a long period of time. The most important outcome of the International Year of Disabled Persons in 1981 was the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (resolution 37/52 of 3rd December 1982). The Year and the World Programme of Action was taken to provide a strong impetus for change in the field. They both emphasized the right of persons with disabilities to the same opportunities as other citizens and to an equal share in the improvements in living conditions resulting from economic growth. For the first time, handicap was defined as a relationship between persons with disabilities and their surrounding community. Among the major outcomes of the Decade of Disabled Persons 1983-1992 was the adoption of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities by the United Nations' General Assembly on 20th December 1993 (resolution 48/96). Although not a legally binding instrument, the Standard Rules are believed to represent a strong moral and political commitment of Governments to take action to attain equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. During the 1990’s, these rules served as a foundation for policy-making and as a basis for technical and economical international cooperation, trying to secure equal opportunities for disable persons.
The Standard Rules consists of 22 articles summarizing the content of the World Programme of Action from 1982. The Rules incorporate the human rights perspective, in the field of disablement, which had been
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adopted during the 1980’s. The 22 rules consist of four chapters describing the - preconditions for equal participation, target areas for intervention, implementation measures, and the monitoring mechanism of the rules.
There are persons with disabilities in all parts of the world and at all levels in every society. The number of persons with disabilities is large and is growing. Both the causes and the consequences of disability vary throughout the world. Those variations are the result of different socio-economic circumstances and of the different provisions, which States make for the well-being of their citizens. The current disability policies are the results of historical processes over the past few hundreds of years. In many ways the disability policies reflects the general living conditions and social and economic policies of different times. In the disability field, however, there are also many specific circumstances that have influenced the living conditions of disabled persons. Ignorance, neglect, superstitions and fear are social factors that throughout the history of disability have isolated persons with disabilities and delayed their participation in society. Through education and rehabilitation, persons with disabilities became more active and at least to some extent a driving force in the further development of disability policy. After the Second World War, the concepts of integration and normalization were introduced, which reflected a growing awareness of the capabilities of persons with disabilities. Towards the end of the 1960’s, organizations of persons with disabilities in some countries started to formulate a new concept of disability. That new concept indicated the close connection between the isolation experienced by individuals with disabilities, the layout of their environments and the attitude of the public.
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A draft outline of the standard rules was prepared by Italy and presented to the General Assembly at its forty-second session. Further refinements concerning a draft rule document were made by Sweden at the forty-fourth session of the Assembly. However, on both occasions, no consensus could be reached on the suitability of such a convention. In the opinion of many representatives, existing human rights documents seemed to guarantee persons with disabilities the same rights as other persons.
The Economic and Social Council, at its first regular session of 1990, finally agreed to concentrate on the elaboration of an international instrument of a different kind than the standard rules. By its resolution 1990/26 of 24th May 1990, the Council authorized the Commission for Social Development to consider the establishment of an ad hoc working group to elaborate standard rules on the equalization of opportunities for disabled children, youth and adults. The subsequent discussions in the Third Committee of the General Assembly at the forty-fifth session showed that there was wide support for the new initiative to elaborate standard rules. At the thirty-second session of the Commission for Social Development, the initiative for standard rules received the support of a large number of representatives and discussions led to the adoption of resolution 32/2 of 20th February 1991.
The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for persons with Disabilities have been formulated on the basis of the experience gained during the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-1992). The International Bill of Human Rights, comprising the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
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Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons, constitute the political and moral foundation for the Rules. Although the Rules are not compulsory, they can become international customary rules when they are applied by a great number of States with the intention of respecting a rule in international law. They are taken to imply a strong moral and political commitment on behalf of States to take action for the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities. They provide a basis for technical and economic cooperation among States, the United Nations and other international organizations.
Since the standard rules were suggestive in character, the quest for a legally binding convention prevailed during the 1990’s. Finally, in May 2008 the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into force, and has so far been ratified by 147 of the United Nations Member States. An optional protocol was also put forward in close connection with the convention. The optional protocol assigns the right to individuals and organizations of the states ratifying the protocol to address the commission in case violations of the convention occur. This state of affairs may secure an external eye on specific local situations when national authorities fail to meet their obligations after ratifying the convention and the protocol. So far, Germany has ratified both the convention and its optional protocol, but Norway and Russia have still to ratify the optional protocol.
In all societies of the world, there are still obstacles preventing persons with disabilities from exercising their rights and making it difficult for them to participate fully in the activities of their societies. It is at least to some extent the responsibility of States to take appropriate action to
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remove such obstacles. But it should also be noted that full participation for disabled persons requires local organizations of disabled people themselves. Rules and conventions can hardly bring about local change on their own.
The conference
During late 2012, I wrote the application for funding of the project “The UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in practice” in cooperation with the Association of Blind and Partially Sighted People in Norway Troms County (NBf Troms). The application was delivered to the Norwegian Barents Secretariat in February 2013, and we received a positive response in early May the same year. A group of 8 Norwegians from NBf Troms and their partners went to Arkhangelsk in late May. The conference was organized at a city hotel during 3rd and 4th
of June 2013. The practicalities were handled by the Association of Disabled People’s Organizations in the Arkhangelsk region and its chairman Nikolay Myaxin. Myaxin organized the two working days of the conference, and invited the Russian and German participants. In addition to the 19 presenters at the conference, the Russian organizers gathered an audience of about 100 persons from the political establishment in Arkhangelsk, teachers, school leaders, service administrators and experts from throughout the Arkhangelsk region. Also, 3 experts from Moscow (including 2 from “Perspektiva” and 1 from “Istok-Audio”) were invited The conference was opened by welcome speeches from the Vice-Governor of Social Affairs in the Arkhangelsk region Mrs. Ludmila Kononova and member of the Federation Council of Russia, Mr. Konstantin Dobrynin. Also, the Honorary Consul of Norway to Arkhangelsk Andrey Shalev gave a welcome speech.
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The opening plenary session contained 5 speakers, chaired by Nikolay Myaxin. Mr. Wolfgang Baasch from the Schleswig-Holstein Commission on Social Affairs, Kiel, Germany opened the session with a description of experiences from implementing the UN Convention in Schleswig-Holstein. Mrs. Berit Vegheim, chair of the foundation “Stop Discrimination” in Norway continued by analyzing the compliancy of the Norwegian Discrimination and Accessibility Act with the regulations of the UN Convention. Vegheim’s careful analysis highlights certain gaps between the current Norwegian anti-discrimination legislation and the intentions of the UN convention. Mr. Peter Klein from the Kiel University of Applied Sciences, Germany, focused in his presentation on the challenges within the German educational system to meet with the regulations of the UN Convention. Mr. Halgeir Holthe from NBf Troms considered the general obstacles to a successful implementation of the UN Convention. Holthe stressed the need for a strong foundation among disabled persons themselves in order to insure a smooth adaption of the Convention in Norway. Mr. Yevstegneev from the group of companies “Istok-Audio”, Moscow, Russia emphasized on the accessibility to the physical environment as a presumption for the successful implementation of the UN Convention in Russia.
After the plenary session, the seminar was divided into three parts:
I. The UN Convention and the right to education, II. The UN Convention as an instrument for integration into the labour market, and III. The rights of persons with mental disabilities.
In the part concerning the UN Convention and Education, 5 contributions were presented. The session was chaired by Mr. Arne Eriksen from NBf Troms. Mr. Ilya Ivankin, Minister of Education and Science in the Arkhangelsk region, discussed the presumptions for 12
integrating disabled children into mainstream schools of the Arkhangelsk region. Ivankin focused on the need for a decrease in number of residential schools, in favour of local schooling of children with disabilities. Mrs. Gudrun Ytterstad from NBf Troms, presented an analysis of Norwegian experiences from the mainstreaming of disabled children. Ytterstad emphasized on the challenges for pupils with special needs as well as their teachers in a Norwegian mainstream school context. Mr. Klaus Mangold from the support centre for hearing impaired children in Schleswig described the German experiences from the mainstreaming of hearing impaired children in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The discussion about segregated teaching within special schools versus mainstreaming of children with sensory disabilities is still a challenging one, also in Germany. Mrs. Susanna Voß, chairman of “Lebenshife” in Ostholstein, Germany, continued by giving a description of the educational opportunities for children with intellectual disabilities in Ostholstein. Voß emphasized on gearing schooling towards the children’s abilities, instead of concentrating on their difficulties. Mrs. Maria Perfilyeva, programme director of “Perspektiva”, Moscow, focused on the need for enhancing educational opportunities within mainstream schools for Russian children with disabilities. Perfilyeva outlined the role of “Perspektiva” in raising awareness about the need for strengthening local schooling opportunities for Russian children with disabilities.
In the session about access to the labour market, 6 contributions were presented. This session was chaired by Mikhail Novikov, programme director from “Perspektiva” who also opened the session with his description of Russian experiences concerning facilitated work places for persons with disabilities. Novikov outlined the support system available to disabled persons when being integrated into facilitated work arenas. Mr. Wolfgang Medrisch, chairman of the foundation of Social Support for Eastern Europe in Kiel, Germany described the German 13
system for employment of persons with disabilities in protected work spaces in Germany. Medrisch describes different levels of protection and discusses the differences between integrating disabled persons within the open labour market versus protected working arenas. Mr. Roger Riise from NBf Troms, Norway analyzed the Norwegian policies for integrating people with disabilities into the labour market. Riise made a brief description of the Norwegian legislation in the field. He concludes that despite high qualifications, disabled people as a group are often underemployed in Norway. Mr. Maksim Larionov from the All-Russian Organization of People with Disabilities, Moscow, Russia described the Russian experiences when offering protected work spaces for persons with hearing impairments. Larionov focuses on the lack of information about state support when employing persons with disabilities throughout the Russian community, as well as on general hostile attitudes towards disabled job seekers in Russia. Mr. Wolfgang Baasch described in his presentation the employment schemes for severely disabled people in Germany. He emphasized on the 5 % quota system for employment of disabled persons in German firms. He concludes that this system is not at all fully adhered to by German employers but hopefully the ratification of the UN Convention may help to improve this situation. Mr. Pavel Shevelev, the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region, described state employment programmes for severely disabled people in the Arkhangelsk region. He emphasized on the need for enhanced information to the public, legal support of service receivers, and on strengthening of the training of professionals in North-West Russia.
Our final session concerned the integration of intellectually disabled persons, and was chaired by Mr. Nikolai Myaxin. 4 presentations were delivered during this session. Mrs. Susanne Voß analyzed the support 14
system in Germany for persons with intellectual impairments. She described state programs as well as services delivered by volunteer organisations to children, adults and families. Mrs. Tatiana Kulimanova, Deputy Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region described in her presentation state rehabilitation programmes for persons with intellectual impairments in the Arkhangelsk region. Mr. Martin Liegmann from the German Union for Child Welfare, Regional Department of Ostholstein, described the support system for children with intellectual disabilities in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Liegmann highlighted in his presentation the child’s transition from family to schooling. Finally, Mrs. Galina Shashurina lawyer in the Association of Disabled People’s Organizations in the Arkhangelsk region analysed the support system for severely impaired persons in the Arkhangelsk region and throughout the Russian Federation. In her presentation, Shashurina emphasized that only ¼ of the group of persons with intellectual disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region receive the state support, which they are entitled to.
The presentations were simultaneously translated between English, German and Russian during all sessions.
The rights of persons with disabilities
The situation of disabled people has not always been considered a human rights issue. Traditionally, disablement has primarily been regarded as sickness or dysfunctionality in the biological sense - if not simply seen as punishment by the gods. Hence, the life situation of these persons has to a large extent been regarded as self-explanatory and disabled persons’ marginal position within society has been closely linked to personal traits and medical conditions. In the decades after World War II, though, a more social approach to disablement was emerging, pointing to a mismatch or a conflict between individuals and
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their surrounding community. Disabled people themselves claimed that their marginal position within society as a whole to a large extent stemmed from certain attitudes within the larger population towards persons with disabilities, as well as from lacking accessibility to the physical environments of their communities.
It lies in the extension of a social reasoning about disablement that certain risks seem to be inbuilt in an unconditional acceptance of universal human rights as defined by the UN bureaucracy. First of all, disabled persons themselves may start to make these definitions for self-evident, and thus disconnect their own situation from the political efforts of their peers. Needless to say, the passivation which usually follows, does not contribute to an enhanced integration of disabled persons.
To conclude then, the history of personal rights in the West can be traced to the Magna Carta of 1215, the American Declaration of Independence of 1776 as well as to the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789. The individual rights described in these documents were national principles that applied to certain categories of citizens of the British, French and American national states. The rights put forward were not in any way universal, but are probably best perceived as principles protected by national law. On July 26th 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was ratified in the US, and has since been a model for anti-discrimination legislation in many countries. In Norway, the National Anti-Discrimination Legislation is meant to protect disabled people against any form of discrimination - even if the unemployment rate among people with disabilities is still disproportionately high.
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The report
For the purpose of this report, we have translated the German contributions into English and Russian (the presentations were delivered in German). Likewise, we have translated the Russian contributions into English, and the Norwegian papers into Russian and English (a couple of the Norwegian contributions were delivered in English by their authors though).
The translation of concepts and presentations from a European continental context into Russian and vice versa is not straight forward. Admittedly, it is a risky business, but we have tried to maintain a word to word translation of concepts as far as possible. On the other hand, the Russian language with all of its social aspects and specific ways of phrasing cannot be translated into English in an exact manner. The balance which has to be maintained is a delicate one indeed, but in any case we have not tried to be politically correct (as seen from a Scandinavian perspective).
The interest for the conference material has been considerable, not least from Russian teachers and experts in the field of special education. But we have also noticed questions from disabled people in Scandinavia about the situation in Russia. We hope that this report will contribute to a better understanding between disabled persons living in Europe and in Russia, as well as between experts in the field of disabilities interested in comparing the situation in Europe with a Russian context.
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Finally, a few words of acknowledgement. First of all, I must thank our main sponsor, the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. Without their sponsorship, our conference could not have been arranged. Our main partners in Arkhangelsk have been the Association of Disabled People’s Organizations in the Arkhangelsk region and their chairman Mr. Nikolay Myaxin. Myaxin and his staff handled all of the practicalities in Arkhangelsk, and saw to it that the conference also grew into a social event as well. The Association of Blind and Partially Sighted People
in Norway Troms County served as a conference secretariat during the initial phase of the project. Asgeir Larsen took care of the daily accounting, and organized the trip to Arkhangelsk on behalf of the Norwegian delegation. We hope that the responsibility for his blind and partially sighted comrades travelling Russia did not cause any grey hairs on his watchful head.
We used professional Russian translators to transform our German and English papers into Russian, and the Russian contributions into English. However, the initial translations turned out to be of varying quality to a considerable extent. Hence, Tatiana Solska and myself during the winter of 2013-14 worked our way through the texts and revised them thoroughly. Texts delivered in Norwegian had to be translated both into English and Russian. We revised the papers considerably, mainly thanks to Solska, who is fluent in Norwegian, English and Russian. We send our thanks to Victoria Kuznetsova, Wiktor Sosnowy, Anastastasia Semenova for their efforts helping us to carry out the translations.
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Part I. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: goals and perspectives at a national level
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1. Wolfgang Baasch
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in GermanyThe UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been the
legal basis in Germany since 26th March 2009.
In 2011, the government of the Federal Republic of Germany adopted the
strategy for implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities. Hereby the Federal Republic of Germany joined the process of development
of an inclusive society. Meanwhile, 10 of 16 German federal states have already
developed their own strategies on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. Six federal states, unfortunately including Schleswig-Holstein,
have not implemented it yet. It goes without saying that the new government of the
federal state Schleswig-Holstein which commences its duties in June 2012, promises the
following in its coalition treaty: “Together with all parties of interest we will develop the
appropriate strategy on the ground of the idea of inclusivity Alle inklusive.” This object
will be implemented by the parliamentary party of social democrats supporting the
administrative policies, the Greens and the Danish minority. The development of this
strategy will be carried out in close collaboration with responsible bodies. All the
process members should come into a dialog to facilitate this. At first, it is necessary to
create a monitoring body affiliated with the independent disability commissioner of the
federal state Schleswig-Holstein. Besides, work of a trans-regional office on inclusion
issues affiliated with the association “Lebenshilfe” of the federal state Schleswig-
Holstein will contribute to the implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of
persons with disabilities. I hope that I will be able to tell you in detail about the
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developed strategy and procedures for implementation of the UN Convention in
Germany, as well in Schleswig-Holstein.
About the situation concerning the implementation of the UN Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Germany:
There are about 8.6 million people with disabilities in Germany. That’s
almost one in ten resident of the Federal Republic of Germany. Only from 4 to 5%
of them have congenital disabilities. That means that the problem can affect
everybody. And if it is so then the interest in the topic should have wide social
coverage. Disabled people in Germany often lack individual, flexible and non-
bureaucratic support to facilitate their all-round participation in social life.
Disabled people can sometimes still be directed to the welfare offices in
cases when the needs are quite high. This means that free choice of the place of
residence or personal accommodation can be restricted. As before we in the
Federal Republic of Germany have a segregated aid-system for disabled people
with special schools for disabled children and multiple special organizations such
as workshops for people with disabilities that solves their work situation.
Here I want to point out the fact that in my federal state Schleswig-Holstein
the school inclusion is more than 50%. It means that more than 50% of pupils that
need special support go to ordinary schools. It is the maximum for the Federal
Republic of Germany.
Let's turn to the employment of disabled people and to the issues of their
participation in working life. I’d like to quote the words of the German trade
unions executive: “People with severe disabilities go under the radar of the federal
government and various enterprises. One in three enterprises does not employ
people with severe disabilities at all, one in two does not abide 5% quota
prescribed by law”. That is why the percentage of unemployment and material
poverty among disabled people is rather high in Germany. Unemployment is 15%,
which is two times higher than the national average.21
The present federal government planned to overhaul ‘The Act on Equal
Opportunities for Disabled Persons’ together with working out the strategy in
2011. This verification of law will not be be done this year (during the term in
office of the functioning government).
It also refers to the right to vote. People who cannot read and disabled
people should not be deprived of common participation in political life. But in this
case the federal government has not yet exercised the demands prescribed in
strategy.
On the whole, I covered some key points concerning the real-life situation
with disabled people in Germany and also the current status of the UN Convention
on the rights of persons with disabilities implementation process.
Further, I would like to introduce some points showing that there are some
ways to simplify the real-life situation of disabled people from work and freedom
of movement on out to situation with their accommodation.
1. Disabled people are safe from dismissal without valid reason.
Disabled persons’ dismissal demands the agreement of the integration service,
which is an independent government institution. The integration service should
consent the cancellation of an employment agreement.
2. Disabled people have the right to have an additional 5 days long
paid holiday a year.
3. Disabled people are supported in profession selection and in
examination of professional competence. The appropriate ways for professional
integration should be found during selection of a profession and examination of
professional competence. Professional training and advanced training institutes
financed by facilities of unemployment insurance and by pension insurance were
created to accomplish this.
4. There is a study grant. With these facilities an employment agency
supports professional integration of disabled people.22
5. Broadcasting license fees. People with disabilities in case of certain
conditions don't pay for license fees at all or pay a reduced price. To achieve this
they have to make an application for this reduced payment.
6. Public transport. Disabled people can use public transport, for
example, buses, regional trains and planes, free of charge or at reduced rates. There
are special coupons that define the granted discount depending on the degree of
disability. In cases of some types of disability, an attendant can accompany a
physically challenged person.
7. Motor vehicle driving. Disabled people can get tax remissions for
their car to facilitate the transportation. In this case, two times reduction of the tax
or remission from transport tax are possible, depending on the degree of disability.
8. Identification sign “Disabled”. With the help of that sign disabled
people have the right to park their cars at specifically marked parking spaces.
9. Disabled people or their parents can apply for granting tax
exemptions at the local tax office. For example, it is possible to make an
exemption to the value of 3700 Euros for childcare expenses or for unexpected
expenses, e.g., for a disabled person care.
10. Housing subsidy. This subsidy helps people with disabilities to get
supplement for defrayal of accommodation expenses. It is either a benefit for
defrayal of accommodation expenses or a payment to an owner of a house or an
apartment for defrayal of housing costs. The amount of this subsidy depends on the
number of family members, their income and rent cost, which is different
depending on a region or on an amount of accommodation expenses for an
apartment in a personal ownership.
These points illustrate how wide and comprehensive the support to disabled
people is. In my short list there could have been more statements, for example,
removal of barriers and creation of freedom of movement. The barriers are
obstacles preventing people moving on a wheelchair from entering some rooms. 23
Removal of these barriers means removal of communicational barriers. This is the
right to have a sign language interpreter or other types of communicational help
because the environment free of obstacles provides disabled people with
participation in social life and makes their participation easier.
In conclusion, I'd like to highlight one essential problem in Germany. This
problem is within the German legal system. In Germany, we have social laws
regulating public health service and rendering social care in cases of material
poverty, we have social laws regulating the lives of old people and issues of
pension insurance, and, of course, we have social laws regulating work relationship
and help in cases of unemployment. And as far as disabled people need all the
types of support they will be torn between different organizations of public health
service, social care, attendance, promotion of employment and other communities
providing financial support. This running about that makes most of disabled people
in Germany and their families suffer, should finally come to an end. That is why
we and me personally will use the UN Convention on the rights of persons with
disabilities to demand a passage of the law concerning the types of services
provided to disabled people to render assistance and support from only one
organization.
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2. Berit Vegheim
Implementing the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities in NorwayIntroduction
Norway ratifies CRPD today, June 3rd, five years and one month after it
entered into force. Norway has still not decided upon signing the Optional
Protocol, which gives an individual or an organisation the right to make a
complaint to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD). The CRPD Committee is the body, which monitors the implementation of
the Convention by the States Parties.
In the following I will speak about how the Convention can improve the life
of disabled people in Norway, emphasizing the obligations to eliminate
discrimination of any kind, with regard to accessibility, equality before the law and
independent living.
But first, I would like to give you a very brief summary of the human rights
history with regard to the failure to recognize disabled people as equal citizens.
Part I The history about disabled people and human rights is a history of
neglect, prejudice and discrimination
Although disabled people constitute the world’s largest minority, disability
is not mentioned in any of the three comprehensive human rights conventions: the
European Convention on Human Rights, ECHR, the International Convention on
Civil and Political Rights, ICCPR, and the International Convention on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, ICESCR.
The only exception to this neglect, but at the same time also showing how
disability was perceived at the time, can be found in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights from 1948. Here the right to social security is admitted on the 26
following grounds: “in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability,
widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his
control”.
Human rights experts insist that disability is covered by the category “other
status” in all three conventions. It is true that the UN conventions protect and
promote the human rights of everyone. But the States’ Parties have nevertheless
found it necessary to explicitly mention as many as eleven specific grounds in
order to draw the attention to the most important aspects of discrimination to be
taken into account, when fulfilling their obligations. The same eleven grounds are
explicitly listed in all three conventions mentioned above. Article 2 (2) ICESCR:
“The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the
rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination
of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion,
national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
The question to be asked is:
How was it possible to forget, just after World War II, what the Nazis had
done to disabled people; to forget euthanasia? The nations came together because
of what had happened during that war, in order to make the world a better place in
the future.
The explanation is to be found in the fact that disability has generally not
been perceived as a human rights issue in the same way as gender or race, but as a
medical and social issue.
Consequently, disabled people have not been recognized as citizens on equal
terms.
It was not until 1994 that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, CESCR, addressed the failure of not explicitly mentioning disability in
ICESCR:
27
The absence of an explicit, disability-related provision in the Covenant can
be attributed to the lack of awareness of the importance of addressing this
issue explicitly, rather than only by implication, at the time of the drafting of the
Covenant over a quarter of a century ago.
This explanation is, however, far from a full recognition of disabled people
as a discriminated group. Although the Committee confirmed the extremely
marginalized position that disabled people held in the post-war society, UN was
yet not ready in 1994 to include disability among the grounds explicitly listed in
the existing conventions, as is the case as well today.
Of greater concern at that time, however, was it that UN still failed to
acknowledge the urgent need for a disability specific convention. Despite the fact
that there had been serious efforts during the UN Decade for Disabled Persons
1982-1991, to convince UN about the need of a convention to guarantee disable
people the same human rights as all other citizens, UN maintained that existing
human rights instruments guaranteed disabled persons the same rights as other
citizens. Instead they agreed upon the UN Standard Rules for Disabled People,
which is not compulsory, just guiding principles, and can best be characterized as a
hybrid among the human rights instruments. And as time has shown, the Standard
Rules has been dealt with by the States in accordance with that status.
CRPD – the realisation of existing human rights
In principle, CRPD, the International Convention on the Protection and
Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, does not admit
disabled people new human rights. There is no doubt that the existing human rights
conventions protect all human beings. What CRPD does, however, is to identify
the disability specific challenges, and clarify what kind of measures must actually
be taken in order to ensure that all human rights can be fully enjoyed and exercised
28
by people with different impairments. While CRPD does not create new human
rights, the Convention certainly creates a lot of new obligations for the States
Parties to this convention, like ensuring accessibility, live assistance and
intermediaries, support and rehabilitation, as well as training of staff and
stakeholders.
Thus, we can say that disabled people had to wait for 60 years before we
were perceived as a human rights issue, and for 40 years before we were
acknowledged the same human rights as all other citizens.
Part II CRPD and the potential for change in Norway
Let us have a look at the core values of CRPD, which we find in Article 3
General Principles, they can be listed as below:
“dignity, individual autonomy (including the right to make one’s own
choices), non-discrimination, full and active participation and inclusion, respect
for difference, equality of opportunity, accessibility, equality between men and
women and respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities.”
You may wonder if values like dignity and individual autonomy have
another meaning in this Convention than in those previous conventions mentioned
above.
As many disabled people have experienced with great disappointment,
respect for individual autonomy or self-determination in a human rights
perspective, has had limited implications in their lives, since they are left on their
own to exercise their fundamental freedoms.
The main difference between CRPD and the other Conventions is that
throughout the whole Convention, the States Parties are obliged to take all
appropriate measures into account in enabling persons with disabilities to fully
enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
According to Article 5(1) General Obligations, the States’ Parties shall:
29
(b) “…take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or
abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute
discrimination against persons with disabilities” and
(e) “…take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination on the
basis of disability by any person, organization or private enterprise.”
1) Equality before the law
In the 1960’s, the States Parties were no doubt aware of the fact that the
citizens, who were most systematically deprived of the right to be equal before the
law, were those who were under legal guardianship and or forced to live their lives
in institutions for people with impairments. But they were obviously not concerned
about the practice of deeming these citizens to legal incapacitation and lifelong
segregation, or what can be called “civil death”.
Forty years later, during the drafting process of CRPD, the legitimacy of
national legislation denying anyone the enjoyment of legal capacity was
questioned and debated. Although Article 12 of CRPD Equal Recognition before
the Law makes it very difficult to deny anyone the right to exercise legal capacity,
IDA (International Disability Alliance) insisted that it should be illegal to do so
under all circumstances.
Due to the general obligations in Article 4 (b), Norway decided to modify
the Act of Guardianship, and construct a new monitoring system, in accordance
with Article 12, before the ratification of CRPD.
CRPD (Article 12) obliges the States Parties to take appropriate measures to
support those who may require it, and provide for appropriate and effective
safeguards to prevent abuse. The support shall be given for the shortest time
possible. The article gives detailed guidelines about the function of the safeguards
and about the monitoring system, which is required to prevent abuse.
30
2) Accessibility
2.1 The Norwegian Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act
Let me first give you a short presentation of the Norwegian Anti-
Discrimination legislation.
In 2009, Norway got a comprehensive anti-discriminatory law, in English it
is named the Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act (hereafter referred to as the
Act or the Anti-Discrimination Act). Before 2009, disabled people were only
legally protected against discrimination in the field of employment, as Norway
implemented the EU directive 2000/78/EC in 2001.
The Anti-Discrimination Act is a civil law and it is disability specific.
The Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment, instruction
and reprisals, and denial of individual and general accommodations.
The Act defines general accommodation as universal design. According to
section 9, both public and private entities have the obligation:
“to ensure the universal design of the undertaking's normal function
provided this does not entail an undue burden for the undertaking.”
In addition, section 12 requires reasonable accommodation, which means an
individual accommodation, but this obligation is restricted to employers, school
authorities and municipalities.
The specialised body enforcing the Act is the Equality and Anti-
discrimination Ombud, in short LDO (hereafter referred to as the Ombud).
This body was established in 1979 to enforce the Gender Equality Act.
Today, the Ombud enforce all civil anti-discrimination legislation, which consists
of three comprehensive Anti-Discrimination Acts protecting on the ground of
gender, ethnicity/religion and disability, and in addition some non-discrimination
31
provisions in other legislation protecting on the ground of age and sexual
orientation.
The Ombud makes decisions, but has no sanctions for violation of the anti-
discrimination legislation. To get a legally binding decision, one must appeal to the
Equality and Anti-discrimination Tribunal.
The Tribunal may also impose moratorium fines to those who do not abide
by the Tribunals decision. At the moment, the government considers a proposal set
forward by a committee, to give the Tribunal authority to decide in cases
concerning redress for non-economic loss.
During the first four years, the Ombud has received more than 400
complaints on the ground of disability, out of which about 60 % concerns universal
design. In fact, the amount of disability-cases is about the same as for all the other
grounds together.
The Ombud also gives advice and has received hundreds of calls from
disabled people about their rights under the Anti-Discrimination Act.
2.2. The Anti-Discrimination Act is not in compliance with the CRPD
It may surprise you when I tell you that the Norwegian anti-discrimination
legislation does not fulfil the requirements of the CRPD, when it comes to ensuring
accessibility.
Although the requirement set forward in section 9, sited above, to ensure
universal design, i.e. accessible physical conditions, is a radical one, it does not
ensure access to goods and services for all. A lot of disabled people will need
personal assistance from the service provider to be able to enjoy or acquire goods
and services.
According to CRPD Article 2 discrimination is defined as:
“Discrimination on the basis of disability means any distinction, exclusion
or restriction on the basis of disability which has the purpose or effect of impairing
or nullifying the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal basis with others, 32
of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field. It includes all forms of discrimination, including
denial of reasonable accommodation (our underlining).”
Whereas reasonable accommodation is defined in this way:
“Reasonable accommodation means necessary and appropriate
modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden,
where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the
enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms.”
In Article 4, which describes the overall obligations, the Member States are
obliged to make use of all relevant means, a requirement which is more
specifically described in Article 5(3):
“In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, State Parties
shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is
provided.”
At this point there can be no doubt that the Member States are obliged to
ensure reasonable accommodation.
While the concept of reasonable accommodation in CRPD is to be
understood as an individual accommodation, the requirements of Article 9
Accessibility, concerns general accommodations. Article 9 contains a detailed
description of what kind of measures are to be taken to ensure the full enjoyment
and exercise of the human rights in the convention. Both States Parties and private
entities are obliged to take into account all aspects of accessibility and to take all
appropriate measures to ensure accessibility to the physical environment,
transportation, information and communications, including IC technology and
systems, and to all other facilities and services open to the public.
Article 9 (2b) obliges State Parties to:
33
“ensure that private entities that offer facilities and services which are open
or provided to the public take into account all aspects of accessibility for persons
with disabilities.”
The concept all appropriate measures is as comprehensive as can be,
requiring both physical and technological measures, and non-physical measures as
all forms of live assistance and intermediaries, including guides, readers and
professional sign language interpreters and formats like braille and easy to read.
According to the Norwegian Anti-Discrimination Act, however, it is not a
case of discrimination if disabled people are denied access to goods and services,
even if there are neither practical nor financial reasons for not ensuring
accessibility; that is, the Act provides an opportunity to deny disabled people
accessibility even when this does not imply an undue burden.
2.3 Failing to address the heterogeneity of disability
You may ask why the Norwegian Act does not ensure the right to goods and
services for all disabled people, and the explanation is simple. The commission
which were set up to make a draft statute, was seriously mistaken when claiming
that universal design ensures an equal access to services, except for a small group,
in Chapter 10.12.3.2:
“The Commission is aware that universal design thus does not solve the
practical difficulties that persons with severe cognitive impairments may
experience in different fields of society. The acknowledgement that a small
minority” is excluded from” the target group of the commissions accessibility
regulation, is a part of the reasoning for the commission’s majority proposal of
certain specific rules…”
This is an erroneous inference with fatal consequences.
34
The commission seemed to have forgotten that the primary objective of the
Act is to ensure that disabled people get the same right to participation in all areas
of society, which definitely includes benefiting from goods and services. Instead of
basing themselves on this objective, the commission took as its point of departure
one of several means; that is a specific method of adaptation; universal design. The
commission explicitly states that the legal requirement is not including services as
such, because:
“Services as such are not part of the physical conditions.” (Viz. NOU 2005:
8, Chapter 10.12.3.2)
Despite all our efforts to convince the Government and the MPs about the
failure of the Commission to address the heterogeneity of the disabled population,
no modifications were made.
The Act does not ensure access to goods and services for disabled people
when:
1) The service cannot be universally designed.
Services do not necessarily consist of physical conditions, for instance,
information services;
2) The service cannot yet be universally designed.
This may be because of lack of technological solutions or resources.
Furthermore, there will be need for other solutions pending already existing
buildings/material to be universally designed;
3) The service remains inaccessible with universal design.
Many customers/consumers are dependent on personal services because they
cannot operate the self-service systems like automats and machines. They are
unable to communicate with objects and devices. Some physical conditions cannot
be universally designed in a way that becomes practically operable for the
35
customer, for instance, electronic queuing systems, or are impractical for the
service provider to keep updated, like menus or day-to-day offers.
Thus, the Norwegian Anti-Discrimination Act does not meet the
requirements of CRPD; Article 4 (b): take all appropriate measures, Article 9 (2b):
to take into account all aspects of accessibility, and Article 5(3): take all
appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodation is provided.
3) Living independently
Finally, a few words about the right to live independently in Article 19, with
all its implications, this may appear to be a new right. Article 19 - Living
independently and being included in the community states that:
“States Parties to this Convention recognize the equal right of all persons
with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others, and shall
take effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with
disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community,
including by ensuring that:
(a) Persons with disabilities have the opportunity to choose their place of
residence and where and with whom they live on an equal basis with others and
are not obliged to live in a particular living arrangement.
(b) Persons with disabilities have access to a range of in-home, residential
and other community support services, including personal assistance necessary to
support living and inclusion in the community, and to prevent isolation or
segregation from the community.
(c) Community services and facilities for the general population are
available on an equal basis to persons with disabilities and are responsive to their
needs.”
36
In Norway, as in the rest of the world, the situation is far from the
description given here. Many disabled people under the age of 70, including many
young persons, live in institutions for elderly or sick people, for no other reason
than their impairment. Further, the municipalities have built and continue to build
institution-like houses, which are called homes, where people with different
impairments and social problems are placed together. This has been highly
criticized by disability organisations, researchers and some politicians.
We can therefore conclude that Norway has a long way to go, before
disabled people can enjoy the fundamental civil rights and freedom to choose a
place to live.
37
3. Peter Klein
Implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities in Germany
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into
effect in Germany on March 26th, 2013. The Federal Republic is one of 128 states
that have signed this international Convention that specifies the rights of persons
with disabilities and guarantees their ability to participate in social life.
The ways these obligations have to be fulfilled are described in the plans
made by Germany and its federal states, although six out of 16 states have not yet
made their plans.
According to this criterion, North Rhine Westphalia is the leader (its state
government published the action list on March 26th, 2010), while Saxony, that has
not yet attempted to provide any detailed and accurate plans, is at the bottom of the
rating.
What do these action plans contain? What do they mean in the context of
realization of these rights? Is it enough to take legislative measures and action
plans for the executive authorities?
Such prescriptions as conventions, laws, action plans are effective only in
case they are actually fulfilled!
The body within the German Institute for Human Rights in Berlin
monitoring the realization of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities is aimed to assist the realization of rights of the disabled and their
protection according to the Convention as well as to control its implementation in
the whole country.
I am not going to introduce the plans mentioned above in detail as I am short
of time, but I would like to say that they are practically identical. In most cases 38
they include a few areas or spheres that are vital for realization of such rights as
right to equality and participation in social life; as a whole, they are based on the
articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
1. accessibility, communication, information and independent mode of
living;
2. education and lifelong learning;
3. work and employment;
4. health, rehabilitation and care;
5. participation in political and social life;
6. sport, culture and tourism;
7. women and girls (gender);
8. children and teenagers;
9. development of consciousness.
Life circumstances of the disabled in Germany are not fully examined by the
present day (Marianne Hirschberg from the body monitoring the realization of the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: ‘Collection of
information concerning life situation and rights of the disabled is the key to the
effective policy for the disabled’, p.4). There is a lack of information about certain
life circumstances of the disabled and some types of disabilities. It is important to
know how the disabled live and what needs and demands they have. For a long
time disability was seen as a purely medical issue, and the disabled were
considered to be people who need social care. They were not considered subjects
having rights.
Moreover, the group of the disabled is not homogeneous. The collected
information and statistic calculations do not fully reflect this variability and variety
of life circumstances connected to it. Here we should make a few amendments.
If to speak about the realization of the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities in Germany, it should be assumed that ‘something’ has 39
already been done. The federal government made the first report on the
implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
and pointed out that Germany did not start this process from scratch. There are
numerous laws, instructions, measures and projects at the federal, state and
municipal levels that are providing the realization of right on independent living,
participation in social activities and inclusion of the disabled. In 1994 after the
antidiscrimination law had been included in the Constitution, a new paradigm was
adopted in Germany. The following measures (I am going to give a few examples)
were taken at the federal level – the Law on rehabilitation and participation of
persons with disabilities in social life (Social Security Code IX), Law on Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, Common Equality Law, the Achievements in spheres of
social welfare, professional and medical rehabilitation.
The so-called BRK-ALLIANZ - Alliance of German Non-governmental
Organizations (established in January 2012) decided to follow critically the
implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in
Germany. The Alliance assesses the government’s evaluation of the
implementation of the UN Convention in Germany and is making its own parallel
report. The Alliance is constituted by 78 organizations most of which represent the
associations that are realizing the rights of the disabled (the associations
established by the persons with disabilities, self-help unions for the disabled, social
and charity unions, trade associations of the disabled, unions of psychiatrists,
unions of parents and trade unions).
The Alliance points out that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities requires Germany and its states to take significant actions as
human rights in the country are not fully realized yet. This also applies to the
policies for the disabled. The National Action Plan (NAP) that concerns the
implementation of the UN Convention in Germany (approved by the federal
government in June 2011) does not fully meet the intentions of the Convention. 40
The Plan includes over 200 different measures. To some extent, these measures are
not ambitious enough (see for example the new edition of the booklet on
reconstruction of buildings for elderly disabled persons) and do not take into
consideration specific interests of persons with disabilities (Patient Protection
Law). According to the German Disability Council (this council represents over
2.5 million people uniting all major organizations of the disabled and chronically
ill), the report from the BRK-ALLIANZ allows for the conclusion that the federal
government does not take its responsibilities concerning persons with disabilities
in Germany seriously enough and proves that the realization of the Convention has
not progressed in the way which it is supposed to.
The BRK-ALLIANZ report states that the objective aims, which are to be
achieved through the measures of the action plan, are not well formulated. The
report indicates, for example, insufficient determination of the authorities. Despite
significant increase in unemployment among persons with severe disabilities, the
federal government wants ‘to strengthen interest’ of employers and only ‘assist
them’ in matters of training and employment of persons with disabilities instead of
making specific plans on employment of the disabled. Here I raise the question if
we need to make one more step forward and consider sanctions for formulating of
ineffective goals. The employer who does not provide work for the prescribed
number of the severely disabled has to be obliged to pay back the compensation
fee that the he gets for each work place. The obligation to pay back a compensation
fee is a ‘distressful’ measure for the employer and it cannot be paid, as we say in
Germany, ‘out of the pocket’ (in comparison with paying the salary) except for the
cases when the work place cannot be occupied by a person with severe disabilities.
The statements made by the Alliance can be fully agreed with, but it has to
be pointed out that the realization of the action plan needs the specification of
goals and time frames. This would help to assess the success of implementation of
the Convention more effectively. Moreover, the measures of the Action plan were 41
only financed when income and property of the employer were not sufficient to
provide technical or personal assistance (sign language interpreters, reading
assistant) to the disabled employee that is demanded by the Article 2 of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Alliance presented its 16 pages report on the implementation of the
Convention to the UN Human Rights Council in Genève.
Let me especially underline one aspect of the implementation of the
Convention here – participation of the disabled in public life. At the international
level the Convention has been discussed under the slogan: “Nothing about us
without us.” Now I am short of time and for that reason cannot approach the issue
scientifically. The University of Hamburg is arranging an interesting scientific
conference “Creating networks of multiply discriminated people” (6th-8th June).
Actually, the disabled should investigate different ways of actioning! It is
necessary to work in unions, commissions, public organizations and parties!
Personal participation is important. Never give up! Only permanent active work
leads to success. That is why the disabled should contribute as much as they can.
Associations that work within the German Disability Council proposed specific
actions to be added to the action plan. Despite multiple reminders, the federal
government, unfortunately, has not reacted. However, the slogan encourages us:
‘Keep on acting!’
In this context, I would like to make a small note based on my personal
experience. For many years I have been a member of the Disability Council of
Kiel. Along with other functions, the Council represents the disabled of Kiel
publicly and administratively, assists the joint work of all organizations of the
disabled, consults the administration on realization of different measures and
shows possible ways of improvement in work with the disabled.
This Council has work groups created especially for implementation of the
Convention. These work groups focus on accessibility to buildings, accessibility of 42
events, streets and squares, public transport facilities, institutions, relationship
barriers, and also there are groups that work on the plan of assistance to the
disabled in Kiel, the capital of the federal state. In 2007, ‘Local Plan of Assistance
for Persons with Disabilities in Kiel’ was approved. It was revised in 2010, so that
the plan was brought into compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. The city is making annual list of actions on realization of
the plan. The approved actions are reported to the city parliament (session of the
Council) that confirms them based on the city budget. Of course, there are certain
financial limitations but in most cases the proposed measures are not too expensive
(construction of ramps, lowering of pavements, installation of railings, making of
booklet for wheelchair users, city map with simple notes, integrated theater, sport
project – here are only few examples). We have to fight carelessness. There is a
work group within the Kiel City Council ‘No barriers in minds’! It is necessary to
develop consciousness!
We achieve success even by small steps!
The fact that still a lot has to be changed occurred to me in March 2013 in
one of the five star hotels in Berlin. The wheelchair users could enter this famous
hotel only through the side entrance that leads to the luggage room. An accessible
hotel? - No! I spoke about my concerns to the management of the hotel in Berlin.
And I asked myself, how could that hotel get a five star status taking into account
those major issues of accessibility?
By the way, is the situation in Pur-Navolok Hotel any better? In our
conference room?
As you see, ladies and gentlemen, a lot has to be done! I strongly believe
that improvement of the situation of the disabled and the implementation of the
Convention are long processes. Speaking about length of the process I mean
scientific discussions, discussions in educational institutions, in media and in civil
society as a whole.43
I have already mentioned the event-taking place in Hamburg. At the same
time the Protestant University of Applied Sciences Rhineland-Westphalia-Lippe in
Bochum invites you to take part in the international conference ‘Practical
Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’.
The challenges of the Convention are set not only for the service sector but also for
educational institutions that are also obliged to work according to the principles
prescribed by the Convention. From my personal experience I can say that
educational institutions are working on accessibility of their buildings and
development of new approaches to their services, didactics in teaching and
consulting to meet the demands of the disabled students.
If we, here I mean the disabled, remain active, the improvement of the
situation will become more likely. I rely on it.
44
4. Halgeir Holthe
The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities: a blind man's perspective1. Entrè
One of the founding ideas underpinning the United Nations' Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities1 is that disabled people should no longer be
regarded as individuals with disfavourable traits or characteristics. Instead, they
should be understood as persons with specific rights in their meetings with the
larger community. According to such a reasonnement, disabled people are best
perceived simply as human beings enjoying the same rights as any member of the
so-called ablebodied population. On my own account though, I would like to add
that the equality of rights of course involves the subjection to equal duties as well.
Statements of this type may be regarded as self-evident within the
framework of a welfare state of the Scandinavian type. Welfare benefits and
national legislation may in many cases secure a smooth opportunity for integration
in society of any disabled person, say for instance in a Norwegian context. This
may indeed be the case prior to the ratification of the UN Convention in Norway.
45
But even in a privileged context such as Norway, there may be many
obstacles and barriers to equality and full participation for disabled people. Hence,
my line of arguments in this text goes as follows:
1. Equality and participation for disabled people within society does not
simply follow from rules, regulations or conventions as such, but rely on the
concrete actioning and attitudes within the community as a whole.
2. Legislation and regulations may create a context for the integration of
disabled people, but is not in itself sufficient to ensure equality and full
participation for all.
3. A working civil society where disabled people themselves promote own
interests is probably a necessary presumption for the integration of all citizens.
2. The workings of the UN Convention
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be
ratified by Norwegian authorities in June 2013. The responsibilities of the
convention will be administered by the Ministry of Children, Equality and Social
inclusion and its Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud. Any complaints lodged
by disabled people’s organisations or by individual person may be addressed to the
Equality and Anti-discrimination Tribunal. If this in the end does not lead to an
agreed conclusion, the case may be subjected to court ruling.
The point is that Norway already has an anti-discrimination legislation prior
to the ratification of the UN Convention. It is by reference to these legislations that
Norway refuses to sign and to ratify the optional protocol connected to the
convention on the rights of people with disabilities. It is then reasonable to suggest
that disabled people's organisations and their members are being bereaved of an
important body of appeal, when it turns out that the Tribunal on Equality and Anti-
discrimination or the court system actually has little or no insight in the life-
situation of disabled people.
46
Already from the start it is clear that the Norwegian national anti-
discrimination legislation has certain blind zones: for some reason, universal
design of information, tools and equipment relating to both the sectors of education
and of labour are excluded from the legislation in its current form. Also, access to
goods and services for disabled people is not a theme in the current anti
discrimination legislation. Hence, the ratification of the UN Convention may
potentially serve as a context for inclusion of the education sector and working life
when attempting to protect disabled people from discrimination.
At a national level, Article 33 of the UN Convention identifies three
mechanisms that are relevant for the implementation and monitoring of the
convention.
First, States have to designate one or more focal points within government
for matters relating to implementation; second, States have to give due
consideration to the establishment or designation of a coordination mechanism
within government to facilitate actions across sectors and at different levels; and
third, States have to establish or designate a framework that includes one or more
independent mechanisms to promote, protect and monitor the convention’s
implementation.
At the international level, Article 34 establishes the Committee on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities, a committee of independent experts with several
functions at an international level. First, on the basis of periodic reports received
from States and other interested parties such as national monitoring mechanisms
and civil society organizations, the Committee engages in a constructive dialogue
with States on the implementation of the convention, and issues concluding
observations and recommendations for follow-up action to improve and strengthen
implementation. Second, the Committee holds days of general discussion, open to
the public, during which it discusses issues of general interest arising from the
convention. Third, the Committee may issue authoritative statements, known as 47
general comments, to clarify specific provisions in the convention or specific
issues arising in the implementation of the convention.
3. The function of the optional protocol
The Optional Protocol gives the UN Committee authority to receive
complaints, known as communications, from individuals or civil organisations
alleging violations of any of the convention's provisions by a State that has ratified
the Optional Protocol. The Committee may present its views after considering the
complaint in the light of the comments from the State concerned.
The Optional Protocol also provides the Committee with an opportunity to
undertake inquiries in States Parties if it receives reliable information indicating
grave or systematic violations of the Convention.
It is characteristic for the Norwegian integration policies that Norway
hesitates to ratify or even sign the optional protocol. This, of course, prevents an
external eye from a clear view on the situation of the disabled people in Norway. It
should be noted that most of the UN Human Rights Instruments are associated with
an optional protocol, say for instance the convention of the rights of the child, the
convention relating to the status of refugees and the convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women2, 3. In all of these cases, Norway
has ratified the optional protocols. In the last case, the signature and the ratification
were maid on December 10th, 1999 and on March 5th, 2002 respectively4.
The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities is only one
human rights instrument among a series of other such instruments supporting the
general charter on human rights. The development of these instruments started just
after World War II, i.e., in the late 1940’s. It took a long time though, until the
rights of disabled persons were put on the agenda. In table 1, I list the United
Nations human rights instruments and their year of enforcement. In Norway, the
48
discrimination of disabled people was virtually a none-theme up till 2001, when
the Manerak committee published their report5.
When the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities was opened
for ratification in 2008, significant countries remained passive. This passivity is
often justified by reference to national legislation on antidiscrimination. It should
be fair to state that this passivity also serve so as to cover up blind zones in the
national legislation, and if the optional protocol is not ratified, disabled persons
loose an important body of appeal. In table 2, I have shown show a selection of
countries, which have or have not ratified the convention. In Europe, the EU
countries seemingly operate more or less as a block in these matters. Among those
countries lagging behind in the ratification process are Norway and Iceland
(outside the EU block), but also countries such as Finland, Holland, and Ireland.
Table 1: The United Nations' human rights instruments and their year of
enforcement.
1. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide (1951)
2. The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1954)
3. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (1969).
4. The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the
Crime of Apartheid (1973).
5. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976).
6. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(1976).
49
7. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against
Women (1981).
8. The Convention against Torture (1987).
9. The Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990).
10. The Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (1991).
11. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All
Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (2003).
12. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008).
13. The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance (2010).
Table 2: Year of ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities for some selected countries.
Country Convention Ratification
Year
Optional Protocol
Ratification Year
Germany 2009 2009
Russia 2012 -
50
Norway - -
Austria 2008 2009
Belgium 2009 2009
Denmark 2009 -
Finland - -
France 2010 2010
Greece 2012 2012
Hungary 2007 2007
Iceland - -
Ireland - -
Italy 2009 2009
Netherlands - -
Portugal 2009 2009
Romania 2011 -
Spain 2007 2007
Sweden 2008 2008
UK 2009 2009
Australia 2008 2009
Canada 2010 -
China 2008 -
Japan - -
New Zealand 2008 -
USA - -
To sum up then, it may be said that disabled people had to wait for a fairly
long time until the international community chose to focus on protection against
discrimination of impaired persons. At a national level in Norway, disabled
51
persons are still not protected against discrimination in important areas such as the
labour market and in the school system. Neither do they have full access to goods
and services delivered to citizens in general.
4. Conclusions
I have claimed that the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of
Disabled People may not be enough in itself to secure equality and full
participation for disabled people at a national level. However, the convention may
contribute to the creation of an international perspective on disabled people’s
situation in Norway, and the UN Committee may in practice be an important body
of appeal for the national protection of disabled people from discrimination.
In Norway, disabled people have a fairly long history of organization. We
make a distinction between organizations for disabled people, and organizations of
disabled people themselves. Obviously, protection from discrimination rests
heavily on a functional civil society, where disabled people themselves promote
own rights and interests. The for-organizations with their inbuilt aspects of charity
may, of course, try to promote disabled peoples' rights. But they appear as a
double-edged sward since they effectively block disabled peoples' own experiences
from direct participation in society, and since their primary function is to provide
their staff with bread and butter.
References
52
1. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=259. Accessed May
20,2013.
2. https://treaties.un.org/Pages/Error.aspx#EndDec . Accessed May
20,2013
3. http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?
src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=V-5&chapter=5&lang=en. Accessed
May 20, 2013.
4. http://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?
src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-8-b&chapter=4&lang=en. Accessed
May 20, 2013.
5. The Manorak committee (2001): Fra bruker til borger. En strategi
for nedbygging av funksjonshemmende barrierer. NOU 22:2001-
2002. Ministry of Labour. Oslo.
http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/ad/dok/nouer/2001/nou-2001-
22.html?id=143931. Accessed May 22, 2013
53
5. Aleksandr Yevstegneev
On the experience from creating accessible environments for people with disabilities
Introduction
In 2011-2013, “Istok-Audio” company group (IA) implemented pilot and
other projects including the State pilot project “Accessible environment” aiming at
the creation of an accessible environment in 7 regions of Russia. Today, the IA has
completed projects in 900 Institutions of Social Welfare, Culture, Sports,
Transport, Education, Pension Fund, etc. The company’s experience from creation
of an accessible environment in educational institutions is worth noticing. These
experiences are relevant today from the point of view of the new “Law on
Education” which introduces inclusive education in Russia. According to the Law,
educational institutions should not only provide accessible buildings but also
accessible learning environment`s for all groups of people with disabilities. This is
a topic of another conference, which I hope will be organized and held in the
Arkhangelsk region in the near future.
THE MAIN FINDINGS FROM THE PILOT PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION
When implementing the pilot project of the State program we were faced
with a number of systemic problems. The first part of my presentation is devoted to
these problems.
The main conclusion drawn during the implementation of the pilot project is:
ONLY A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
AN ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENT WILL HELP TO FULFIL THE GOALS OF
THE STATE PROGRAMME.
But before turning to the components of the comprehensive approach I
would like to talk about the reasons why the quality of the projects sometimes is
insufficient.
54
Firstly, heads of the institutions and managers of the higher regional rank
where the accessibility projects are being implemented, do not always have full
information about the ways and means to create an accessible environment, which
a serious problem. And local companies offer only limited solutions. Organizations
often implement only fragments of projects aiming at creating an accessible
environment. But I believe they also realize this state of affairs. Needs for
accessibility among persons with disabilities are not fully served. And this is a
clear shortcoming from a technical point of view. 70% of the buildings in which
aid institutions are located are old, or they are monuments of architecture. Standard
decisions and designs for accessibility cannot be applied under these conditions.
So, a comprehensive approach to achieve the programme goals is necessary
We have identified 5 problem areas. Some of them will be considered in
details. They are:
● Ensuring accessibility to buildings and premises and to transport FOR
ALL CATEGORIES OF DISABLED PEOPLE;
● Taking into account requirements of NGOs to meet ALL NEEDS of
disabled users of buildings;
● Arranging a series of TRAININGPROGRAMS for managers;
● FULL CYCLE OF CONTRACTOR’S WORK and high level of
Contractor’s qualification;
● Government financing and activity of the State should have a wider
scope than just providing access to the physical environment.
What does the comprehensive approach really mean? From the point of view
of a contractor – he must provide the full cycle of program implementation: a
contractor should study the requirements of associations of people with disabilities
and also needs of individual disabled users of institutions. A contractor should also
develop and coordinate the design of further equipping of the building, which
includes procedures to ensure the accessibility of buildings for all disability 55
categories. A contractor should implement a project from the beginning to the end.
And this is very important. He should deliver, install and start up the equipment,
provide technical follow-up, train the personnel, and render lifelong maintenance
service for the equipment.
Secondly, it is impermissible to contractors with low level of proficiency,
because it may affect health conditions and safety of persons with disabilities.
Enterprises manufacturing the equipment and contractors should be certified
according to the standards of Quality Management ISO-9001.
Operational stage in the accessible building begins when all the works have
been performed. But provision of financing of the further operation and service
maintenance of the equipment, purchase of wear and tear parts are to be made in
advance in order to avoid further problems.
In addition to provide access to the building’s and premises of educational
institutions, it is required to ensure an accessible learning environment (including
the system of inclusive education). It is necessary to think about the equipping of
educational institutions with modern technical aids for all disability categories and
about software systems which allow implementation of rehabilitation and training
activities and about the development of methods of support.
Creation of an accessible environment expands opportunities of people with
disabilities in the sphere of employment. In this connection it is necessary to
ensure complex equipment of workplaces and create an accessible
infrastructure.
As for individual rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, it is necessary to
annually amend the List of Technical Rehabilitation Equipment (TRE), which
is provided to disabled people for free, as creation of an accessible environment
provides disabled people with additional opportunities (e.g. clothes for wheelchair
users, additional means of communication etc). Moreover, there appear new high-
tech rehabilitation facilities that should also be included into the TRE list, as for 56
example, implantable bone conduction hearing aids, etc. And this should be
done at a national level.
Creation of an accessible environment also implies psychological training
of employees in the institutions that actually deal with this problem, as the
personnel there, must learn the ethics of communication with disabled people. It is
an important problem that should be solved at federal, regional and municipal
levels.
There are 2 basic recommendations:
1) Implementation of a COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH to promoting
an accessible environment for disabled people
2) Ensuring information support to the managers of institutions, experts, and
NGOs for people with disabilities by means of training and organisation of
practical activities related to creation of an accessible environment. We need to
plan and implement a series of trainings at a regional level and involve specialists
and institutions having considerable experience in implementation of projects
aimed at creating an accessible environment.
THE SECOND PART OF MY PRESENTATION is devoted to the
specific practical activities aimed to provide different parts of the building and
areas around the building with additional equipment in order to make it fully
accessible to people with different disabilities.
ACCESSIBILITY SIGNS
VISITORS SHOULD KNOW THAT THE PLACE IS ACCESSIBLE FOR
DISABLED PEOPLE
Informative signs (warning signs, name boards, door-plates, stickers,
programmes of events, etc.) should be displayed near the entrance and inside the
buildings to demonstrate their accessibility.
57
PARKING PLACE FOR DISABLED PERSONS
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FACE DIFFICULTIES WHEN PARKING
THEIR VEHICLES
Parking places should be equipped with a special sign “Parking place for
persons with disabilities” and it should have special stencilled black and yellow
markings on the pavement. The width of the parking lot should be increased.
TACTILE TILES
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY WITH
SPACE ORIENTATION (BOTH OUTDOORS AND INDOORS). Tactile tiles help
visually impaired people to get information about motion direction (outdoors and
indoors) and about barriers (doors, roads, steps).
ANTI-SLIP COATING
PEOPLE WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES ARE AT HIGHER RISK TO
GET INJURED ON slippery SURFACES
Surfaces and steps of the adjacent territory, near the entrance and in some
cases inside the building (a slippery floor) are to be covered with anti-slip coating
to protect visitors from falling down / slip.
RAMPS
WHEELCHAIR USERS HAVE DIFFICULTIES WITH OVERCOMING
DOORSTEPS AND STAIRS
Ramps help people in wheelchairs to overcome steps and other barriers.
There are several types of ramps: fixed, folding and telescopic - portable, and
ramps for overcoming doorsteps.58
MOBILE STAIR LIFTS
IN CASE IF THE STAIRCASES ARE TOO NARROW OR STEEP AND IT IS
IMPOSSIBLE TO EQUIP THEM WITH RAMPS, THERE IS A NECESSITY TO
INSTALL MOBILE STAIR LIFTS
They are designed to transport wheelchair users up and down the stairs.
● they are easy to install;
● easy to use;
● designed to lift people up the stairs with 35 degrees tilt angle;
● can be charged from a household electrical outlet of 220 V.
AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENERS
WHEELCHAIR USERS EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH OPENING
THE DOORS (ENTRANCE DOORS TO A BUILDING, OFFICE, ETC.)
Automatic door openers provide an easy access to a building with the help of
an automated door drive.
● They make it easier to access the building;
● Replacement of doors is not required;
● Can be charged from a household electrical outlet of 220 V;
There are several options of opening the door:
● By pressing a button;
● With a motion of the hand in front of a sensor switch;
● With the help of remote control;
● Automatic opening (movement sensor).
HANDRAILS59
People with limited mobility EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH MOVEMENT
AND fulfilment OF DAILY ROUTINES
Handrails are used to make movement or performing daily routines by
people with disabilities more comfortable and convenient. This concerns both
visually impaired persons and physically challenged people. Handrails provide
support when walking, standing and sitting. Contemporary innovations are
handrails with antibacterial coating. Nevertheless a number of institutions prefer
chromed handrails, although their surfaces need frequent disinfection
CALL BUTTONS
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE OFTEN IN NEED OF PROMPT
ASSISTANCE OR INSTRUCTION
Call buttons are designed to call for an assistant (an employee of an
institution) if a disabled person experiences any difficulties or has questions.
Buttons send a signal, and receivers show the place where the signal was sent
from.
AURAL BEACONS AND INFORMERS
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH
PERCEIVING IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND ARE IN NEED OF AN
ALTERNATIVE ACCESSIBLE SIGNAL
Aural beacons and informers are designed to reproduce audio messages to
inform blind and visually impaired visitors of institutions. The content of messages
complies with the needs of each institution. It can be played both at the operator's
command or automatically when a motion sensor is triggered or when the call
button is pushed.
CONTRAST MARKING
60
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS ARE AT HIGH RISK OF GETTING A
TRAUMATIC INJURY WHEN OVERCOMING DOORSTEPS, STAIRS, GLASS
DOORS, TURNS, ETC.
Contrast marking helps visually impaired people to get information about
obstacles (contrast circles on the doors, contrast stripes on the steps, etc.)
INFORMATION PLATES, MNEMONIC CIRCUITS
VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSONS EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH
GETTING IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUILDING, LOCATION
OF OFFICES
Thus, there is a need for special information that will help people with
disabilities to get information about accessibility of objects, plans of the buildings,
fire escape, etc.
A mnemonic circuit is a tactile display showing a navigation plan of the
building. All the required inscriptions are made with flat-convex elements and are
duplicated in Braille.
Relief signs and plates with Braille are placed near the doors inside the
building and on the doors of the rooms.
ROLL TITLES
HEARING IMPAIRED PEOPLE EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH
RECEIVING IMPORTANT INFORMATION.
Roll titles enable people with hearing impairments receive information
visually.
INFORMATION (INDUCTION) PANELS
HEARING-AIDS USERS EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES WITH
RECEIVING AUDIO INFORMATION IN PLACES WITH HIGH NOISE LEVEL
61
OR WITH NOISE REDUCING COVERINGS OF WALLS AND CEILINGS – which
is in fact in almost all public places!
When visiting public places, hearing-aids users experience discomfort
associated with indistinct audio information. A number of areas in the building
must be equipped with devices transmitting audio information from a microphone
directly to the hearing aid of a visitor by means of induction loop installed in the
device and a receiver of induction emission installed in most of modern hearing
aids.
INFORMATION TERMINAL
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE IN NEED OF MODERN AND
CONVENIENT DEVICES PROVIDING INFORMATION ABOUT THE
BUILDING
Information terminals are designed to provide general information about
buildings. They display an interactive floor plan of a building and the navigation
plan. An information terminal has a multilingual interface and may be adjusted to
specific requirements of users. (For visually impaired people the font size can be
enlarged. Hearing impaired people can use an induction panel. The interface can
also be moved to a place convenient for people in wheelchairs.)
• Information terminals provide information on-line;
• Have a vandal-proof design;
• A text can be enlarged with the help of a motion;
• There are trays for printed materials;
• It is possible to switch on an induction panel.
WE WANT TO STRESS ONCE AGAIN THAT ONLY COMPLEX
EQUIPMENT OF THE BUILDING CAN MAKE IT FULLY ACCESSIBLE
FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
62
ONLY TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE THIS WORLD MORE
ACCESSIBLE!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION!
ABOUT THE COMPANY
The “Istok-Audio” company group (IA) was established in 1994 on the
initiative of the Government of the Russian Federation aiming at a conversion of
the defence industries. IA is the largest representative of the national hearing
rehabilitation industry in Russia. IA produces hearing aids, loudspeaker equipment,
technical means of rehabilitation and deals with social adaptation of hearing
impaired people. “Istok-Audio” also produces equipment and means of
rehabilitation for people with visual impairments and locomotion disorders, as well
as for other groups of people with limited mobility. Since 2010, “Istok-Audio” has
participated in projects aiming at creating an accessible environment for all
categories of people with disabilities.
63
Part 2. The UN Convention and the right to Education
64
6. Ilya Ivankin
Providing Conditions for the Training of Disabled Children in Educational Institutions of the Arkhangelsk Region
The function of educational institutions has changed towards providing high-
quality and accessible education for children with disabilities in accordance with
the Federal Target Programme on Education Development approved by the
Government of the Russian Federation for 2011-2015.
At present, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Arkhangelsk region
(MES) is bringing the local education legislation into accord with the Law of the
Russian Federation. The legislation will include articles regulating rights to
inclusive education in the Arkhangelsk region.
In 2011, the government of the Arkhangelsk region issued a Decree and
approved the Model of education development for persons with disabilities. The
Model proposes gradual establishment of a public and free education system for
persons with disabilities at all levels of education, within general educational
institutions. On the other hand, the model does not imply the closing of special
65
(correctional) education institutions, but an adjustment of education system to the
needs of children with disabilities.
At present, the education system for children with disabilities in the
Arkhangelsk region applies both special and general educational institutions and
focuses on the most frequently occurring problems of children.
One Central and 14 local psychological - medical - pedagogical
commissions (PMPC) have been established in the Arkhangelsk region for the
purpose of timely identification of children with disabilities and their
comprehensive examination. Today, only half of the region’s municipalities
provide their citizens with opportunities to consult experts of PMPCs and
determine the best educational route for children at their place of residence.
Residents of other municipalities apply for consultations to the Central
Commission, which throughout the year regularly makes field visits to remote
areas, or participates in the work of commissions located in neighbouring
municipalities.
Seven centres of psychological and pedagogical rehabilitation and correction
render comprehensive assistance to youngsters with disabilities. In addition
children with disabilities under 3 years are also provided with assistance in these
educational centres. The centres interact closely with governmental and municipal
educational institutions offering comprehensive assistance to children with
disabilities.
Today, there are 18 public educational institutions in the education system
for children with disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region. Among them there are 13
institutions for mentally retarded children, one institution for children with hearing
impairments (Vychegda Special Correctional Boarding School of General
Education), one school for children with abnormalities of the locomotion apparatus
(Severodvinsk Special Correctional Boarding School of General Education). 384
children with locomotion apparatus disorders and respiratory diseases are educated 66
and get medical treatment in three sanatorium schools (Arkhangelsk Sanatorium
Boarding School № 1, Arkhangelsk Sanatorium Boarding School № 2 and Naryan
Mar Sanatorium Boarding School).
It should be noted that the established system of complimentary education in
public educational institutions is an integral part of socialization of children
enrolled in special (correctional) schools. Today, special (correctional) schools
cooperate with institutions of complementary education and culture.
Children with disabilities enrolled in the state - funded Severodvinsk Special
Correctional Boarding School of General Education regularly attend classes in city
institutions of complementary education. The children are involved in different
municipal socio-educational programmes and public events.
According to statistical data presented in my slide, graduates with
disabilities today have more opportunities to get further education and to self-
realization. So until 2000, only 17% of the graduates from special (correctional)
school entered vocational schools, but beginning from 2000 the percentage has
increased to 47.
For example, most of the graduates of the Arkhangelsk region Special
(correctional) comprehensive school № 15 for children with mental retardation
work or continue their schooling in vocational training institutions.
I would note that for the purpose of social integration, the graduates from
special (correctional) educational institutions who have not received basic general
education attend public vocational educational institutions paid via regional
budget. They acquire skills necessary for certain jobs. They can for example learn
the trade of painting, carpentering, gardening, farming, tailoring, cooking or
baking.
On 1st of January 2011, there were 246 children with disabilities in the state
institutions of vocational education of the Arkhangelsk region. On 1st of January
2012, there were 251 pupils and on 1st of January 2013, there were 265 persons. 67
The right of children with disabilities to education at their place of residence
is implemented by opening special classes in municipal educational institutions.
The Departments of Education of Arkhangelsk region municipalities are
responsible for that.
In the period 2012-2013, 243 groups receiving compensatory training were
opened in municipal pre-school educational institutions in the Arkhangelsk region.
About 3,000 children with different pathologies get assistance there. There are 217
logopedic rooms that provide 6,000 children with speech therapy. We believe that
the administration should monitor the percentage of successful compensation
among the pupils by the end of the school year in order to reduce the number of
school-aged children with disabilities who need to have special training.
In order to implement the right of children with disabilities to education
without being separated from the family special classes and classes of
compensatory training with pedagogical support have been opened in
municipalities of the Arkhangelsk region. A network of logopedic rooms has been
developed and successfully operates in 73 educational institutions 2,500 children
with speech disorders get qualified logopedic rehabilitation there.
The number of opened special classes and groups in different municipalities
are not the same due to the geographic characteristics of the Arkhangelsk region.
So, 7 classes for children with hearing abnormalities have been opened in 2
municipalities (Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk).
27 classes for children with visual impairments are currently established in
the city of Arkhangelsk and in Velsky municipal district.
Children with serious speech disorders are taught in 2 municipalities
(Koryazhma and Arkhangelsk).
12 classes for 97 children with locomototion apparatus disorders have been
launched in Arkhangelsk city.
68
145 classes for children with mental retardation operate in 10 municipalities
of the Arkhangelsk region (Verkhnetoemsky, Konosha, Krasnoborsk, Lensky
municipal districts, Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Novodvinsk, Kotlas, Mirny, and
Koryazhma).
It is significant that children with mental retardation are involved in the
process of inclusion. 20 special (correctional) classes of grade VIII have been
opened in the school year 2012-2013 in five municipal districts (Verkhnetoemsky,
Vilegodsky, Mezensky, Pinezhsky and Mirny).
Currently, more than 2,000 children with disabilities are provided with
training in general educational classes and groups in municipal educational
institutions of the Arkhangelsk region.
Municipal education authorities work systematically to provide accessible
quality training for 254 children with disabilities who are at present being taught
individually.
The spectrum of educational services for children with disabilities has been
expanded and in particular distant form has been further developed.
Thus, in 2009 only 6 pupils participated in the implementation of the
prioritized national project “Education” aimed at development of distance
education for disabled children, but in 2012 forty-eight children studying at home
were provided with work places. During four years, 135 children who are not
allowed training in general schools due to different medical reasons such as
dependence on insulin, immune system disorders, and severe forms of epilepsy
have been involved in this project.
The system of training for teachers working with children with disabilities
has been developed at the Institute of Training and Retraining of Educators. 68
teachers have been trained and prepared for participation in the project. It should
be mentioned that all teachers are required to take a 72-hour course “Education of
69
children with disabilities and use of Internet-technologies” before they start to
teach.
It is worth noticing that more and more children with disabilities in the
Arkhangelsk region pass the Unified State Exam (USE). On the basis of an
application children may be provided with special conditions when passing the
exam.
The MES of the Arkhangelsk region together with municipal education authorities
take the following measures to ensure proper conditions. They identify pupils with
disabilities long before the USE is organized; analyse the nature of diseases in
order to facilitate proper conditions for passing this exam, make the USE budget
taking into account the payment for the work of assistants, additional organizers,
catering expenses, purchase necessary equipment: magnifying glasses, copiers with
scaling function.
The chart presented here shows the number of children with disabilities who
have applied for special conditions during the Unified State Examination. They
asked for a separate room, presence of assistants, and availability of special
equipment. They also requested to make the duration of the exam 1.5 hours longer.
As you can see, the number of such children is not getting down. In 2011, children
with vision disorders took the exam, similarly in 2012 - children with
musculoskeletal system disorders, in 2013 hearing-impaired children are going to
take the examination.
In 2013, it is planned for the first time to organize the exam in the
rehabilitation centre, located in the city of Arkhangelsk. Catering will be organized
for examinees with locomotion apparatus disorders.
According to the data submitted by municipal education authorities, 43
children with disabilities took the exam in 2011 when special conditions were not
provided. Among the examinees, there were 6 visually impaired persons, 2
70
hearing-impaired persons, 4 children with locomotion apparatus disorders, and 31
with other diseases.
Three resource centres have been established in the state educational
institutions aimed at providing organizational and methodological support to the
process of inclusive education in the Arkhangelsk region. These are state-financed
educational institutions: special (correctional) general education school № 5 in
Novodvinsk, special (correctional) general education school № 31 in Arkhangelsk,
Vychegda special (correctional) general education school in Kotlas. Seminars are
regularly held and researches are disseminating experiences about work with
disabled children among teachers of municipal and state educational institutions.
The Department of Correctional Pedagogics of the State Autonomous
Educational Institution “Arkhangelsk Regional Institute of Training and Retraining
of Educators” has developed a system of training of specialists working with
disabled children. In 2012, thirty-two different regional activities were initiated.
About 800 teachers participated in various seminars, conferences, and webinars. In
2013, it is planned to increase the number of activities and participants.
The MES of the Arkhangelsk region cooperates with countries of the
Barents region (Finland, Sweden and Norway), and the Murmansk region and
studies the experience in inclusive education in the neighbouring regions and
countries. Currently, six municipal educational institutions of the region are
participants of the international project Kolarktik “School for all - Development of
Inclusive Education”. When the project is completed in 2014 there will be
established educational methods for teaching children with various pathologies
together with able-bodied children in the schools participating in the project.
Moreover some books on inclusive education for teachers and parents will be
published.
A number of measures taken within the framework of the long-term program
“Development of education and science in the Arkhangelsk region and Nenets 71
Autonomous District in 2009 – 2012” contributed to the enhancement of the
education system for children with disabilities. Additional state funding has been
provided to ensure inclusion of children with disabilities into pre-schools, primary
schools, secondary junior and secondary senior schools.
5,673,000 roubles have been allocated within the framework of the state
program “Development of Education and Science in the Arkhangelsk region and
the Nenets Autonomous District” to provide a material and technical basis in state
educational institutions.
Further strengthening of this basis, it is planned to be implemented within
the framework of the State programme of the Arkhangelsk region “Development of
Education and Science in the Arkhangelsk region 2013-2016”.
Thanks to the implementation of the long-term programme for 2011-2015
“Accessible Environment” approved by the Government of the Arkhangelsk region
on August 24, 2010, the MES of the Arkhangelsk region has been able to improve
buildings and technical equipment of state educational institutions where children
with disabilities are trained for 3 years.
Four state institutions of vocational education are provided with
technological and rehabilitation equipment to facilitate education of children with
learning disabilities (Vocational School № 26, Arkhangelsk Polytechnic College,
Vocational School № 21, Kotlas College of Trade and Public Catering).
Measures have been taken to make the buildings of three state educational
institutions accessible for students with disabilities (Arkhangelsk Polytechnic
College, Kotlas College of Trade and Public Catering, Severodvinsk special
(correctional) boarding school).
Within the framework of the long-term program for 2011-2015 “Accessible
Environment”, a database on best practices in inclusive and special education in
the Arkhangelsk region has been established. It is available on the official website
of the State Autonomous Educational Institution “Arkhangelsk Regional Institute 72
of Training and Retraining of Educators”. 14 best materials describing introduction
of inclusive education in the Arkhangelsk region were posted there in 2012.
In 2013-2014, the Ministry plans to continue the work on establishing a
network of general educational institutions, where conditions for the joint
education of children with disabilities and able-bodied children will be provided.
After this matter has become a part of the regional programme for 2011-2015
“Accessible Environment” federal funding will be allocated and a number of
educational institutions providing inclusive education will be increased.
Thus, introduction of inclusive education by making the schooling
environment accessible for disabled children is one of the first policy priorities of
the MES of the Arkhangelsk region.
The following future most important activities targeted towards improving
education of children with disabilities in educational institutions of the
Arkhangelsk region are:
1. Increasing the number of general educational institutions, which will
provide joint education of disabled children and able-bodied children.
2. Increase the number of special classes and compensatory groups for
children with different disabilities in all municipal schooling entities in the
Arkhangelsk region.
3. Develop training and retraining courses for teachers of municipal
educational institutions training children with disabilities who are integrated in
local schools.
73
7. Gudrun Ytterstad
Inclusion of disabled children in Norwegian schools – status and challenges
1. What is meant by the concept inclusion and which challenges are
associated with the realization of this overriding principle in Norwegian
schools?
The UN Convention Article 24 discusses the right of disabled children to
adjusted and inclusive education at their local school in particular.
The principle of inclusive education had been of paramount significance in
all schools’ regulatory documents since the early 1990s’, when the last state special
schools were closed. This right implies that all pupils, regardless of their functional
disabilities, have to go to their home school and be part of classroom community.
Norwegian research shows that there is a considerable gap between theory and
practice. Use of different segregation measures, such as establishing of separate
groups for children with special needs is still common in Norwegian schools (Haug
1999, Norwegian Public Report 2009: 18).
In 2010, Christian Wendelborg, a researcher from NTNU, published his
doctoral dissertation “Growing up with a disability in school and among peers - a
study of training and participation of children with disabilities”. It appeared that
not much had changed since the last state special school for disabled children was
closed in 1992. There are still many special classes and special schools for disabled
children at the municipal level. There is also an increase in the use of such
services. The only difference after the downsizing of the major state institutions is
that disabled children are segregated more secretly than before (Wendelborg 2010).
In addition, Wendelborg draws the conclusion that each separate
municipality and school possesses too much power. Although all children have the
right to attend their home school, there are huge differences in the way
municipalities organize the educational process. In large municipalities there are 74
often special groups or special schools. In small municipalities disabled children
often attend regular classes, though being separated for special needs education -
especially as they get older.
Wendelborg’s dissertation shows that children taken out of class regularly
are lonelier in their leisure time than children taken rarely out of class, regardless
of the type of disability the children have and how severely disabled they are
(ibid.).
Wendelborg is afraid that children can be in danger of being sacrificed for
inclusion, as the ordinary school does not provide sufficient resources and
expertise. He criticizes local authorities for allowing children to start studying at
their home schools, though later, to make life easier, they exclude them from the
school community.
He also believes that the present education policies require school staff to try
to meet two contradictory goals – overall inclusion of children and at the same
time, good academic results. Due to increased competition, it is important for
school`s to reach a benchmark both at a national and an international level. This
may be part of the reason for the increased use of special classes and an increasing
number of special schools (Wendelborg 2010).
Wendelborg’s doctoral dissertation is part of a larger project, started in 1998,
in which 440 families with disabled children have responded to a questionnaire
during 1998, 2003, 2006 and 2009. In addition, 30 families were monitored very
closely. Wendelborg also asked 99 disabled children about their everyday life
experiences. While carrying out his research Wendelborg has got the impression
that schools continue to do what they have always been doing - placing challenging
children out of class (ibid.).
75
Illustrating the challenges associated with the realization of an inclusive
school for all, it is necessary to clarify the concepts of inclusion and of adjusted
education.
2. What do the concepts of inclusion and of adjusted education imply?
The principle of inclusion may be seen as an expansion of the integration
reform in Norwegian schools in the 1970’s. The reform was a response to the
established exclusion practice, which implied that children who did not fit into the
so-called normal scheme received their education out of their class. This practice
was not implemented in accordance with the values of uniformity and equality.
The principle implied that all students should have the right to be educated in their
local school. The issue was that the concept integrated was mostly related to
individuals or groups of individuals with special characteristics, and they had to
adapt to the established system. Inclusion implies that all pupils participate on
equal ground, both in academic and in the social community in schools. It is the
system, which must be changed in order to adapt to the individual (Norwegian
Public Report 2009: 18).
It is often argued that inclusion is more an ideological concept than a
concept intended for practical solutions (ibid.). The term must be operationalized
in order to give direction to a change of practice. Two Norwegian professors of
pedagogy, Kari Bachmann and Peder Haug have operationalized the concept of
inclusion in four steps.
The four steps are:
1. Increased classroom community involvement - all students should be
members of a class or group so that they can take part in the school's social life.
2. Increased participation – everyone contributes to the classroom
community in compliance with their capabilities.
76
3. Increased democratization – all should be heard and all should be able to
influence their own interests.
4. Improved outcomes – all pupils should be well trained academically and
socially (Norwegian Public Report 2009: 18 p. 55).
The Swedish researcher Ingemar Emanuelson argues that inclusion implies
the creation of conditions within the group of pupils, which enable full
participation for everyone, saying that these requirements are largely imposed by
the working methods and content of teaching. He underlines that inclusion also
implies community's ability to take responsibility for solving problems that
influence pupils’ skills (Emanuelson 1995).
To achieve inclusion, regular and special needs education should be
connected by means of inclusive education. The concept of inclusive education
implies that it is the school, which should adapt to the child, not vice versa
(Norwegian Public Report 2009: 18).
The concept of adjusted education implies that schools must change their
practices in a way that education could embrace diversity, not the average.
Norwegian research shows that most teachers emphasize individual tasks over
collective activities in the education process (ibid.).
Adjusted education has been a key concept in all the Norwegian curricula
since 1987, but a number of studies show that Norwegian teachers fail to realize
this principle.
The teachers do not know how to accomplish adjusted education in practice.
Analysis of the school's various regulatory documents shows that they mostly
contain rhetorical formulations and lack specific guidelines (Haug 1999). Haug
describes adjusted education as a vague and ideological term, and states that “the
closer one gets to the classroom, the more obscure, both pedagogy and policy
become”. He is concerned that to develop the school, concerted high effort is
needed, and that it can be too high for the individual schools and teachers (ibid.).77
In 2009, the Norwegian Public Report entitled the "Right to learning" was
published. The mandate of the committee responsible for the report was to
describe, analyze and evaluate special needs education to come up with concrete
proposals for holistic measures. A general idea was that these measures would
contribute to an education system with more inclusion and less segregation
(Norwegian Public Report 2009: 18).
The Committee noted that there are wide variations in the way education is
implemented in Norwegian schools. There are many examples of successful
implementation of equitable, inclusive education provided by both municipalities
and schools. At the same time, we still face many challenges regarding the
realization of the principle of inclusion (ibid.). These challenges are summarized as
four main challenges below.
3. Main challenges
According to the committee, the first major challenge is the tendency toward
uniformity of schooling and lack of attention to diversity among children.
Research shows that everyone can be included if there is willingness, ability
and expert knowledge to provide the necessary measures. If inclusion fails it means
that the efforts or measures are not comprehensive or targeted enough (Norwegian
Public Report 2009: 18). An important factor that is not taken into account in the
public report of 2009 is the increasing emphasis on academic performance in core
subjects.
The second major challenge is variation in the interpretation of rules. Local
authorities such as school owners do not obey statutory regulations, as they should.
The third major challenge is the lack of coordination and cooperation skills.
The education and support system consist of many agencies with shared
responsibility for measures. The challenge is that they neither cooperate well
enough with each other nor with the schools.
78
The last major challenge is related to the special needs education
implementation. One issue is that a variety of interpretations exist about what
special needs education implies, another issue is that the special needs education
was implemented too late (ibid.).
Several of the committee members commented on the report. They argued
that the content does not reflect the scientific, political and ideological
disagreements connected to the relation between adjusted and special needs
education (Norwegian Public Report 2009: 18). In addition, they criticize that all
the ethical, professional and organizational issues and dilemmas encountered in
practice are not discussed. The major challenge therefore lies in handling the
requirements for inclusion and educational outcomes for each pupil.
They also criticize the Public Report for not being concrete when it comes to
the daily facilitation for each individual pupil. The concepts used to describe
adjusted and equal education are at such an advanced level that they cannot be
easily linked to educational practice.
In addition, the report is criticized that it does not highlight training situation
concerning pupils with weak study skills. These may be the pupils with mental
disabilities, visual impairment, hearing impairment etc., or pupils with motoric
disorders and those who need medical care during the school day. In order to
provide these children with equal education, serious demands on educational
qualifications are required (ibid.).
4. Strategies for problem solving
In April 2011, the Ministry of Education published a new report on special
education “Learning and Communion”. Being based mainly on the public report
“Right to Education”, it adheres to the accepted basic values that underlie teaching
in Norwegian schools. Inclusion remains a fundamental principle, which will be
79
achieved through a greater emphasis on adjusted teaching. Adjusted education will
be provided both as regular education and as special needs education. It should be
emphasized that in order to provide students with adjusted education in school,
special needs education should be implemented (The Norwegian White Paper
2010-2011: 18). The report for the most part discusses how to make the present
education system function better and determines three strategies that should be
applied to meet the challenges in the practice-field. The first strategy implies
prevention and early intervention. The second strategy deals with the strengthening
of local government’s support for schools, Educational Psychology Service, and
expertise improvement. The third strategy is to improve the cooperation between
different external agencies (ibid.).
In the comment on the White Paper the Norwegian professor in Education
Peder Haug said that the proposed measures are positive. Though he queries
whether they are sufficient to provide the desired results for a more inclusive
education - a school where pupils with disabilities could participate more in the
learning community, be taken more into account and achieve better education
outcomes (Notabene 2011/12). He points out that the main problem in real life is
that school owners do not follow the rules and that the message contains a few
concrete suggestions in terms of measures to improve it. Empowering school
owners, the State is left with few tools to ensure that local and regional authorities
implement the approved plans (ibid.). Haug underlines that the Norwegian State
Council on Disability asked the government to consider this case several times.
In addition, he referred to a comprehensive survey of special needs
education in primary school, conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of
Norway, which shows major weaknesses in municipality’s and county’s
compliance with their obligations.
80
Office of the Auditor General of Norway’s report states that it is the
government's responsibility to verify that municipalities comply with the
regulations to protect the legal rights of students with special needs. It concerns
any municipality whether it is a separate legal entity with independent
responsibility for implementation of primary schools or not (ibid).
A comprehensive survey conducted by the magazine Utdanning, fall 2012
shows that the problem of exclusion in schools has not been resolved. The
development seems rather to proceed in the opposite direction. Despite good
political intentions, we face serious challenges in Norwegian schools trying to
fulfil the UN Convention requirements for children’s inclusion into school.
References
1. Emanuelson, I. (1995): Integrering og konsekvensar av integreringsideologien.
I: Haug, P. (red.) Spesialpedagogiske utfordringar. Universitetsforlaget. Oslo.
2. Haug, P. (1999): Spesialundervisning i grunnskulen – grunnlag, utvikling og
innhald. Abstrakt forlag. Oslo.
3. Haug, P. (2011): Professor Peder Haugs kommentar til Stortingsmeldingen.
Notabene 2011/2. Journal published by the Norwegian State Council on
Disability.
4. Norwegian Public Report (2009: 18): Rett til læring. Ministry of Education and
Research. Oslo.
5. The Norwegian White Paper (2010-2011: 18): Læring og fellesskap. Ministry
of Education and Research. Oslo.
6. Wendelborg, C. (2010): Å vokse opp med funksjonshemming i skole og blant
jevnaldrende: En studie av opplæringstilbud og deltakelse blant barn med
nedsatt funksjonsevne. Doctoral thesis. NTNU, ISSN 1503-8181; 2010:24.
http://ntnu.divportal.org/smash/get/diva2:310088/FULLTEXT04 (Accessed
13.05.13).
7. Utdanning No. 15 2012
81
http://utdanningsnytt.no/Global/PDF%20av%20Utdanning/Utdanning
%2015%202012.pdf (Accessed 13.05.13).
8. Klaus Mangold
Isolation – Integration – Inclusion. How to support hearing-impaired children at school: Proposals based on practice from Schleswig - Holstein
Do “humane and effective education and assistance to children with
disabilities...serve as a reason for isolation” or are joint classes just a “democratic
self-evidence which does not depend on empirical confirmation, i.e. on positive
experience”? (Georg Antor, 1992)
82
For those in favour of inclusive education the answer to this question is
simple and evident: they appeal to the humane rights and “judge from the fact that
heterogeneity represents normality. They suggest creating a school that will satisfy
educational and pedagogic needs of all the pupils” (Wikipedia, Inclusive
education, 22/08/08)
However, in my opinion a question arises: To which extent shall the
experience acquired during the process of radical restructuration of school
landscapes be taken into consideration?
Proposal 1
The way to inclusive education for hearing-impaired children has been
long and difficult. It is not only school framework that should change, but also
social consciousness.
On the basis of the changed School law and against the background of
growing aspiration of the society to integrate people with disabilities in 1991 there
was created “Integrated education department” at Schleswig state boarding school
for hearing-impaired children.
Schleswig – Holstein Federal State’s School law 1990 said the following:
“Children with and without disabilities shall study together, taking into
consideration their organisational, personal and objective abilities and in
accordance with personal development of pupils with disabilities”.
The tasks of the Integrated education department are generally described as
to provide support for integration events for hearing-impaired children. The school
shall become a “multiregional development centre” meant for all the hearing-
impaired pupils studying in general education schools of Schleswig – Holstein
Federal State.
Changes in the organizational structure brought changes in the staff. At the
beginning of 1991 four teachers were transferred from the pedoaudiologic
consultations department to the Integrated Education Department. No special 83
trainings of the staff members for these positions were provided. However, the
specialists were working as advisors in ambulant services of precocity for a long
time. The head of the department had a possibility to get an in-service advanced
training on holding collective consultations for the period of 1 year. In 1991,
Schleswig boarding school accepted 200 hearing-impaired children from the
federal state’s general education schools. Before that hearing-impaired children did
not get any special assistance from qualified specialists from the schools for
hearing-impaired children.
Year after year, starting from 1991, the amount of teachers in the
Department was growing, and in 2008 there were already 23 teachers of integration
education, who worked 450 academic hours a week. Nowadays, 450 hearing-
impaired pupils studying in all types of school in Schleswig-Holstein get support.
During these years, following areas of activities of the Integrated Education
Department were developed:
● Support for integration events for hearing-impaired children;
● Consultations for hearing-impaired children, their parents, teachers,
etc.;
● Supportive measures for hearing-impaired children;
● Hearing diagnostics:
- Audiometry and speech diagnostics
- Aural impression checks
● Joint training sessions, assistance with homework;
● Specific for this type of disability individual and group help;
● Provision of aid-tools;
● Expert advice on the need of socio-pedagogic assistance in cases of
severe disabilities;
● Assistance with the career choice;
84
● Organisation of the seminars for pupils, their parents and teachers, as
well as intensive development courses for pupils;
● Methodical assistance for the candidates on the teacher’s position;
● Public relations.
Hearing-impaired children, whose integrated education is jeopardised, even
considering the provided assistance, may take part in special hearing and speech
trainings that are held in schools for hearing-impaired pupils for several weeks.
During these courses, they attend ordinary classes as well as participate in
additional developing lessons.
Proposal 2
Centres of support may help to extend the boundaries of integrated school
education and cut down the amount of pupils in specialised schools
Hans Woken stated in 1995, that development centres “need to prove their
abilities for integration”, as “they failed to achieve constantly growing share of
joint education at the simultaneously decreasing share of isolated development in
special schools”.
The process of development in Schleswig – Holstein does not prove this
statement. This diagram clearly shows us the number of hearing-impaired pupils
who get the support. The data was collected during the period from 1985 to 2013
and shows separately hearing-impaired children going to the special school in
Schleswig and pupils attending integrated classes.
85
Quantity reduction of pupils attending special school in Schleswig is
evident. The fact that since 2001 the number of special schools in Germany has not
changed may be explained by the increase of the number of hearing-impaired
migrants. Moreover, around 15 pupils of ordinary schools experience difficulties in
the educational and social sphere, even though they get intensive special support.
They attend special hearing and speech courses in Schleswig.
While the number of pupils in special schools for hearing-impaired children
is decreasing, the number of hearing-impaired pupils getting special for this type of
disability help and attending institutions of integrated education is dramatically
increasing.
Nowadays, 81% of hearing-impaired pupils in Schleswig-Holstein get
integrated education with the support of special teachers. None of the rest federal
states managed to reach this number.
This concerns children of pre-school age who suffer from hearing
impairment. Nowadays 226 children get assistance, 209 of them get help in
integration institutions and 17 children attend the Centre of support for hearing-
impaired people in Schleswig-Holstein.
Proposal 3
86
Special pedagogic skills are part and parcel of school education for
hearing-impaired children
Hearing impairment as a rule influences speech and cognitive development,
as well as individual and social identity.
Apart from developing hearing abilities, the corner stone of teaching
hearing-impaired children is formation and development of communication
competence. For these purposes the teachers should possess integrated special
pedagogic competence.
Work of teacher-advisor in the field of integrated education demands
complex knowledge in medical, technical and socio-legal spheres that are not paid
proper attention to, during the educational process. In this case there is a need for
substantial changes of the educational process and materials.
Eventually, the deaf education teachers of Schleswig on their own account
managed to acquire the needed professional skills. They had to develop and hand
on the basics of integrated education for hearing-impaired people. Among other
things they are expected to possess competence in the sphere of group
consultations.
Unfortunately, up to now the process of training of deaf education teachers
has not kept up with the modern development. There is still a subdivision at the
university between teachers for deaf and hearing-impaired people; there has not
been accepted the general up-to-date course content. Trainee teachers, who start
their practice in special schools for hearing-impaired children in Schleswig, do not
have almost any idea on integrated education and diagnostics following up the
study process. It is students’ own initiative that leads to acquisition of new
knowledge and competence in consultation.
Competence in deaf education, which is important for working on
integration, may be acquired mainly in schools for hearing-impaired children.
87
Proposal 4
Specialised schools and integration do not contradict but complement each
other
Transitions in between specialised and integrated schools for hearing-
impaired people in Schleswig-Holstein can go both directions.
By the time children should enter a school they are already given a study
place, based on the special pedagogical expertise and parents’ will.
Teachers in both specialised and ordinary schools should pay attention to all
the pupils and secure that this or that study place or school fits the requirement of
each pupil.
A pupil may be transferred to a school for hearing-impaired children or
reintegrated only after the probation period of several weeks.
Schleswig-Holstein’s general schools and Integrated Education Department
closely cooperate in other spheres of activities.
● Intensive hearing and speech trainings are held in general schools with
integrated education in order to help pupils communicate with other hearing
impaired children.
● Seminars for pupils and their parents, teachers and other interested
parties are organised in Schleswig-Holstein in order to involve hearing-impaired
and deaf children into the studying process. Moreover, the participants of the
seminars also learn a lot about diagnostics and conditions of hearing impairment.
Schleswig-Holstein’s experience since 1991 shows that Help centre is of
great significance for the integration process.
There is a school in Schleswig-Holstein for teachers-consultants who
practically work alone and are in need of qualified help.
“School for hearing-impaired children” support centre has four departments:
precocity, integration, general school and boarding school; and represents a
competence centre for education of hearing-impaired children. 88
The support centre offers the following services: consultation, diagnostics
and therapy, advanced training and guiding, assistance in public affairs and
maintaining documents.
Proposal 5
School integration is possible for children with different types of hearing
impairment. Special attention should be put on social integration and identity
development.
Nowadays, 50 deaf pupils with cochlear implants attend integrated schools
in Schleswig-Holstein.
75 pupils with mental disorder and hearing impairment attend ordinary
schools in accordance with their place of living and receive support from
Integrated Education Department.
School integration for all hearing-impaired pupils is possible on one
condition – possibility to organize and finance all the necessary supportive
activities. And a hearing-impaired or deaf pupil can study in an ordinary school if,
for example, he has a translator.
It is more difficult for pupils to develop their identity or to participate in
psychosocial development if they do not have contacts with other hearing-impaired
people or if their classmates do not know the sign language.
Hearing-impaired children with associated illness are the most vulnerable.
In some parts of Germany, such children get isolated. They do not attend
either ordinary school or special school for hearing-impaired children, but they are
placed in special institutions for hearing-impaired children with mental disorders.
We in Schleswig-Holstein have chosen another way out. Here the pupils attend
schools for children with mental disorders that are closest to their places of living
and in addition they receive special assistance in education in accordance with
their hearing impairment and the teachers who work with children with mental
disorder also help out in the schools for hearing-impaired children. 89
20 years of experience showed that the choice of integrated school education
for hearing-impaired children was right. And still there is a problem that
integration activities for hearing-impaired children undergo separately. On the
other hand, in this way only those schools that fulfil all the requirements are
entitled for help.
It is more desirable to incorporate all the activities, as additional developing
exercises may have more effects as well as will be more economically viable.
What is more, pupils will acquire contacts within the group of “equals”, which is
also important for identity development.
Our goal is to create integrated classes for hearing-impaired children in all
the big cities in Schleswig, and in this way develop a tendency for integrated
education. We have already started working on it. Integrated education department
always comes into a line with a number of “cooperative schools” in which
teachers-interns are studying about “Teaching hearing-impaired children” based on
integration.
Hearing-impaired children should preserve their right to study in schools.
Social integration and identity development of hearing-impaired pupils are
negatively impacted by the absence of abilities to communicate. In this case a
special school for hearing-impaired children seems to be a good solution. However
children should study there just for a particular time period and aspire to
reintegrate into an ordinary school.
Proposal 6
Important pedagogical and socio-political decisions are made taking into
consideration opinion of all persons concerned
In 2007, German Deaf Association expressed the following opinion on
integrated education:
“German Deaf Association points out that integrated education for children
with disability should be thought-out. The association underlines the demand … to 90
create such educational system that makes individual needs of each pupil the
corner stone. According to the German association of the deaf in order to
successfully integrate deaf and hearing-impaired children in ordinary schools one
should fulfil the following requirements:
Involvement of speech and sign language into the education process;
School subjects “German sign language and finger language;
A number of hearing-impaired children sharing one class.
Hearing-impaired children are in need of teacher’s support and language
communication with each other that may only be provided in small classes. For the
purposes of better integration, there should be minimum 4 hearing-impaired
children or children using cochlear implants in one class. In this way there is a
possibility of creating special conditions in accordance with needs of hearing-
impaired children: they freely learn sign language and develop their language
identities”.
The chairman of Schleswig-Holstein Deaf Association Gerlinde Gerkens
advocating in favour of integrated education nevertheless suggests to preserve
special schools for hearing-impaired children.
Dr. Ulrich Hase (who like Gerlinde Gerkens suffers from severe hearing
loss), authorized representative of people with disabilities in Schleswig-Holstein’s
Federal State, calls for a differentiated approach to inclusive education. According
to him, it is necessary to preserve special pedagogical course: “Education for
hearing-impaired people”. In addition to that, he recommends paying more
attention to the integration activities in ordinary schools, as communication with
others contributes to better psychosocial development of hearing-impaired
children.
In August 1998, Schleswig-Holstein’s regional department of German
Special Schools’ Association laid down the following conditions:
91
● Help centre together with other institutions coordinates special
pedagogical support to all the institutions involved in the process.
● Help centre should take into consideration individual suggestions on
special development concepts.
● Help centre offers dispensary, mobile, preventive, integrated, partially
integrated, off-hour, special education not depending on place of
study.
● Only help centre with special teachers obtains special pedagogical
competence.
● The purpose of the whole pedagogical work is to promote professional
and public integration.
Proposal 7
The purpose of all pedagogical work is public inclusion of hearing-
impaired children. It takes much time and efforts.
Inclusion is a socio-political goal that may not be achieved only by means of
school activities. 20 years’ experience of integrated school education for hearing-
impaired children in Schleswig-Holstein shows that in some particular cases
hearing-impaired children should study in special schools for hearing-impaired
children for some short period of time, and in some cases they should better chose
integrated education.
“A school for all” in order to accept hearing-impaired children is demanding
fulfilment of conditions that are partially impossible nowadays:
● Social acceptance – especially in schools;
● Modified perception of humans;
● Additional education for teachers;
● Basic adaptation of study plans and school organisation;
● Additional financial expenses.
92
9. Susanne Voß
Education for mentally disabled people in Germany
Due to a systematic holocaust by the national socialists' regime there were
only few children with mental disabilities left in post-war Germany.
Big centres where children with serious mental disabilities had been kept
after the World War II were partially closed under the influence of the
normalization movement in the 1970’s, and, to replace them, decentralized small
centres were created (in the German Democratic Republic that happened only after
the opening of the border in the beginning of the 1990’s).
Mentally disabled people and their authorized representatives have stated
their right for a normal way of living.
That included the right to study at schools and to attend children's preschool
institutions. Step by step children with serious mental disabilities also gained that
right, which was first implemented in Landstuhl, Germany in 1975. The law on
compulsory school attendance for all children regardless of their abilities (and, as a
consequence, the right to school entrance) has existed since 1978. At the same time 93
Otto Speck, the author of the conception of practical educability, headed the first
German department of pedagogy for mentally disabled people in Munich.
Independence as an individual competence was the focal point in his
conception of practical educability. Later, children with mental disabilities were
considered to be more teachable, that's why their education, especially written
language, study of mathematics and some specific areas of creative work and art
were in the picture of education program of special schools.
First of all, individual benefactors and sponsors, such as Lebenshilfe, did a
lot to create special schools and preschool institutions in the 1970’s and also
financed them in many communities.
Pedagogics for mentally disabled people was developed within the
framework of special pedagogics all over Germany. New specialties for teachers
appeared including different educational cycles such as medical pedagogics,
forwardness pedagogics, integrative pedagogics, rehabilitation pedagogics for
employees of preschools and other educational institutions.
The educational system in Germany is federal, that means that all the
questions concerning education and vocational training are under the supervision
of the federal states. That is why there exist different educational systems with
different standards depending on a region. This can be clearly seen in terms of
infant education. While in the countryside there are many solutions for children
with significant disabilities, in regions with dense population and in cities there are
a lot of solutions for integration.
The right to self-determination was declared during the Lebenshilfe congress
in Duisburg in the 1980’s and had the slogan I know what I want. The main
statement was self-determination in social integration.
On the conference in 1994 Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the
States presented Recommendations for special pedagogical help, which gave
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mentally disabled children the opportunity to study in an ordinary school. At the
same time the Salamanca declaration of UNESCO declared inclusion as the main
objective of all the educational arrangements. Special schools for mentally disabled
children were reorganized into educational centres. Since that moment parents' and
teachers' consulting on integration issues, support and determination of individual
needs in each child's development by virtue of specific and differentiated
diagnostics have become the objective of educational centres besides school
education of mentally disabled children.
Modern pedagogics for mentally disabled people in Germany is a
consequence of main ideas of normalization (1970’s), integration (1980’s), self-
determination/broaden options (1990’s) and participation (2000’s). Regarding
location, there is a tendency of transition from isolated school education in special
schools to combined education of all children together.
Our educational system today
A. Education in preschool institutions
All the children from the age of 1 year till school age have the right to attend
preschool. In this case there is no difference between healthy children and children
with disabilities. Preschool attendance is voluntary and depends on parents' wish.
Children with disabilities or children at risk have a legal right to additional
medical and pedagogical help.
Medical and pedagogical diagnostics carried out by official health care
institution decides whether the child has some health problems or whether he/she is
at risk of having them.
Children with disabilities have appropriate medical and pedagogical
assistance in common preschools or attend medical and pedagogical groups for
children with disabilities or attend integrated groups with children without any
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health problems.
Human and material support of childcare institutions for preschool children
is different and depends on a federal state, that's why I’m going to tell you about
Schleswig-Holstein as I live in that state.
Common groups are optimized for 20 children, there are 2 specialists in such
groups. If children with disabilities who need some additional help attend this
group the number of children in the group decreases. Individual children’s needs
for additional medical and pedagogical help is satisfied by mobile specialists in
medical pedagogics. They come 2 times a week for 4-6 hours. Individual help is
realized by temporary exception of a child from a group.
In medical and pedagogical groups aimed at 8 children with disabilities at
the most, all the main pedagogical activities are directed towards the whole group.
Individual work is an exception. 1.5-1.7 specialists on average work in such
groups.
There are pedagogical activities for all 15 children in the group. Individual
needs of 4 children with disabilities are being worked out in small groups or by
temporary taking out one child from the group. There are 2 specialists in such
groups.
During the last 2 years, there is an increasing number of parents' and
teachers' demanding an establishment of more inclusive preschools (“Nurseries for
everybody”). Unfortunately, there are no standards in any of the federal states. But
we judge from the fact that regional legislation will satisfy these demands in the
years to come.
B. Education in support centres and in regular schools
Besides the claim for more participation in lessons of regular schools, in
practice children with disabilities mainly attend special schools and support
centres. Implementation of a right to integrated education is tough in many federal
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states of Germany. The right to integrated education has not been elaborated yet.
And integration of mentally disabled children in regular schools is not
implemented yet, although the right to integrated education is vested in all the laws
concerning school education, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities is ratified.
When mentally disabled children start to integrate in a regular school they
get the support according to their individual needs. The support is as follows:
● Special teachers from support centres come to a regular school for
some period of time and help a teacher to explain the material to
mentally disabled pupils. Such assistance can be provided directly in a
class or individually.
● If a child needs assistance in his everyday life he gets it from
specialists of integrative assistance. It can be assistance in using a
lavatory, in dressing, in eating or in writing.
● Mentally disabled children also get assistance in getting to school.
Children are either provided by special-purpose vehicles or by a
special assistant to accompany a child on his way to school and back.
In some federal states, there are special schools that are founded and
sponsored by parents. All children can attend these schools supporting the idea of
integrated education. Integrated education is now available in primary schools (for
children from 6 to 12 years, classes 1-6). There appeared the first attempts to
spread this model to intermediate school. But here we should mention the fact that
the complexity of intermediate schools educational programs influences the
number of mainstreaming pupils – it greatly decreases. For example, in North
Rhine-Westphalia in 2009 21.1% of pupils with disabilities attended lower grades
but only 9.4% attended regular intermediate school.
Integrated education means differentiation of objectives, content and
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demands for all the pupils to get the tasks appropriate to their skills, for all the
pupils to succeed in studying according to their capabilities. It is achieved by
working in learning cycles and in individual activities when all the results are
generalized at the end of the class. The design works when pupils learn from each
other during their own activities and focus on their own interests and strong points
are the main aspects of the pedagogical concept. The teaching staff in integrated
schools is multidisciplinary. In addition to subject teachers, there are specialists in
pedagogics for mentally disabled people, people with aural, articulation and vision
disorders, problems with educational process, medical professionals and medical
attendants. Success achieved during a process of integrated education equals the
success achieved in support centres.
In conclusion we should mention that German educational system for
mentally disabled children is still directed towards children's problems.
We would like to have more offers aimed at children's strong points.
10. Maria Perfilieva
Public campaign “Children Should Learn Together”. The activities of Disability Non -Governmental Organization “Perspektiva” aimed at promoting inclusive education
In 2005, “Perspektiva” started dealing with the problems of inclusive
education - joint training of children with and without disabilities. And at that time,
slogan of campaign “Children should learn together” appeared. The public
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campaign was implemented in three stages. The objective of the first stage was to
explain all participants of the educational process and the society, the definition of
inclusive education. In 2008, “Laboratory of social advertising” shot videos for us
where real students of inclusive schools took part. These videos showed that
children with and without disabilities could communicate well, and it looked
natural. These commercials were broadcast on the radio, on television, and on city
screens.
On the basis of these video clips some posters were made and placed all
around the city, and in schools. All campaign materials were given to regional
NGOs, members of the National Coalition “For Education for All”. So, the
campaign started in 26 regions of Russia. In addition, NGOs launched different
activities in schools: photography classes where children with and without
disabilities were trained together, festivals for children with and without
disabilities were held. We invited representatives of mass media to our activities.
This social campaign was one of the first in Moscow and other cities
(Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, etc.)
At the next stage some more video clips were shot. They were targeted
towards some parents (social video “Shackles” www.youtube.com/watch?
v=WgaakY4kCUI&feature=share&list=PL016D7F5AF3213520) and towards
educational community (video clip “New Talent” http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=raFKPBxqDM0&feature=share&list=PL016D7F5AF3213520 ). They were also
shown on television and used at educational seminars for teachers.
At the third stage (2011-2012) a new animated film appeared
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=LMq0phPH2lU&feature=share&list=PL016D7F5AF3213520 ). Its target group
was parents of children without disabilities who did not understand the meaning of
inclusive education and were wary of it. At the end of this movie you can see cute
cartoon characters going to school. We decided that these images could be used for 99
posters. At first, the Department for Advertising and Media of Moscow posted
them in different places, and later the Outdoor Rus Company started using them in
different advertising media. At this stage, non-governmental organisations -
members of the National Coalition joined the campaign. By this time
representatives of 30 regions of Russia have become members of the National
Coalition.
Simultaneously with social advertising, co-partners from the National
Coalition work in schools, organize and hold street actions, and information weeks
on inclusive education (http://perspektiva-inva.ru/inclusive-edu/coalition/ ).
In 2013, public campaign “Children should learn together” became a finalist
of the competition of social campaigns – in international project Creative for Good.
But despite the success of public campaign “Children should learn together”,
teachers and society still have stereotypes of thinking related to inclusive
education, which are not always positive. Therefore, the adoption of the new
Russian Law “On education”, which will come into effect on September 1st this
year (2013), is an important milestone in promotion of inclusive education and
realization of the rights of children with disabilities to education in schools located
in the places of their residence together with their equals in age. The law
introduces the concepts of “inclusive education”, “special conditions creation”, and
“adapting school programs”. But there is still a lot to do to make the Law work.
Our main task is to change the attitude towards inclusion in schools and in
the society. It is necessary to create special conditions and form social acceptance
towards children with disabilities, who do not want to learn and live in segregation
from society.
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Part 3. Employment: The UN Convention as an instrument for integration
101
11. Mikhail Novikov
Facilitated workplaces: Experience and problems of its implementation in the Russian Federation
102
Facilitated workplaces are a programme for employment of people with
peculiarities of intellectual development. It includes escorting them to their place
of employment and back and on-the-job coaching.
The term “facilitated workplaces” is already known in Russia and has been
repeatedly used in a number of Russian scientific and public materials on this
topic.
The model of “facilitated workplaces” was developed in the USA in the late
1970’s to help disabled people with their access to the open labour market. First
programmes of facilitated workplaces were mainly aimed to support people with
developmental disabilities and were successfully implemented in work with
individuals with mild or moderate cognitive impairments.
Facilitated workplaces started as an alternative to traditional options such as
centres of active treatment, special workshops and rehabilitation programmes.
According to those options, a person was segregated in the labour process and in
real life. However, everyone benefits if a disabled person gets a job in the open
labour market because of the growing confidence, self-esteem and independence of
this individual. At the same time, enterprises receive productive workers who can
be relied on, and are also loyal to their employers.
Facilitated workplaces are based on the fact that correct job search and job
matching, on-the-job support and coaching can achieve good results. Based on the
principles of participation, autonomy and equality, facilitated workplaces provide a
real opportunity for people with disabilities to work in the open labour market.
The main principles of facilitated workplaces are:
● Individual planning and individual job search support and advice. The
person’s skills, abilities, and talents are assessed, and his or her
interests and wishes in employment are certainly taken into account
when a job search plan is being developed.
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● Integration, which means that people with disabilities being
employed in the open labour market, work in small groups or
individually alongside people without disabilities and in the same
conditions. This contributes to natural integration development.
● On-the-job coaching - after a suitable working place has been chosen,
a person is trained to perform his or her labour duties onsite.
● Assistance in adaptation and on-the-job on-going support provided
over the long-term support can be provided by a supervisor from
facilitated workplaces service or by a supervisor working at the
enterprise.
Support may include the following activities:
● On-the-job coaching and instructing of employees;
● Adjustment to new work environment;
● Adjustment of functional duties;
● Teaching disabled persons to find their way in the city and to use
public transport;
● Teaching social skills;
● Assistance in solving arising problems (with employers, social and
expert services etc.).
The strategy of disabled people’s labour integration in Europe has gradually
developed. The work of rehabilitation services was based on the view that disabled
people who did not stay at home and did not work at special enterprises needed
preliminary training before they could get a job in the open labour market. In the
late 1970’s, it became clear that this approach contributed very little to integration
of people in normal working life and in particular, to integrate people with
cognitive impairments. It became evident that trainings and good working skills
were not the only things that were needed to ensure, that people with disabilities
would find a job. The concept of a “labour supervisor” appeared. A “labour 104
supervisor” is a person who renders comprehensive assistance to a person with
disabilities. This kind of assistance includes job hunting, job coaching, and
assistance with transportation to and from work among others. A “labour
supervisor” cooperates with a disabled person and an employer, thus this activity
leads to successful employment.
A “Supervisor’s” activity is more than just training and basic rehabilitation.
The original idea was to first teach and then instil practical skills (“teach and
train”). In many cases, supervision of people with disabilities after training at a
special enterprise finished after their employment. There was just hope that
everything would go well. In response to this strategy, a new strategy of
“education-employment-support” was developed. When a certain level of stability
had been reached, a supervisor may withdraw and leave an employed disabled
person alone with a new job and new colleagues (natural helpers).
A supervisor is required when a person with disabilities needs special
conditions at work that have to be assessed and provided when a person
experiences difficulties in mastering work and difficulties in performing daily
activities. The philosophy of such approach to supervision assumes face-to-face
communication, development and taking concrete measures aimed at adaptation
and training of an employee and an employer, and individual approach to each
person. When doing such work, a supervisor should really know well a person
under his or her patronage. All barriers which do not let effectively cope with the
work should be analysed; past events which could cause present difficulties should
be understood as well as identifying work methods and behaviour strategies which
were unsuccessful in the past.
When an employee experiences problems while performing his or her duties,
a supervisor should understand what the problem is, and what tasks this employee
performs poorly or ineffectively. A supervisor helps an employee, observes him
while at work and offers different solutions or ways to fulfil the assigned tasks. A 105
supervisor evaluates the worker’s abilities and decides what skills the person under
the patronage should be taught. A supervisor also arranges necessary training and
constantly assesses its effectiveness.
While working with persons with disabilities, a supervisor must help:
● Assess the skills, qualities and interests needed to perform a particular
job;
● Find a suitable job, where these skills and qualities would be required
and applicable;
● Assess the necessity of special conditions in the work setting and
provide them;
● Assess all possible tasks that an individual will have to perform at
work, and offer different ways of their fulfilment;
● Obtain or develop the required skills and characteristics for more
effective work;
● Communicate effectively with colleagues.
The supervisor also needs to provide the required assistance and support, and
help solve problems that may arise.
Thus, the individual employment by itself is only the start of the follow-up
process but this statement does not reduce its importance. On the other hand, the
role of a supervisor is much more significant than the role of an employment agent,
and he or she has to meet many demands.
Facilitated workplaces in European countries are often correlated to
principles of inclusion and regular work (“real work”). Possibilities for vocational
rehabilitation resulting from facilitated workplaces have helped many people with
disabilities to become part of the working culture.
Facilitated workplaces provide a real opportunity for people with disabilities
(including developmental disability and mental illness and are currently excluded
from the country’s labour market) to work in the open labour market.106
The main obstacles in the way of the development of facilitated workplaces
in our country are (1) lack of permanent sources of funding for such programs, and
(2) lack of experts to provide support to people with disabilities and training
programs for such specialists.
In 2008, the “Centre for curative pedagogics” conducted a study of existing
normative acts on the demand of Moscow City Department of Education.
According to the research findings, implementation of facilitated workplaces
programs is possible in currently existing patterns of state financing. In some
regions of the Russian Federation (for example, in St. Petersburg) projects of
facilitated workplaces have been successfully implemented but when they were
completed and foreign donor organizations stopped their funding, the projects did
not develop.
The following activities can be recommended to implement facilitated
workplaces programs successfully:
● To involve NGOs as they are more pertinent to pilot innovative
projects implementation which are aimed at further replication of
gained experience with participation of the government.
● To actively use foreign experience when implementing programs of
facilitated workplaces and job coaches training. It is desirable to
involve foreign institutions and experts in implementation of
facilitated workplaces pilot projects.
● To possibly exclude helping people with disabilities to adjust to new
employment environment and on the job support over the long-term,
but to focus on individual job search support.
Probably the process should not be started with guiding adults with
significant developmental disabilities such as Down's syndrome and autism for
instance, and mental disabilities, but to perfect the implementation of the program
targeted towards disabled people (however, they should need individual support in 107
employment). Regional non-governmental organization for disabled people
“Perspektiva” has invited experts on facilitated workplaces with practical
experience from foreign countries before the beginning of such programs
implementation in Moscow. Seminars with participation of experts on facilitated
workplaces from Northern Ireland helped us to understand the essence of the
program and to gain practical knowledge of training specialists in follow-up
support. They also helped us to develop a strategy for the programme
implementation on the basis of our organization.
Stories of Success
Dmitry, LLC “Vlasta – Khleb Nasushchny”, a packer
Sergey, LLC “Vlasta – Khleb Nasushchny”, a general labourer
Since his childhood, Dmitry has had an official diagnosis of “mental
retardation”. Thanks to his mother’s efforts, he got secondary school education and
secondary special education. He has diplomas in three specialities: plant growing,
cooking and packing. In spite of this, he could not find a job. At that time, we
started developing relations with LLC “Vlasta” engaged in food production. Its
branches “Khleb Nasushchny” and “Nash Khleb” are well known. The company
has its branches in other countries, where people with disabilities have been
successfully working for a long time. We therefore talked to them about Dmitry’s
employment, follow-up support and job coaching provided by specialists of our
organization. We helped the company to slightly alter the standard employment
contract and adapted it to hiring employees with such form of disability.
According to the contract, Dmitry was allowed to work three times a week
for five hours a day at the minimum but he was also given a possibility to work 35
hours a week according to the Labour Code if he wanted to do that. He had hourly
pay. This was very important as the company is located in Tomilino, and Dmitry
lives a very long way from his work in the South-West district of Moscow. He gets
108
to work by metro, train or bus. Dmitry started his work on July 18 th, 2011. During
the first two months, employees of our organization provided follow-up support
and job coaching. They met Dmitry near his house and went together to his work
place. Specialists of our organization spent whole days together with Dmitry at
work and taught him his job. At the end of the working day, they saw him to the
door of his house.
Dmitry tried many jobs, but it was decided that the work in the packing
workshop matched him best. He was therefore trained to operate the packing
machine. It is significant that despite the existing rules, he was given a chair and
permitted to sit during working hours.
Two months later, specialists of our organization stopped their support to
Dmitry. By that time, Dmitry could cope with his duties and had learned how to
get to his work and back by public transport. Dmitry has been working there for a
year. He has adjusted to the work environment, and made friends. The employer is
satisfied with the new employee’s work performance.
We have interviewed Anastasia Gorobets, HR specialist of LLC, Vlasta -
Khleb Nasushchny and Nash Khleb: “How would you assess Dmitry’s work?”
He works 3 days a week on equal terms with all other employees. Now he knows
his schedule and his duties well. I can say that as well as other employees, Dmitry
works to the benefit of the company. He does not let our production stop, but
promotes continuous work without failures. When visitors come to the workshop,
Dmitry is happy to talk and speak about his job.
“What kind of relations does Dmitry have with his colleagues?”
Every day we hear Dmitry welcome everybody in a loud voice, and this certainly
creates a positive atmosphere. He works in a team and, of course, it is important
how he interacts with his colleagues. His task is to properly weigh and pack equal
amounts of half-finished product. His team consists of mainly women, and Dmitry
feels himself a man responsible for the team.109
“Girls, follow me!”, he often says. His colleagues consider him as equal. Although
at the beginning we had some worries. Not long ago, we asked the manager if the
man with disabilities caused any tension. He said that it did not annoy anybody.
“How does the program of facilitated workplaces benefit Dmitry?”
I think that this job means a lot to Dmitry. He is very social. It is very important for
him to be involved in joint activities. He has fully integrated in the work
environment.
In December 2011, Dmitry recommended his friend Sergey to apply to his
company for a job. Sergey is mentally retarded too. The company did not refuse to
give him a job, but they asked to provide him with follow-up support and on-the-
job coaching. Initially, Sergey was offered a job of sorting raisins but this work
was too intensive and hard for him (His daily output was lower than the norm even
though he worked together with his supervisor). He was therefore given the job of
a general labour. We provided Sergey with follow-up support for three weeks. He
has fully integrated in the work environment and still works for the company.
Dmitry, art-cafe, a waiter’s assistant:
Dmitry has Down's syndrome. He is very social. He acts in the “Theatre of
Simple-Hearted”. Despite this, Dmitry did not have any work experience. On April
28th, 2012 Dmitry was given a job in “Just a Cafe” LLC. The café manager was
very positive about employing a person with Down’s syndrome.
Dmitry, employees of regional non-governmental organization for disabled
people “Perspektiva”, Dmitry’s parents and his future employer gathered together
at Dmitry’s place to discuss the details of his employment. They spoke about
Dmitry’s job responsibilities, schedule and salary. They also talked about Dmitry’s
interests and challenges. Then the specialists on facilitated workplaces from
“Perspektiva”, Dmitry’s parents and the employer met in the café to familiarize
with Dmitry’s duties and his work place. Dmitry was given the job of a waiter’s
assistant, and his main task was to clean tables and relieve other waiters from that.110
Dmitry started working on May 28th, 2012. That was his first trial working
day. It was decided that Dmitry would work 4 hours a day at the weekends, so that
he could adjust to the new activity. During one month, employees of our
organization provided follow-up support and job coaching. They taught him how
to get from his home to the café and back. Shortly afterwards, he started doing it
himself. It took Dmitry a short time to master his job as he always helped his
mother with cleaning. He sometimes resorted to small tricks and pretended that he
forgot or could not learn something. He acted this way because he did not want us
to stop supervising him. He wanted to have more opportunities to communicate
with his supervisors.
12. Wolfgang Medrisch
Employment of people with disabilities in Germany
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promotes
human dignity and is against any form of isolation.111
A frequently cited notion of inclusion points out to the responsibility of the
state to provide every citizen with an access to all spheres of life, including the
labour market.
Inclusion also presupposes the following principle: it is not people, who
should change, but it is the barriers and limits that should be abolished.
There exists a common opinion that people with disabilities are unable to do
many things – and everyone should know that it is not true! People with disabilities
should take an active part in all spheres of life. They shall not be excluded. And in
this way people will be able to learn a lot from each other.
Schools that serve for transmission of knowledge and the cultural heritage
should bear an idea that there is no “inability” for education. Moreover, it is natural
that after graduation from school individuals with severe disabilities and health
problems require help in finding alternative possibilities of employment in
accordance with their special needs.
Employment for any person is part and parcel of individual and collective
participation in the society.
In our opinion, when we talk about the demands of people with disabilities,
one should bring in focus the following fields of activities:
● labour market;
● workshops for people with disabilities (protected work places);
● integrating events;
● special integration services;
● assistance in education.
For the participation in working life, a strong and differentiated system of
work places should be created, which will take into account special needs of
people with disabilities. The use of special integration service and assistance is an
effective measure for the implementation of this system. “Supportive employment”
112
and building of integration enterprises create favourable conditions and
perspectives.
It is very important to mention that in case of employment of people with
disabilities, the enterprises get governmental support and assistance in the
following:
● probationary period;
● free training;
● additional payment;
● subsidies for integration;
● working career support;
● subsidies for the organisation of the working place.
Currently, 290,000 people attend 700 workshops for people with disabilities.
These workshops mostly belong to the non-governmental organisations with 300-
400 staff members. Their goal is to provide people with disability with the needed
assistance and better access to the job market. Those who do not fulfil the
requirements of the job market should be given an opportunity to get employed
without entering the job market. And this may be nothing else than workshops.
However every year only 1 % manages to change from workshops to the
open labour market. It should be noted that people engaged in workshops are for
the most people with mental disorders, who in many cases cannot read or write. I
think that these workshops are highly necessary, but they still need to be
developed.
Our main goal is to secure state and public contracts for the workshops
where people with disabilities are employed.
Our workshops accept orders of different professional nature:
● bush cutting;
● tree planting;
● gardening;113
● playground building;
● housekeeping;
● winter technical service;
● move assistance;
● metalwork;
● wood working (small-size furniture, toys, etc...);
● fabric products;
● storage facilities;
● laundry;
● packaging, assortment, inventory.
Integration enterprises practically do not differ from the regular ones. They
provide work places for people with disabilities who cannot enter the open job
market without special assistance and fulfilment of special conditions. In this sense
such enterprises may be called “social enterprises”. Together with all the others
they take part in competitive activity and demand from their workers to meet the
work requirements and fulfil the necessary scope of work, which equals 60 - 70%
of the usual productivity.
Spheres of business activities are multifarious. In order to cope with the
production load and time trouble, which often happens, half of the staff consists of
people without any health restrictions. As for the rights and duties of the
employees, there is full equality. People get the same payment for the same type of
work, both people with and without disabilities are entitled for promotions to
leader positions.
Integration enterprises’ owners take full commercial responsibility for their
activities and get privileges at the expense of equalization fees for employing a
great number of people with disabilities.
Such integration enterprises allow people with disabilities find their place at
the primary job market in such professional spheres as gastronomy, private 114
business, garden design and landscaping, woodworking, and other creative spheres
of activity.
For another thing, there exists a practice of patronage of big and medium-
sized concerns, state enterprises and banks, which hand over technical equipment
to the integration enterprises. As time passes, this equipment may be fixed and
afterwards sold for a very reasonable price with 12 months warranty.
Integration enterprises offer other organisations and factories, qualified and
motivated specialists from among people with disabilities, together with advisory
help and guiding at the enterprise. Here several area of focus may be distinguished.
Special integration service
In Germany, this organisation serves as a third party that provides people
with disabilities with the needed support for entering the primary job market. Such
services as a rule are financed by non-governmental organisations.
They receive orders from the integration institution and are at employers’
disposal. They are qualified for providing the employers with information and
clarification of their possible functions as well as necessary support upon
obtainment of the state order.
Special integration service:
● assists employees with severe disabilities and health problems,
including school graduates and provides employers with
consultations;
● offers guiding at the first stage of working career, involving in this
process colleagues and leaders if necessary;
● provides consultations on financial support and assists in compilation
of applications;
● provides consultations in difficult situations connected to the working
career and offer critical interference and psychosocial consultations; 115
Special integration services are meant for those people with disabilities who
need more intensive personal support during the process of their integration in the
working career.
Lawmakers include in this group mostly people with so-called mental or
psychic disorders or with multiple combinations of physical and mental disorders.
Help services without detachment from the enterprise imply both personal
and psychosocial help. Special integration services:
● inform employees about their rights and duties, especially in what concerns
their right for additional assistance according to the existing;
● provide consultations on correspondence of the working place with the
special health needs and give advice on how these work places may be
equipped;
● provide necessary assistance and support with regard to employment of
people with severe health problems;
● supervise employees – people with disabilities in special cases at work and
off-site, if it helps to facilitate work relations.
Integration institution informs employees about possibilities of getting
financial help for the following:
● reorganisation and re-equipment of the existing working places and
productive capacities for the purposes of hiring people with disabilities;
● equipment of working and study places with special support technology.
They:
● provide support in cases if the employee experiences difficulties at the work
place;
● provide assistance for those who return to work after sick-leaves;
● assist in resolving the conflicts between employers and employees;
● consult employers;
116
● facilitate possible financial participation of the integration institution in
cases of the need of additional expenses for the employee’s supervision
and/or work decrement;
● closely cooperate with the institutions of psychosocial assistance and help
people to get in contact with support services outside work;
● organise home visits.
Integration institutions are responsible for the work of support services, as
well as protection from dismissal. They assist in organization and equipment of the
work places in accordance with the needs of people with disabilities. They offer
educational events as well as additional trainings, as well as deal with questions of
rising and distribution entitlement payment.
Opportunities of participation in the working life should also include special
conceptual and organisational elements in order to make inclusion of people with
severe disabilities possible. First and foremost, it concerns creation of small
enterprises with corresponding staff and financial security, with working places
adapted in accordance with the individual needs and abilities of the personnel.
We are in need of more work places for people with disabilities not only in
industry, but also in different institutions, such as fiscal or tax offices, placement
services, etc. or in small enterprise, such as bakery, fruit farming, etc.
In most cases if the disability prevents an employee from performing usual
work tasks he or she used to perform, rehabilitation is of paramount importance.
For these purposes there exist professional development centres with asylums and
flats where the participants can live together.
Such professional development centres function as competence
development centres and together with medical rehabilitation, they also organize
professional rehabilitation for people with disabilities, in order to improve their
chances to participate in the working life.
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Very often in the process of realization of the right to work there is a call for
innovative ideas and on-site projects with resemblance to working conditions.
So far there are not enough suggestions on how to provide consultations and
coordinating centres for people with disabilities. It is educational assistance
services that should help young people experiencing problems with learning or
those socially distressed to graduate from educational institutions and acquire
qualifications, and in this way improve their chances for getting a professional
career.
Necessary assistance is offered in the following cases:
● problems with learning both theory and practice;
● problems connected to the poor language knowledge;
● problems with social environment;
● problems at the enterprise;
● problems with the exams.
Those socially distressed and experiencing learning problems are young
people who due to personal problems are not able to start or finish their internship
at the enterprise or vocational training without external help.
Private budget
In conclusion, we will briefly touch upon topic of a private budget – one of
our new achievements. Instead of material or personal services the receiver has a
private budget which he or she is using independently for paying for the services,
covering expenses connected to the satisfaction of personal needs and assistance. It
also concerns assistance services mentioned above, without leaving the enterprise,
workshop, integration institutions and primary labour market.
Nowadays, a new law with a working title “law on participation” is being
developed which is connected to labour activity and which presumably will change
the whole system of integration assistance in Germany.
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13. Roger Riise
Integration of disabled people into the Norwegian labour market – possibilities and restrictions
1. The labour market in Norway
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The level of unemployment in Norway is low. Some areas of the labour
market are lacking manpower. The labour immigration in the country has recently
increased.
At the same time, there is a big difference between the unemployment rate
among people with disabilities and the rate in the rest of the population. Statistics
show that 74% of the total working-age population is employed. As for disable
people, the percentage of the employed is 42%.
Not all disable people want to work. The Norwegian welfare state ensures
that those who cannot participate in the ordinary working life, the sick and others,
who fall out from normal lifestyle, are economically secured. However, working is
always economically beneficial. That is why there is always a non-voluntary
unemployment among the handicapped. One of the recent surveys shows that
78,000 unemployed allegedly disabled people want to work. This figure has been
stable over the last years.
Increased labour immigration has led to a pressure on the welfare state,
which concerns Norwegian politicians. The concern is that the welfare system
functioning today is not sustainable for the future. Different Norwegian political
parties have divergent opinions on how we should overcome this challenge. Some
political parties want to level up the criteria for access to the welfare system.
Moreover, they want to make the system less attractive. Such strategies are heavily
discussed in media and contribute to the negative attitude towards those who
receive benefits from the welfare state.
I will now present some regulations that were established in order to include
disabled people into working life.
2. Agreement on an inclusive labour market
The Norwegian state has established cooperation between government,
employers and employees through their organizations in order to
● reduce sick leaves;120
● increase personal well-being at work;
● prevent exclusion from the labour market.
Companies that have chosen to enter the agreement will get an immediate
access to the subsidy scheme for employees who are sick or affected by an
accident or anything else that causes a temporary or permanent functional
reduction. The offer includes technical guidance, financial support in the form of
payment during periods of sickness, as well as subsidy for work training
programmes.
Up till now, companies that follow the agreement are mostly focused on the
reduction of sick leaves. Other goals have been significantly given less attention.
The agreement has had little effect on the inclusion of disabled people into
working life.
3. The civil Service Act
There is a stated policy in Norway, that public sector goes ahead of private
businesses for employment of disable people. There is also a majority of
handicapped employees in the public sector, and there are more of them in big
companies than in small ones. I am talking about ratios here.
The Civil Service Act of 1983 regulates employment in the state sector. The
law gives an advantage to handicapped applicants. If among the applicants for a
position there are handicapped persons qualified for this work place, at least one of
them will be invited for an interview. The condition is that these applicants are
unemployed or are endangered to lose their current job. A qualified handicapped
person may be employed even if he or she does not possess the best qualifications.
4. The Public Procurement Act
This act regulates procurement made by the public authorities, especially for
the purpose of securing fair competition as well as preventing misuse of state
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resources. The act also states that the environmental impact, life-time costs for the
product and universal design should be included in the assessment of procurement.
The clause about what shall be taken into account is not so self-evident.
Disable people in Norway have demanded that the law should be amended in
a way which emphasizes universal design.
The way the law looks like today it has little effect on universal design in
public sector.
5. The Anti-Discrimination and Accessibility Act
This act ensures equal opportunities, possibilities and rights to social
participation for all and prevents discrimination on the basis of disablement. The
act contributes to overcoming barriers for the handicapped built by the society and
prevents new ones from appearing. The law came into force in 2009.
The law obliges major companies and the whole public sector to act task-
oriented and systematic in order to fulfil its intention. Task-oriented and systematic
means companies’ plans should demonstrate measures to ensure that the law is
complied with.
Enterprises subjected to the regulations of this act have an obligation to
report on how they comply with this law. The state has established the regulatory
bodies that control the fulfilment of these obligations.
Unfortunately the regulations are not applicable in the sectors of education
and working life. This exception is justified by the fact that employers are obliged
to create special facilities according to employees’ individual needs.
Individual arrangements cannot fully compensate the lack of Universal
design of Information and Communication Technology. We more and more feel
that lacking universal design of Information and Communication Technology
excludes those who use assistant technology for handling computers.
6. The Act on Reading Assistants and Secretary
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This Act concerns especially visually impaired people. Visually impaired
people can apply for secretary for study or work purposes, in order to get help in
reading, making notes and other activities that they cannot manage themselves.
The users decide themselves what they need help for. The secretary gets paid by
the state in accordance with his or her working hours.
The regulations also allow visually impaired people to take part in
conferences, seminars, courses, etc.
There are also same regulations for physically impaired people who rely
upon personal assistant’s help.
7. Utilities
People with disabilities while at work have right for individual facilitation. It
concerns utilities necessary for fulfilling their work tasks. A state body, NAV, has
responsibility for evaluation and distribution of utilities.
Employers are also obliged to workplace adaptation in accordance with the
needs of an employee. Ergonomic office furniture, special lights, measures for
damping down allergies may serve as examples of adaptation of a working place.
In case of hiring a disable person, the state covers all the necessary costs.
8. Commuting
The handicapped experiencing problems with commuting can apply for
using commuting regulations. According to these regulations, the user can take a
taxi from/to work. The user pays almost the same amount of money as he or she
would have spent using public transportation, for example, a bus. The regulations
are especially important for visually or physically impaired people.
9. Summary
There are many people with disabilities that are eager to have a normal job
in Norway. Many of them are well-qualified, among other reasons because as it is
so difficult to enter the job market, they put an extra effort on studies. Many areas
of labour market are lacking manpower.123
We have laws and rules that are supposed to allow people with disabilities to
be hired without a risk of extra costs for an employer.
We have laws and rules that are supposed to ensure flexible solutions such
as when an employee for a period of time cannot work 100%, the State takes part
in covering the costs.
We have laws and rules that are supposed to prevent discrimination and
impossible solutions.
However, there is a huge difference between employment of people with
disabilities and the rest of population. Why? The explanation may be that we are
still a discriminated group that is treated differently because of disabilities.
When it comes to legal compliance, all the laws and regulations that I have
described earlier have some gaps. In this way, basic assumptions that we call
attitudes come in.
Moreover, working life is excluded from obligations of universal design of
work place. Thus, the aim to dismantle barriers for the handicapped that were built
by the society is left to the judgment or in other words to employers’ attitudes.
There has been made a research that was aimed to determine employers’
attitudes. It has vividly shown that wheelchair users and the blind have minimal
chances of employment regardless their qualifications.
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14. Maxim Larionov
Some aspects of situation improvement with hearing-impaired people employment in Russia
The right to work is a fundamental right of each person. It provides a human
being with decent life and contributes to the development and recognition of other
rights. In compliance with Article 27 of the Convention on the rights of persons
with disabilities, which was ratified by the Russian Federation in 2012, realization
of this right by people with disabilities is a priority for any state.
At present, the State programme “Accessible Environment” for 2011-2015 is
being implemented in the Russian Federation. The program contains measures
aimed at the employment of disabled people. The budget of the planned activities
is 47 billion roubles.
On 7th May 2012, the President of the Russian Federation issued Decree №
597 “On measures for the state social policy implementation”. The Decree gives an
assignment to the Government to create annually 14.2 thousand special jobs for the
disabled in the period from 2013 to 2015.
In order to implement the President’s Decree № 597, the Government of the
Russian Federation issued an Order N 1921-R on October 15th, 2012 and approved
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measures to enhance the effectiveness of actions to assist with the employment of
disabled persons and to ensure the accessibility of vocational education in 2012-
2015. This is actually a “road map” of activities undertaken by the Government
together with NGOs for disabled people. The range of activities includes situation
monitoring, scientific and methodological assistance and vocational guidance for
persons with disabilities.
The total budget of the State program “Promotion of employment for 2013-
2020” which was approved on November 27th, 2012 was 634.9 billion roubles. The
program includes a number of measures to provide legal, economic and
institutional conditions conducive to effective development of labour market,
development of flexible forms of employment including activities aimed at
employment of people with disabilities in the open labour market. It is planned to
create 14 thousand new jobs annually for the disabled in the period until 2015
through the programme.
In this context, the main activities of the All-Russian Association of the Deaf
are related to the employment of people with hearing impairments, to the revealing
of the main obstacles that people with disabilities meet with in the process of
employment and to coping with the main challenges that the state and employers
face with. We consistently assert the right of people with disabilities to work in the
open labour market on an equal basis with others, which fully complies with the
provisions of Article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.
When participating in public monitoring of implementation of the
President’s Decree № 597 the All-Russian Association of the Deaf made a list of
problems that have to be considered first. Solving of the following problems will
help to increase the effectiveness of mechanisms and measures to promote the
employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market:
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1. Limitation in occupational choice for health reasons
On January 1st, 2012 the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation
approved Decree № 302-n which sets health exclusions according to different
types of activity. Of course, there are some professions where strict health
requirements are fair. However, we want to emphasize that many of the Decree
provisions are clearly discriminatory.
Because of putting the Decree into execution, a huge number of people with
hearing disabilities working at manufacturing enterprises as turners, milling-
machine operators, machine-minders, etc. are facing termination on health grounds
across the country. We are talking about tens of thousands of people.
The Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation has done a lot to remove
the discriminatory provisions, but unfortunately not as fast as we wish. A new draft
of the order has already been developed, but it has not come into force yet.
2. Labour recommendations
The second group of constraints that disabled persons face are individual
rehabilitation programmes developed by a doctor or an expert, which contain
information about recommended and contraindicated conditions and kinds of work.
Unfortunately, there is a problem of quality of “labour recommendations”
developed by specialists of medical and social assessment institutions, which are
often made formally and as a rule have many restrictions. It often happens so that
medical findings do not contribute to the employment of disabled persons, but
often obstruct it.
In our opinion, the main problem is insufficient competence of specialists of
medical and social assessment institutions and formalized but not individual
approach to each disabled person.
3. Job quotas for people with disabilities
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We have to admit inefficiency of the provisions of the Russian legislation
related to job quotas, according to which enterprises with more than 100
employees are obliged to give 2-4% of jobs to people with disabilities. There is no
effective mechanism of these provisions execution in the Federal legislation. That
leads to the profanation of the idea of job quotas for disabled people and provokes
social irresponsibility of employers for not giving jobs to people with disabilities
seeking employment. Furthermore, disabled people as per rule are offered
unskilled jobs, which they are not comfortable with or which are not suitable
because of health reasons.
4. Low accessibility of professional education.
The report of the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights
devoted to labour activity and employment of people with disabilities
(A/HRC/20/25, of 17 December, 2012) rightly states that full realization of the
provisions of Article 27 of the Convention depends on implementation of other
articles of the international document. We believe that successful realization of the
right to work to the utmost depends on the realization of the right to education.
Accessibility of professional education of hearing-impaired people is not
sufficient today because of the lack of the Russian sign language translators. For
example, in the Russian Federation only 11 universities and 22 specialised
secondary schools have special groups for deaf students. This number is too little
for the whole country.
We hope that adoption of the law on raising the status of sign language will
change situation of accessibility of professional education for people with hearing
disabilities for the better.
We think it is extremely important to use positive international experience
and implement programs of vocational guidance in secondary schools. It would
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help people with different disabilities to get prepared to a certain profession and
thus improve their competitiveness in the labour market.
5. Work of persons with disabilities for State institutions
The State is the largest employer. However, the number of disabled persons
working for the State or Municipal Institutions is very small. It is necessary to
conduct monitoring of all positions and to change admission criteria in order to
determine which positions can be taken by people with different disabilities.
6. Stereotypes of employers related to people with disabilities.
We think the State should carry out a large-scale information policy targeted
on employers. As practice shows, many employers are very poorly informed about
the rights, benefits and opportunities in the employment of people with disabilities.
Lack of information causes the occurrence of psychological barrier between an
employer and an applicant with a disability. Stereotypes of employers related to
people with disabilities is an international key problem arising when implementing
the provisions of the Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities in labour
and employment.
The interim results of public monitoring of the President’s Decree № 597 of
May 7th , 2012 related to annual creation of 14.2 thousand special jobs for the
disabled in the period from 2013 to 2015 were announced at the meeting in the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare on April 24, 2013. The monitoring is being
held by the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation.
According to the monitoring results the number of unemployed persons with
disabilities is 1.75 million people or 68.1% of disabled people of working age. If
we put together these figures and the objectives set in the President’s Decree, and
in the State Program “Accessible environment” for 2011-2015, it turns out that the
planned measures will not be able to improve significantly the overall situation
with employment of disabled people.
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Almost all problematic issues marked by the All-Russian Association of the
Deaf and announced by the President of the All-Russian Association of the Deaf in
debates on the employment and work of persons with disabilities at the 22nd
session of the UN Human Rights Council held in March 2013 were included in the
Guidelines of the Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on
Social Policy, Labour Relations and Quality of Life of Citizens.
We believe that prioritized attention should be paid to the conclusion, made
by the Civic Chamber that it is necessary to create mechanisms for inter-
institutional and inter-sectoral cooperation aimed at employment of people with
disabilities.
Success in employment of each disabled person depends on his or her level
of education, on how carefully the individual rehabilitation program has been
drawn, on the policy of local executive authorities, as well as on the level of
employers’ awareness of this issue. In this connection, it is necessary to fund and
support the establishment of interdepartmental coordination councils on
employment of people with disabilities at the federal, regional and municipal level.
Different problems related to employment of people with hearing
impairments and people with other disabilities, can be solved by taking
comprehensive approach and involving all stakeholders. Only in this case we can
achieve a positive result.
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15. Wolfgang Baasch
Employment of People with Disabilities in GermanyIn Germany, enterprises, which have more than 20 workplaces, have to
provide 5% of positions to severely disabled people. Almost every third German
enterprise does not obey this rule or follows it with negligence. Enterprises, which
do not meet the obligation, have to pay an equalization fee for every workplace
meant for a disabled person. The fee depends on a quota and varies from 115 euro
to 290 euro a month. Thus, for every position meant for a disabled person and not
occupied by him or her, a fine should be paid. Despite all these sanctions the
unemployment rate of severely disabled people is two times higher than the
unemployment rate of people without disabilities. In 2011, an average
unemployment rate among people without disabilities was 7.9%, while the
percentage of unemployed disabled was 14.8%. These serious numbers are the
evidence that the unemployment rate of disabled in Germany has been
underestimated for a long time. Big politico-social unions such as the German
Social Union demand enacting of a pact concerning the disabled employment. At
high political level the discussion is being held on the ways of improving the
situation with meeting a quota for employment of people with severe disabilities.
There are some possible steps, which can be taken, such as an increase of the
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equalization fee or an increase of the quota from 5% to 6% (in 2003, it was
reduced from 6% to 5%). Also a wise step could be to increase support to
integrated enterprises and projects promoting an integration of disabled people in
the labour market. The main aim of all the proposals listed above is to implement
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the
labour market.
Which measures are being undertaken nowadays?
The Federal Employment Agency helps disabled people and provides them
with the following opportunities:
● Integration of unemployed disabled people in the labour market and the
education system.
● The Agency takes preventive measures to reserve positions and training
places for disabled in different enterprises.
● Employment assistance for the disabled at special labour market, for
example at workshops for people with disabilities.
● Co-operation with a variety of organizations, which sponsor the
rehabilitation of disabled, as well as cooperation with unions and self-care
organizations.
The Federal Employment Agency considers a person disabled and
provides the assistance if:
1. A person has physical or mental disorders, including people with learning
disabilities and individuals with health risks.
2. A person cannot take part in the work life during a long period because of a
severe disability (for example he or she has a sort of deviation from normal
health status, typical for his/her age for more than six months, which
prevents him/her from taking part in social life).
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3. People who need assistance to take part in working life.
While giving assistance the Federal Employment Agency divides
integration into two stages: primary integration and re-integration (professional
rehabilitation).
Primary integration into professional life and educational activities
after graduation usually means integration of school graduates during the period
of their first attempts to find a job after graduation from educational institutions.
It also includes people without any qualification and working experience.
Professional rehabilitation usually presupposes rehabilitation of people with
qualification and three-year’s working experience.
Here is a brief review on the Federal Employment Agency activities
oriented on the assistance to disabled people, who need on a daily basis or
during a period of professional rehabilitation.
All events, focused on organization of any kind of activity with
mandatory deductions to the social insurance fund, get support. Financial
assistance can be provided for educational needs in professional training.
Special workshops for disabled people, advanced vocational training,
interindustrial institutions – all these forms of work, which are performed in
rehabilitation centres, could be sponsored. For these purposes a person
concerned can get finance for training, cover expenses on participating, and
expenses on assistants, transport, technical support, a sign language interpreter.
Employers get assistance in the form of governmental subsidies that
cover expenses on training and integration into professional life of disabled
employees, additional assistance at work, as well as trial employment.
Every person should have a possibility to take part in the social life
and, as much as possible, to lead his/her own life independently. This self-
sufficiency is impossible without being a part of so-called primary or common
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labour market. It is important to demonstrate all the human potential for our
society and for the labour market. Disabled people are very important
specialists. More than 60% of unemployed severely disabled people in
Schleswig-Holstein have professional qualification. Thus a number of qualified
unemployed people with severe forms of disability is higher than the average
number of unemployed without disabilities. These numbers clearly demonstrate
which skills of disabled people are required in the labour market.
In my native federal state Schleswig-Holstein there are about 4,700
employers who have to obey the legal obligation and reserve 5% of job
positions for severely disabled people, if an enterprise has more than 20
positions. About 60% (2,900 different businesses) either do not observe the law
at all or simply do not fulfil the 5% quota. In other words, 7,000 out of 24,000
obligatory positions in Schleswig-Holstein remain unoccupied. This fact means
that politicians and all the society have to focus their efforts on implementation
of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It
is necessary to understand, without any prejudice, that disabled people are well-
qualified and it is essential to support their intention to be independent in life.
These are the main challenges that employers and staff of different enterprises
should face.
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16. Pavel Shevelev
Employment of people with disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region: problems and perspectives
Being employed is part a parcel of living a full life for any person.
Employment does not only bring economic benefits, but also a possibility for self-
realisation.
People with disabilities experience difficulties with finding a job and are in
need of special support from the government. Low level of competitiveness of the
disabled on the labour market raises the problem of their employment, which is
now prioritised by the state social policy of the Russian Federation.
The situation in the Arkhangelsk region
The population of the Arkhangelsk region is 1,25 million people. Out of this
number more than 100 thousand people are disabled, and two thirds of them are in
their working age.
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The placement service gets approximately 2 thousand applications from
people with disabilities, and 80% of them are recognized as unemployed. The
dynamics of people with disabilities applying to the placement services of the
Arkhangelsk region for the assistance in employment is the following:
Year 2010 2011 2012
Applied for the
assistance in employment
(persons)
2,118 1,873 1,702
Recognised as
unemployed (persons)
1,765 1,535 1,396
In 2012, the Arkhangelsk placement service centre received 1.7 thousand
applications from people with disabilities. 1,4 thousand of them were recognized as
unemployed. 694 of them got employed.
As of January 1st, 2013 there were registered 915 applicants – people with
disabilities applying for assistance with employment.
The law on the population’s employment in the Russian Federation has
defined the state powers within the area of population’s employment. Among
them:
● Control action on:
Fulfilment of state guarantees in the sector of population’s employment;
Employment of the disabled persons within the limits of the set quotas;
Registration of persons with disabilities as unemployed
● Public provision on the population’s employment
According to the employment legislation, persons with disabilities are
included into the group of citizens experiencing difficulties to find a job.
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The registration of the citizens for the purposes of assistance with finding a
job, as well as registration them as unemployed is implemented in the placement
service centres. There are 22 such centres in the Arkhangelsk region.
The registered citizens fall under control of the specialists from the
placement service centres. They receive the entire package of state services in
accordance with the administrative regulations developed by the Federal Service
on labour and employment and are in force since 2007. It is the placement service
that implements the assistance in employment within the framework of the
departmental programme on the facilitation of employment of the population in the
Arkhangelsk region.
In 2012 by virtue of the undertaken measures, such as “Organisation of the
paid community services” and “Organisation of the temporary employment of the
unemployed people experiencing difficulties with finding a job” 400 persons with
disabilities got a resettlement. Almost all types of jobs they got were socially and
economically significant.
For the purposes of the motivation of unemployed people with disabilities
and their adaptation to the labour market, the placement services are organising
different arrangements on career guidance, psychological support and vocation
education (re-education) of the disabled. Thus, over a year of 2012 approximately
1.3 thousand people with disabilities enjoyed the state services of vocation
education and psychological support (with the special methods of
psychodiagnostics and vocational selection being used). This group of citizens is
prioritized in the programme of the vocation education. In 2012, 47 persons with
disabilities accomplished the vocation education.
Since 2010, there has been implemented a programme on assistance in
employment and finding special work places for people with disabilities in the
Arkhangelsk region. Within the frameworks of the regional programmes the
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employers create, equip and modernize the work places with special or standard
devices that help to ease the work of people with disabilities.
While equipping the work places the employers took into account the
profession of the citizen, type of work, degree of disability, level of functional
impairment, limitations of labour activity, as well as the level of specialisation of
the work place, mechanization and computer-aided manufacturing.
The employers who created special conditions and equipped work places for
people with disabilities are supposed to get compensation for expenses. In 2011,
they could get no more than 30.0 thousand roubles, in 2012 – not more than 50.0
thousand roubles, in 2013 – not more than 66.2 thousand roubles.
Within the framework of different programmes, people could get different
jobs, for example, veterinary attendant, manager, accountant, electrician,
seamstress, dispatcher, computer operator and others.
All in all for the period 2010-2012, there have been equipped 148 work
places for people with disabilities. As a result, 165 people got employed. As of
January 1st, 2013 86 people with disabilities maintained their positions.
It should be mentioned that in case a person with disability leaves the
position it is the placement service centre that is responsible for recruiting new
people for this equipped work place that would be chosen from the unemployed
applicants and other people with disabilities of the same category.
For the indicated period there has been liquidated 46 work positions, the
basic reasons being: liquidation of the enterprise itself, absence of the candidates
among people with disabilities who want or suit for this position in accordance
with the individual programme of rehabilitation for employment for the created
(equipped) work place. Among the reasons of why the person leaves the position
are: change of residence, change of the group of disability into incapacity for work,
as well as absence without leave and nonfulfillment of employment duties.
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A programme “On the measures of assistance in employment of people with
disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region in 2013” is being implemented at present.
All the placement service centres take part in the programme. 78 work places for
people with disabilities during the year of 2013 will be created.
One of the main tasks is quota arrangement of work places for people with
disabilities. According to the recent changes and amendments in the regional law
“On state guarantees of employment for people with disabilities in Arkhangelsk
region”, beginning with 2011 the organisations with an average labour force of
more than 100 people will work out the number of these quotas independently.
The Ministry is authorised to prepare draft regulations of the Arkhangelsk
region administration on the establishment of a minimum amount of special work
places for people with disabilities. Thus, in the year of 2012 in accordance with the
government regulation issued December 13th, 2011 № 482, 399, organisations
within the region were obliged to create one special work place, and considering
the additional modifications – 360 organisations.
Employers are obliged to adopt the local legal act on quotas and inform the
placement service centres about it. Moreover, they are obliged to inform the
placement service centres on their compliance with the law on job security of
people with disabilities.
The analysis of the results of quota compliance conducted by the ministry in
2012 showed that 420 organisations within the region had sent reports on the quota
establishment, general quota capacity being 4,745 working places. All the
enterprises issued local legal acts on quota compliance. In its entirety, 2,402 work
places were occupied by people with disabilities on account of quota, and it is 51%
of the whole number of work places subjected to quota. 211 persons with
disabilities are working at special work places on account of quota. 116 enterprises
fulfil the quota requirements. Information about the organisations that do not
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follow the quota rules is sent to the public prosecutions department for further
investigations.
According to the results of the implementation of state guarantees in the
sphere of employment of the disabled, the highest percentage of quota compliance
is observed in public health and social services (79%) and educational sector
(78%).
More than 50% of people with disabilities are employed on account of quota
by the enterprises in the sectors of construction and agriculture.
The quota for people with disabilities requested for the period of January-
December 2012 in employment services equalled 608 work places. 36 people with
disabilities got employed.
As per rule, the job positions offered by the employers to people with
disabilities presuppose an unskilled labour. The working conditions do not usually
correspond to the limited abilities of these people, as well as recommendations
prescribed in the individual rehabilitation programme of a particular person.
Moreover, the salary level is low, it is rarely paid on time, and the workers are not
offered any social guaranties. Thus, these job positions remain vacant, as people
with disabilities reject them.
In accordance with the Arkhangelsk region government’s regulation № 513
“On a minimal number of special work places for people with disabilities for the
year of 2013” issued on November 20th, 2012, one special working place in each of
the 374 organisations will be created.
414 enterprises have a set a quota of 4,693 work places. On the whole it is
2,365 work places that are taken by people with disabilities on account of quota,
which constitutes 50% of the initial number. It is 224 persons with disabilities that
are occupying special working places. 112 enterprises have fulfilled quota
requirements.
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According to the law “On employment in Russian Federation” the placement
services shall also control employment of the disabled in accordance with the
established quota and are authorised to perform inspections.
For the period of the year 2012, the Ministry has performed 6 inspections of
the documentation of legal entities. All of them were unscheduled. As there exist
special procedures of planning a scheduled inspection. These procedures are
formalised in the federal law and presuppose appeal to the prosecutor’s office at a
given time.
As a result there was drawn up 6 acts of administrative violation, 5 of which
for the administrative violations qualified for article 5.42 of the Administrative
code of the Russian Federation (Violation of the rights of people with disabilities
in the sector of employment), one act on the violation qualified for Article 16.7 of
the Administrative code of the Russian Federation (failure to submit data
(information)). These acts were sent to the magistrates. However, the employers
were not brought to responsibility. Their explanations were recognized as justified.
There has been approved a plan of inspections of the legal and private
entities for 2013, which presupposes two documentary three field checks on the
subject of compliance with the law of the Russian Federation concerning
employment of people with disabilities.
Informing people with disabilities on types and order of state services is of
great significance. It is performed via telephone, electronic services, information
stands, terminals, information meetings, consultation days and career expos. In the
buildings of International Communications Union, Departments of Social
Protection and Rural Administrations there undergoes a work of special
consultation centres of the placement services. One can get necessary information
also via “hotline” and automatic answering system that is installed in every centre.
For the purpose of affording an unimpaired access there has been planned an
installation of access ramps in the placement service centres. At the present day 8 141
centres are already equipped with ramps. There has been a hoist platform in the
Kotlas placement service centre, and a roller ramp in Arkhangelsk. The entrances
are equipped with cameras and call buttons.
To our opinion, in order to make the work on the employment of people with
disabilities more effective, the state should undertake additional stimulating
measures. It may be tax remissions for the employers of people with disabilities,
financing of programmes for the employment of the disabled, as for example
mentoring, guiding and supporting of the disabled employee, as well as legal
support, in order to maintain the employee at work and provide possibilities for
career growth (up to 6 months).
142
Part 4. National legislation and the rights of persons with mental disabilities
143
17. Susanne Voß
The system of services for mentally disabled people in GermanyIn Germany, people who are considered disabled or under risk of having
permanent disability, get special services (apart from common social ones) which
help a person to overcome all the possible difficulties in the labour market or in
social life.
These special services are provided in case if:
- People, whose physical state, intellectual abilities or mental health are likely
to mismatch the standards for their age during a time period of more than 6
months, thus people’s participation in social life is limited (Article 2 paragraph 1,
Social Code of the Federal Republic of Germany).
- People have severe disability, which significantly restricts social integration.
- It is necessary to say that assistance in integration depends on each specific
kind of disability, so there is high probability of successful application for this
service.
All the basic information about funding and realization of the above-
mentioned services could be found in our Social Code, which consists of 12
volumes.
The fundamental principle says that a person will be provided with
assistance only if he or she cannot really help him/herself. For a potential candidate
it means the following: before you get assistance, you need to undergo a procedure
of individual check and assessment.
144
Based on that principle some kinds of services, provided for disabled
people who cannot fully take part in the life of the society, were developed in the
1960’s. In the 1960’s, 1970’s and 1980’s, the main kinds of services were
stationary institution based (workshops for disabled people, provision of
accommodation). Nowadays outpatient services became more common. The
reasons for such changes are the following:
It is believed that people with disabilities (and even people with
mental disorders) can be more independent.
The right to self-determination is supported by the legal system, so
individuals and their relatives demand the realization of this right
People with disabilities have a right of choice
The number of people suffering from severe disabilities is constantly
growing
Public expenditures on social services for disabled people have grown
significantly in recent years, and the implementation of outpatients
services may help to reduce the expenses.
What kind of services or assistance is offered to people with mental disorders in
Germany?
A. Children
1. Diagnostics in early stages of child development.
This kind of services is very important. The earlier derangement is
discovered, the more effective preventive action can be taken, which can help
either eliminate the derangement or reduce possible consequences. There are about
120 socio-paediatric centres in Germany and also about 1,000 mobile and
outpatient (multi-disciplinary) centres for child development assistance.
Theoretically these centres are multi-disciplinary, so there are different
professionals working there: teachers, paediatricians, psychologists, speech
therapists, ergo therapists and psychotherapists.145
In order to take preventive measures, a child can get these services from his
(her) birth until he (she) enters school, as a rule, at the age of 6.
2. Special education services in pre-school institutions
This kind of service is provided to children at the age of 3 until they reach
school age. This service is implemented by either special teachers in integrated
schools/special schools or by mobile specialists.
3. Assistance in pre-school institutions or at schools
This kind of assistance is usually provided by outpatient services in the
mentioned above institutions. It means that within the definite hours specially
trained (qualified) professionals render assistance to a particular child at school or
in kindergarten. In extraordinary circumstances some additional teachers also
could be involved. The assistance concerns childcare, real-life problems, as well as
looking after children with aggressive or auto aggressive behaviour.
4. Family support service
Family support service is provided by different outpatient organizations.
Members of such organizations visit families and take care of a disabled child,
while his (her) parents are away or too busy. It means that specialists deal with all
the problems, which family usually deals with.
5. Transport service for children of school (preschool) age
Children, attending (pre) school institutions, which are too far from their
permanent place of residence, are provided with special transport service.
6. Special groups with extended school day
There are special opportunities for children with mental health problems,
whose parents work late or live in the suburbs. The care is provided inside the
school building, it helps children to spend some time together after school before
parents can take them home.
B. Adults
1. Family support service146
Family support service is provided by different outpatient organizations.
Members of such organizations visit families taking care of a disabled child, while
his (her) parents are away or too busy. It means that specialists deal with all the
problems which family usually deals with.
2. Assistance at the workplace and during periods of study
This kind of assistance is usually provided by outpatient services at the
person’s workplace. It means that during definite hours specially trained (qualified)
professionals render assistance to a particular person at work. As a rule, specialists
try to assist with attendance, real-life problems, explaining complex situations and
circumstances.
3. Workshops for people with disabilities
In Germany every adult person with mental disorders has a right to get a
workplace at special workshops for disabled people. There are about 700 well-
established workshops providing 280,000 workplaces for people with mental,
physical or psychic disabilities. Labour activity is organized by qualified
specialists, (they have additional qualification of special teachers), who run
working groups. Apart from that, there are assistants in the workshops, who help
their disabled colleagues. Such positions are offered to people who are excluded
from the labour market.
4. Outpatient-care at home
Adults with mental disorders get pedagogical assistance, attendance and
support in case if they live at their own homes or together with a group of other
people. Outpatient pedagogical services of assistance to disabled people are in
charge of the support.
5. In-patient accommodation
In addition to an opportunity of living at their own place, people with mental
disorders are offered places in residential institutions. There are approximately
5,000 institutions of that sort in Germany, total capacity is 178,000 places. As a 147
rule, specialists with pedagogical qualification work there. Staff works in shifts,
day-and-night. Inhabitants of this accommodation get assistance in all spheres of
their lives.
6. Outpatient services
Outpatient services are provided for people with mental or physical health
problems. Disabled people are provided with nursing and medical care. The
assistance is performed by mobile outpatient services helping people in need at
their places of residence. At present time there are no connections with appropriate
pedagogical services.
7. Transport service
If necessary special transport service assists people with mental disorders in
getting form their places of residence to special workshops for disabled people.
8. Organization of leisure-time for disabled people.
Since 1970’s there have been special possibilities for arranging leisure-time
and sport activities for disabled people. During the last 10 years, it has become
common to combine these important events with public cultural, sport, leisure-time
events to make contacts between disabled people and average citizens. These
events usually take place as a part of city district events and in small towns, where
everybody knows each other.
148
18. Tatyana Kulimanova
Guardianship of people with mental distress in the Arkhangelsk region
Ideas of providing people with disabilities with better quality of life are
becoming more and more popular nowadays. Therefore, previously being pure
medical this problem is also acquiring a social aspect that is the development of
new methods of life organization for people with mental distress. And this happens
for a reason!
The whole world is experiencing a rapid increase of the number of people
with mental disorder. According to the World Health Organization, by the year
2020 mental disorders will be one of the 5 main sicknesses leading to the loss of
labour capacity. Incidence rate of mental disorders in the Arkhangelsk region is
decreasing: 422 cases of mental distress with the population of 100 thousand
people, which is 21% less than in 2010, but at the same time 26% higher than the
average rate of the Russian Federation.
Approximately 7 thousand people suffering from mental distress are
acknowledged as disabled. However many of them have a high rehabilitation 149
potential and with the help of qualified people who could organize their household,
assist in getting necessary medical support, are able to become full members of the
society.
The Arkhangelsk region has developed a special tutorship model for these
people. 2,986 disabled citizens have tutors. Usually it is relatives who perform
these functions – 1,169 (39 %), herewith most of them are elderly people. In
November 1st 2010, a regional law № 226-17-ОЗ “About professional tutorship or
disabled citizens in the Arkhangelsk region” was developed.
Nowadays, the institution of professional tutorship is in a formative stage. In
2011 and 2012, 13 and 36 people received their support respectively. Professional
tutors are being recruited from the staff of the state social service centres, as well
as people who have completed professional training courses and are able to fulfil
the duties of tutors. The tutors are entitled for honorarium (on the average 3000
rub), there has been developed a new form of tutorship of able adults who due to
their health problems are not able to exercise and protect their rights and fulfil
duties – guardianship.
478 able citizens have guardians, 88% of them (423 persons) are in the
Arkhangelsk region, and half of these people (260) – are under the guardianship of
specialists from the Municipal state-financed organization “Help centre for the
adult paternalized”, others are under the guardianship of their relatives.
Guardianship has been established in 13 districts of the region. Nowadays, it is also
being implemented in other municipalities, and different information meetings are
being held.
Arkhangelsk was the first city not only in the region, but also in the whole
country that developed an institution of professional tutorship and is already quite
experienced in providing people with mental distress with representatives and
guardians in the society.
150
Municipal institution “Help centre for the adult paternalized” consists of 12
departments situated in all the districts of Arkhangelsk. The centre has 952 clients.
Each department has its own material resources, staff and fulfils different tasks:
2 departments of trusteeship, tutorship and guardianship are
responsible for life support of the paternalized and prevent cases of
hospitalization and social deadaptation;
3 departments of day care for citizens under guardianship, tutorship
and trusteeship are responsible for organization and maintenance of
respective conditions for social, labour and home adaptation, as well
as organization of recreational and cultural events;
department of out-patient care for persons with mental distress is
systematically organizing social guardianship of citizens suffering
from mental disorders, in order to help them to adapt in the society;
department of out-patient care for citizens under guardianship,
tutorship and trusteeship provide assistance to people following bed
regime and in need of constant care;
2 departments of day-care for people suffering from geropsychiatric
syndrome provide care for citizens suffering from different forms of
dementia with an accent to occupational therapy: art-therapy,
ergotherapy, fairy-tales therapy, etc;
2 departments of emergency care and social guardianship. Specialists
from these departments find citizens in need of tutorship, trusteeship
or guardianship, on the basis of the applications from public
organizations, civil servants partial to someone else’s problems, as
well as from the citizens themselves, who got in a tight life situation.
There are 22 complex social service centres, which consist of 61
departments of social home care, 15 departments of social-medical home care, 17
departments of emergency social care. 151
Development of social non out-patient care for people with mental distress
refers to maximal possible extension of their stay within their usual social
environment.
The institutions employ a program-oriented method of organization of
tutorship of people with mental distress. With a gradual increase of special
treatment measures, many patients restore their self-care capacity and acquire new
social interests.
A special priority is given to sport – one of the most important types of
activities, where people with disabilities can self-actualize, while developing their
physical capacity. Every year pupils from the psychoneurological boarding school
participate in special games “Belomorskie igry”, the purpose of which is to
propagate special Olympic movement among persons with disabilities, their social
adaptation with the help of sport activities, drawing of attention of public, state and
commercial institutions to the problem of social rehabilitation of people with
disabilities. The participants from the Shirshinskiy psychoneurological boarding
school, Novodvinskiy boarding-school for children with serious problems with
mental development repeatedly won these games. Our pupils joined athletics and
will participate in the European games of the Special Olympics in Antwerp
(Belguim) 2014.
Film clubs organize a show of feature films and cartoons with a discussion
afterwards; they organize round tables on the following topics: “Rehabilitation of
people with mental disabilities”, “I am an individual, I am a citizen”; courses of
new technics of creative work, experience exchange, show works of art by
different authors; basic vocational training: carpenter, house painter, construction
worker, etc. Every October 10 special events devoted to “The international mental
health day” are being held.
There are 21 state stationary institutions in the Arkhangelsk region: 12
boarding schools of overall profile and 9 psychoneurologic boarding-schools.152
Psychoneurologic boarding schools have their own specific in work
organization. Taking into consideration that in most cases people entering the
psychoneurologic institutions stay there forever, it is important to organize their
household, create appropriate social and therapeutic environment.
One of the main goals of the boarding institutions of the Arkhangelsk region
is elimination of such negative aspects as social isolation, monotonous household
and drab-existence. Reaching these goals is possible if one influences a patient
with the help of the surrounding environment.
Environmental therapy or “miljøterapy” includes labor therapy, group
discussions, mutual planning, self-aid and self-control skills. This therapy is
widely used for the purposes of avoiding full detachment from life while being
hospitalized and allows organizing some joint working, which in its turn eases the
relationships between people and eliminates the feeling of stress and worries.
Medical-labour workshops serve as a material technical base in 8 institutions
with different profiles: sewing, weaving, carpentry and adjusting. Part-time
farming comprises field husbandry, gardening and market gardening, flower
cultivation, cattle breeding. However the problem of socialization among people
living in these institutions stays. For the purposes of overcoming isolation a new
project “Service housing” is being implemented. This project is focused on
integration of people with mental distress in the society, development of self-care
skills, as well as communicatory and labor skills. Different stationary
psychoneurological institutions of social care for adults will take part in the project
started by the Novodvinsk boarding school for children with serious mental
problems.
Public organizations are very effective in rendering assistance to the citizens
with mental distress. One of them – Arkhangelsk Regional Public Organisation
“Most”, deals with problems of disabled people suffering from mental disorders as
well as their families. Arkhangelsk Regional Organisation “Most” was established 153
in 2000. They have 2 offices where they render help to people suffering from
mental distress out of aggravation, after release or by a referral from a psychiatrist
from a psychoneurologic dispensary, as well as those who came there voluntarily.
As a part of social-psychological rehabilitation a medical psychologist is
organizing individual and group trainings with elements of art-therapy and role-
playing game.
A consultation work with families of people suffering from mental distress is
also organized. Since 2011, the office of social rehabilitation has had a special
“Parents’ club”, and in May 2012 on the basis of the office of social rehabilitation
members of this club opened an Arkhangelsk region department of the All-Russian
public organization of people with disabilities suffering from mental disorders
“New possibilities”.
Within the framework of restoration and development of working skills,
employment of people with mental disorders, “A club for those who are looking
for a job” has been functioning where members are learning how to make a CV,
search for a job, as well as how to behave at a job interview. The specialists
working in the club are cooperating with the Employment service centre where
people with mental disorders might get a job in accordance with their qualification,
abilities and health conditions. For the year 2012, 2 people undergoing the courses
on professional retraining at the Employment service got jobs. With the help of a
social worker 9 people got employed, 3 of them left their work during the first
year, 6 continued working.
For the purposes of restoration and development of professional skills,
clients unable to work at the factories may be occupied at the art workshops on the
basis of the office on social rehabilitation. They can sell pieces of their work at
charitable fairs, for example in 2012, 5 such fairs were organized. Moreover, the
office rents a piece of land where the clients not only learn to grow vegetables,
154
potatoes, berries, herbs, but also have possibilities to get these products and lay in
store for the winter.
Social-household rehabilitation consists in restoring household skills of
people with mental disorders and helping them learn to live independently. This
includes buying groceries, cooking meals, serving the table, cleaning the kitchen
afterwards, etc. In addition to that the clients learn how to organize their houses.
Within the framework of cultural and leisure time activities the rehabilitation
specialists are organizing courses where the clients learn how to organize their
leisure time and to understand the very concept of leisure time in both quantitative
and qualitative aspects. Once a month there are being organized excursions to
museums and exhibition halls of the Arkhangelsk city. During summer there is a
possibility for going to the countryside to enjoy the nature.
All people who applied for help had and still possess some knowledge and
skills, and in order not to lose them, they need constant development. For these
purposes the social rehabilitation office has organized different hobby groups. For
example, participants of the literature-library club “Green lamp” club meet every
day to read the books, interesting articles, discuss films.
The information newspaper “Most” is issued once a month. It contains
articles about the activities of the rehabilitation office, psycho-educational articles,
as well as articles shedding light on some law aspects, some bits of household
advice, a page on literature, including masterpieces of the clients, information
about city events, famous people, etc. The newspaper is distributed not only within
the rehabilitation office, but also at the hospitals, dispensers, departments of
compulsory treatment, the Union of public associations of people with disabilities
of the Arkhangelsk region, as well as at the Arkhangelsk employment service
centre.
The office of social rehabilitation organizes psychoeducational courses lead
by a psychiatrist from an out-patient department. The lessons may be group or 155
individual and may involve both clients and their relatives. On these lessons the
clients learn about symptoms of mental illnesses, methods of prevention of acute
condition, medication and possible side effects.
Within the framework of social-legal rehabilitation a social worker is
consulting clients and their relatives on different legal questions. For the purposes
of solving more serious legal problems they refer to the lawyers who are consulting
their clients free of charge. The rehabilitation office workers are also responsible
for spreading information about the people with mental distress in order to form an
adequate attitude of the society to these people. For these purposes they cooperate
with the city social services, human rights commissioner, city and regional
newspapers.
In this way, in order to successfully patronize people with mental disorders,
the executive bodies, municipal and regional institutions need to provide them with
the state guarantees of the legal rights to accessible and qualified social service, as
well as to create a model of out-patient departments of an open type that will
promote social integration of people with mental distress.
156
19. Martin Ligmann
Providing assistance for children with mental disabilities After a lengthy debate and the adoption of the 8th part of Social Code in
1990, helping children with metal disabilities was removed from the objectives of
social assistance services and handed over to youth assistance services since 1993.
Now, when applying for establishing a child’s type and degree of mental disability,
parents and also staff of the social assistance system and the education system have
to deal with different organizations, whose task is to allocate funds for these
purposes.
Determining whether a person is physically disabled, in most cases, does not
pose any difficulties, the presence of mental deficiencies is also quite clearly
detected, and in both cases the costs are borne by the social assistance system.
Much more complicated is assigning a child to a category of children with
mental disorders in order to get financial support from the youth assistance
services in accordance with part 8 Article 35a of the Social Code.
Legal basis of providing assistance, defining the term - metal disability,
forms of mental disability
In Germany, all laws governing the possibility of rehabilitation of people
with disabilities are included in the Social Code, part 9 (Rehabilitation and
integration of people with disabilities - 2001).
The 9th part of the Social Code came into force stating that objectives of
organizations and financing of rehabilitation are part of youth assistance system.
The legal basis for these activities is laid out in the law on the children’s and youth
assistance included in the 8th part of the Code. Now, the paramount importance is
placed not on disease as such, but the type and the extent of the individual
deficiency, typical of a given age. If a mental disability has been diagnosed or
there is a suspicion of one, the law provides a possibility to apply for assistance in 157
determining the type and the degree of the disability. The legal basis for the above
is mentioned in the law on the children’s and youth assistance part 8, Article 35а of
the Social Code. Applications can be submitted by children or teenagers
themselves. Determining the form of assistance depends on the needs of each child
and adolescent. The assistance can be provided:
1. in the form of an outpatient observation;
2. in the form of a visit to a children's day centre and other centres with
similar working routine;
3. in the form of a home visit by a qualified health personnel;
4. in a the form of a stay in a 24 hour children’s centre, as well as in
centres with other working routine.
Defining goals and objectives of these types of assistance, determining who
can apply for specified type of assistance and in what form it will be provided has
to meet the requirements of the type and extent of mental disorders listed in Article
39 and Article 40 of the law on social assistance. Thus, children and teenagers with
mental disorders have the same opportunities to get help as people with physical or
mental disabilities.
According to Article 41 of the law on children and youth assistance, those
who have recently attained the age of majority are eligible for assistance and
subsequent support. In this case, they may receive assistance until they reach the
age of 21.
According to part 9 Article 2 clause 1 of the Social Code, a person is
considered to be a person with physical or mental disabilities ‘if their physical
function, mental abilities or mental health strongly deviates from a typical person
at that age for more than 6 months and it has a significant negative impact on the
participation of the person in society. If medical experts make a prognosis of a
158
deterioration of the condition, it is believed that this person is at risk of physical or
mental disorders. ‘
The degree of probability of a prognosticated person having mental disorders
should be more than 50%, which should be confirmed by relevant medical
certificates or reports from other specialists (Lempp, commentary, 2004).
According to Lempp’s assessment, physical or mental disorders can be described
at three levels:
1. At the first objective level, specialists try to evaluate the degree of
mental disorders, which hinders patients’ everyday decision-making process.
2. At the second level, specialists try to check if there are any
dysfunctional relationships between the patient and his family, which may be
caused by disturbance of his mental state.
3. The third level captures a more subjective aspect of mental disorders,
that is to say how people with mental health problems see themselves as a person
with mental disabilities.
In fact, the subjective assessment of the patients’ mental state made by
himself and its negative impact on the social relations is the fairest criterion for
determining the degree of a mental disorder. However, in specialists’ statements
this criterion is hardly ever recognized, since it is very difficult to objectively
describe it and separate it from the usual auto-suggestion (hypochondria) and
"deception."
The term mental disability has no clear definition. In principle, all mental
deficiencies in childhood and adolescence can lead to a similar disability. The
emphasis here is not on the disease, but on the negative impact of the disease on
the integration of a person with mental disabilities into society.
In Article 3 of the Guidance to Article 47 of the law on social assistance,
there is a list of mental disabilities that can lead to mental disorders.
They are:159
Psychosis, the causes of which are not explained by physical
illness;
mental disorders as a consequence of brain disease or injury, as
well as epilepsy or other diseases or physical disorders;
addictions;
neuroses and personality disorders.
Mental disorders described in the relevant German legal documents
correspond to the list given in the International Classification of Mental Disorders
(WHO International Classification of Diseases, ed. 10, chapter 5, section F).
How children and adolescents with mental health problems can get help
in determining the type and the extent of their illnesses?
If a child or an adolescent is diagnosed with a mental disorder, or if there is a
risk of its occurrence, they (or their legal guardians) can contact their local office
for youth and submit the appropriate application for assistance in qualifying the
illness. During the first consultation the problem that has arisen is discussed and
the possibilities of assistance are explained.
After verifying the fact that a given case is the responsibility of the office for
youth, the documents confirming the need of the assistance are checked. As a rule,
the applicant attaches a written opinion or a recommendation from a specialist to
the application. If the opinion or the recommendation at the time of submitting the
application is not available, employees of the office for youth inform the applicant
of the possibility of visiting specialists who work in the close vicinity of the office,
the applicant in this case can choose one of the specialists.
The recommendation must include a statement about whether mental state of
a child or an adolescent differs from a typical condition of children or adolescents
at the same age, and whether the duration of this state exceeds the period of 6
months. For a more detailed description of the illness, multidimensional
classification diagram consisting of 6 parameters is used as presented in WHO 160
International Classification of Diseases, edition 10. Then the specialist should give
an opinion about the cause of the observed mental state, whether it is a
consequence of any mental disorder, mental disability, physical illness or it is a
combined pathology. If mental disorder is combined with physical illness or
mental disability, it is necessary to decide which kind of disruption has the most
negative impact on the participation of the child or adolescent in society. The
recommendation issued by a specialist should also include an assessment of the
negative impact of the identified mental disorder on the social adaptation of the
child or adolescent and, if possible - a list of specific measures for providing
assistance, as well as a list of places where this assistance can be provided.
During further consultation visits, which involve all the persons concerned
(the child or adolescent, his family, specialists and, if possible, a representative of
the institution in which assistance will be provided, for example, the head of a day
care facility,) the so-called care plan and a list of required activities are determined.
The question of assigning a patient to a category of persons with mental
disabilities or categories of persons who are under the risk of a given state, as well
as on the type and amount of assistance provided is the sole responsibility of the
office for youth.
According to the definition of mental disability, the current mental state of a
patient has to demonstrate a deviation from the mental health state typical of a
person at that age. The task of diagnosing such a state is the responsibility of health
specialists, child physicians of psychiatric and psychotherapeutic department, as
well as private child psychiatrists and psychotherapists.
According to Part 9, Article 14 of the Social Code in the absence of medical
certificate the time for taking the decision is restricted to three weeks, but when the
medical certificate is presented the decision will be made within 9 weeks.
However, since the concept of ‘risk of developing mental disabilities’ is
quite wide and only with difficulty it can be distinguished from other similar states, 161
in practice, the allocation of responsibilities often causes problems, which are then
solved at the Administrative Court.
According to Article 91, Article 92 of the Law on Children and Youth
Assistance, children adolescents and their parents, also adolescents recently
attaining the age of majority, must incur a part of costs of their stay at children's
day centres and other as well as costs of a home visit by a qualified health
personnel. The size of their financial participation depends on their income. This
regulation does not apply to a situation when assistance is provided to determine
the type and extent of mental deficiency in an outpatients’ clinic.
Children, adolescents and their parents can obtain information about
activities and opportunities of rehabilitation, as well as individual consultations at
the local offices for youth, social welfare bodies or specialized service centres,
organized throughout the German federation
Signs of mental disorders may be visible in early childhood but are often
manifested most strongly in adolescence. Spectrum of the visible manifestations of
various mental disorders is great: it extends from the disability, or lack of eye
contact and not conforming to the norms of social interaction of a young child with
his parents, to aggression appearing in childhood and adolescence towards self
and/or others.
Of course, there are instances where disturbance of mental development of a
child is caused by a family situations, however, the primary responsibility for the
lack of opportunities for a healthy development of children and adolescents still
lies on the general conditions existing in the society. If parents do not possess the
basic educational skills and are not confident in their decisions, they are either
overly concerned about a child, or do not pay attention to him, the child’s stay in
the family verges on homelessness.
On the one hand, there are families in which very high demands are made on
children, constantly exceeding their ability, causing substantial harm to the child’s 162
mental health. On the other hand, there are families in which children have no idea
about the limits of their behaviour so they lack of opportunity to learn social skills
or gain basic social knowledge. Appointments to child psychiatrists and
psychiatrists dealing with the problems of adolescents are made several weeks in
advance. If you need to get a referral to see a doctor for diagnosis and treatment
recommendation, it usually means waiting for months. And without making a
thorough diagnosis it is not possible to carry out actions aimed at assisting these
families.
In the initial period of child’s development (0 to 6 years), when mental
deficiencies are still at an early stage, parents have every chance to get advice at
day care centres that will help them to pay attention and monitor any problems that
their child might develop. Children specialists should not only set their sight on
children with impetuous behaviour that exceeds the norm. No less attention should
be given to children who are experiencing difficulties in establishing contact with
other children and are insecure in maintaining social relationships. Of course, high
demands in today's society on the development of the younger generation, should
not lead to perceiving the natural behaviour of children as social pathologies. The
presence of people of different nature and different types of families bring the
society a necessary variety.
Children’s day care centres are able to take an individual approach to
children with mental disabilities and their particular needs. Parents together with
professionals can develop common educational strategy to create the best possible
foundation for the improvement of their mental and social development. And if the
use of special pedagogy will ensure a successful transition of the child to learn in
school, we can confidently assert that the next stage in his life will begin very
successfully. When they start school, children with mental illnesses need help in
their adaptation to new conditions. In some cases it is possible to create a
successful form of assistance for a child from the beginning of his educational 163
path, for example giving support during their time spent in school, further, special
educational support or counselling for parents are given.
Unfortunately, the transition of preschool children with mental disabilities
from day care centres to primary school is often associated with great
organizational difficulties since in this case the costs of organizing care for such
children are assigned to various organizations. Optimal allocation of tasks between
the different institutions is often hindered by the fact that it remains unclear which
tasks should the school undertake, and which should be undertaken by centres for
providing assistance to children and adolescents. This leads to the fact that some
younger students experience quite a lot of stress during the transition to learning in
the school system. Supervisors’ attention is often directed to child’s behaviour in
school, while such attention is not given to correcting child’s behaviour in
everyday life. The assistance is often only aimed at changing the symptoms of
mental disorders that prevent the child from participating effectively in classes at
school. It frequently does not take into account the general regularities of social
development, which are often the true cause of the child's tendencies to mental
deficiencies.
This leads to the situation that students with disabilities in the mental
development cannot learn according to their abilities and at an early stage are
excluded from the classroom community. Desperate parents experience
tremendous nerve load and their attitude towards children and teachers steadily
deteriorates. A constant increase in the number of children who seriously interfere
with the learning process already in elementary school is visible, thereby putting
even more pressure on our educational system. This causes a sense of frustration
among the teachers who use measures such as expulsion, restriction of the school
attendance to only two lessons per day, etc. However, these measures cannot lead
to a solution.
164
One of the most important tasks of the schools and institutions for children
and adolescents in the near future will be to establish a close coordination between
those institutions and parents to apply appropriate therapeutic measures. Currently
in Germany, it does not work perfectly.
Examples of unsuccessful start in school
Parents of small N. got divorced when he was three and his sister was five.
The mother loves her son and gives him everything he wants, to compensate the
lack of father. N. quickly realizes that by using temper tantrums he can determine
how long he will be watching TV and what time he will go to bed. At the age of 4
he is sent to a regular kindergarten, but he cannot abide by the rules and is put in an
ungraded special pedagogical group, which consists of a number of children with
behavioural problems. The mother has virtually no contact with the kindergarten,
as in the morning the bus takes her child to the kindergarten and brings it home in
the evening. Sending and meeting the child, the mother does not talk to the tutor
nor discusses the general objectives of his education. N.’s mental development is
correct and at the age of 6 he leaves the ungraded special group, which is
composed of eight children, and begins to learn in the usual classroom numbering
22 students. N. is not familiar with any of the children with whom he has to learn
and has no social experience in dealing with such a large group of children. From
the first days N. shows rudeness and aggression towards the other children. He
does not see teachers as authorities. Initially, the mother takes complaints from the
teachers very seriously and tries to influence the behaviour of her son, but
unfortunately she fails. N. very quickly starts to decide whether to do his
homework or not and the mother does not know how to make him listen to her.
She receives complaints from the school more frequently, but she does not
see any possibility to solve this problem. She is more and more reluctant to
cooperate with the teachers and starts to believe that the cause of her child's
misbehaviour lies in his teachers’ and classmates’ attitude. The relationship 165
between the mother, her child and the school becomes more and more tense over
the years.
After the second grade the aggressive behaviour of the child exacerbates so
much that the school introduces pedagogical support and restricts N’s school
activities to only few classes. His special status and a kind of a social stigma with
time reach such a scale that he becomes an outcast. He does not participate in any
activities nor attends sport clubs or sections in his spare time. After classes he
wonders around the city as he lacks true and long-lasting friendships. He
determines himself when to come home or go to bed and when his mother tries to
set any rules he increasingly threatens her with physical violence. When N. turns
12, he is sent to the residential institution at the mother’s request, as she feels in
danger.
Not to let such stories happen again, it is necessary to ensure the unity of
education and assistance to establish joint concept of upbringing and education
from the earliest age of the child.
Nowadays in Germany we have a situation where on one hand there is the
school system, on the other - the institutions aiming to help children and
adolescents offer all kinds of assistance. Amongst these authorities there are also
parents, and activities of all these institutions remain uncoordinated and
counterproductive, often competing with each other.
Modern problem of our society in a changing world is to provide our
children with the opportunity to grow up healthy and secure. However, children are
more affected by the conditions of social and family environment in which they
reside. In the example above, you can clearly and distinctly hear the child's cry for
help, his desire to attract attention to himself and his passionate desire to live in a
safe world with understandable framework. Otherwise the situation develops in
children and adolescents a huge mental pressure caused by the desire to achieve the
greatest success that has now become a hallmark of our society. These children and 166
young people have digestive disorders, they escape into the world of addiction or
hide in the ephemeral cyber worlds. The problems begin with the earliest school
age: children already have somatic complaints of headaches, abdominal pain, etc.
With the development of society the degree of these symptoms does not diminish,
but increases gradually and imperceptibly.
There is an expression that characterizes such shortcomings in our society:
We actually just wanted to get the baby's head, but a whole child comes to us.
20. Galina Shashurina
Problems with protection of interests of persons with disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region
Before getting to the problems, it is necessary to define the term “interests of
the citizens” as well as point out what it means to protect them.
Interests of the citizens may be defined as an ambition to get some benefits
or satisfy the needs that are not only vital, but also essential for using their
potential.
167
Here are some examples of the situations when interests of citizens need to
be protected:
firstly, when the state of a person may be improved with the
change of the existing services and rules;
secondly, when the suggested services do not satisfy the
person;
thirdly, when a person faces unfair demands that limit his or
her participation in some activities.
The report is devoted to the problems of protecting interests of persons with
mental disabilities in the Arkhangelsk region and their rights for such benefits as a
legal guardian, inclusive education and assistance with employment.
Guardianship may be provided for an able adult who due to his or her health
conditions is not able to independently perform or protect his or her rights and
fulfil the duties.
Most people with mental disabilities are considered to be able. But some of
them lack such qualities as independency, self-confidence, as well as some social
qualities. Therefore there appear barriers on the way to full integration into the
society.
These barriers might be overcome with the help of a legal guardian. Such
kind of assistant acts in the interests of a client on the basis of a legal agreement.
An agreement may be short-term and concern only one particular problem or it
may also be a long-term agreement. For the reason that the legislation does not
suggest any fixed payment, the service may be paid or provided free of charge.
However there is one compulsory condition: the legal guardian cannot be a staff
member of an organization providing social welfare for the adult able citizen. In
case when the assistant is a family member, it may influence the case both
positively and negatively. In practice there it is better to choose someone
independent from a family in order to avoid abuse of power.168
A guardian may represent the partner in such cases as: for the reason of
improving his or her connections with the society, getting services of good quality,
appealing to some official institute, making a research of all possible variants while
looking for a most suitable place to live, as well as solving some practical
problems, such as making a personal week-budget, writing letters, getting
important information. There is no doubt that the development of the guardianship
will improve the quality of life of many people in the Arkhangelsk region,
including persons with mental distress.
However, there are some challenges that prevent the development of the
guardian system in the municipalities of the Arkhangelsk region:
1) insufficient interest of government authorities to the development of the
guardianship;
2) lack of normative acts on both regional and municipal levels, that would
regulate an order of providing able people with mental distress with an assistance;
3) lack of financial support from municipal bodies of trusteeship for the
implementation of guardianship;
4) lack of mechanisms for recruiting guardians who would assist an able
adult who is in need of help;
5) lack of available information about people with mental distress and
disability, existence if persistent stereotypes and prejudice;
6) lack of education possibilities or courses at a municipal level for
preparing potential candidates to work as guardians;
7) lack of cooperation between health care facilities, bodies of trusteeship,
bodies of social security in the organization of necessary assistance for people with
mental disabilities. Especially in cases when a patient is no longer in need of
medical assistance, but at the same time has no one who would help him or her to
solve his social problems;
169
8) existing practice of the need to apply for the services and appointment of
an assistant. Taking into consideration lack of information among the citizens, this
service remains unclaimed. However, according to the law the bodies of
trusteeship are obliged to find an assistant for a person in need within a month after
the day of the stated diagnosis and not wait until application, as this person may
just not know about his or her rights;
9) lack of representatives of people with mental distress among public
organizations at the regional and municipal levels.
Now let us talk about the following problems.
Education: Pupils with mental distress (as a rule those who study in classes
and groups of type 8) are most vulnerable, especially when inclusive education is
understood simply uniting all the pupils in general educational institutions without
any consideration of the special needs of the children. These special needs are
quite specific and demand corresponding preparation of the teachers and thorough
organization of the educational environment at school. There is a need for
individual plans of education and good contact between the school and the parents.
If these conditions are not observed, children with mental disabilities get their
education at home, being formally bound to a comprehensive school. Such an
organization of education does not contribute to the integration process and home
education may not be called inclusive. Every child of a school age has a right to
attend a school, get education at school, and that is why with the help of an
individual attitude, reasonable adaptation and principle of promoting the interests
of a child, we need to create such conditions in which all children will be able to
go to school. A problem of accessibility of school buildings and other institutions
still remains. Not only old school buildings, do not comply with the existing
demands to constructions of the buildings and facilities for persons with reduced
mobility, but also new buildings are being constructed with the violation of these
demands. Securing accessibility of educational institutions for people with 170
disabilities has been registered as one of the main goals of the educational
conception of people with disabilities, which was adopted in 2011 in the
Arkhangelsk region. However, so far no programme on securing accessibility of
school buildings or other educational institutions has been adopted yet.
One more important problem is professional training for persons with mental
disabilities. To live independently, a person needs to have a paid job. Many
persons with mental distress have a profession or get professional education.
However, those who studied in classes of type 8, i.e. classes for children with
mental distress, experience difficulties with getting a vocational education, as it is
hard to get a special education not only in educational institutions but also at an
enterprise. There is not much information available about such opportunities.
For people with mental disabilities, a problem of employment is the most
sensitive one. For example, among the clients of the Arkhangelsk city centre of
assistance to minors with mental distress, but not disabled, 10% are officially
employed, i.e. their labour relations are formalized in the proper way. Most of the
clients do not have access to such services as assistance with employment (special
services for this type of citizens are not provided by the law on employment, and
assistance from public organizations is quite limited and depends on external
resource) or a guarantee on preserving a work place.
Employers as a rule are not eager to employ a person with mental distress,
and most “kind” ones agree to employ them, but only upon condition that it will
not be officially, i.e. without any labour contract or social guarantees.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Labour, Employment
and Social Security, approximately half of those who appealed to the Employment
service centre for people with disabilities got a job. Thus, in 2012, 818 out of 1,702
persons with disabilities were employed, and 40 of them got special work places.
At the same time, a percentage of employed persons with mental distress are much
lower, less than one fourth of them got a job. Out of 112 persons with disabilities, 171
only 25 got their jobs via service centres in 2012. And the situation with people
with mental distress who do not have a status of disabled seems to be even worse,
as they do not possess this formal attribute of “disability” that would afford them
ground for additional measures of support and other services provided by the state
institutions, such as Employment Service Centres. At the same time, considering
the data about the number of outpatient people registered in the Centre of
assistance to minors only in the Arkhangelsk region, more than 80 clients are in
need of support and help with employment.
Namely these people are in need of assistance with employment organised
by the state.
The findings of a research practice of working in the law department of
Arkhangelsk regional organisation of the All-Russian organization of the death, as
well as of our colleagues in other regions of the Russian Federation show that it is
necessary to make changes not only at a federal, but also at a regional level.
Moreover, the Arkhangelsk region needs to develop measures on promotion and
implementation of the Convention. This comes from the Constitution of the
Russian Federation, according to which (Article 72, p.1, subp. B), questions of
protection of human rights and freedoms of a citizen are under the jurisdiction of
the Russian Federation and the subjects of the Russian Federation.
172
List of Authors
1. Wolfgang Baasch
Deputy and member of the Schleswig-Holstein Commission on Social Affairs (Kiel, Germany)
Address: Arbeiterwohlfahrt Landesverband Schleswig-Holstein e.V.Feldstraße 5, 24105 KielTel. 0431/51140Email: [email protected]
2. Berit Vegheim
The civil rights foundation “Stop Discrimination” (Oslo, Norway)
Address: Borgerrettsstiftelsen Stopp diskrimineringenPostboks 2474 Strømsø, 3003 DrammenTel. +47 901 96 325Email: [email protected]
3. Peter Klein High school professor (Kiel, Germany)
Address: Fachhochschule Kiel,Raum 4.30, Sokratesplatz 2, 24149 KielSecretariatTel. 0431/210-3000Email: [email protected]
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4. Halgeir Holthe
Dr. Polit. The Norwegian Center for Integrated care and Telemedicine (Tromsø, Norway)
Address: Nasjonal senter for samhandling og telemedisin, UNN, postboks 35, 9038 TromsøTel. +47 95729763Email: [email protected]
5. Aleksandr Yevstegneev
Head of the department “Dostupnaya sreda” (Available environment), group of companies “Istok-Audio” (Moscow, Russia)
Address: Istok-Audio, Fryazino, 141195, Moscow region. Zavodskoi proezd, 3аTel. +7 495 745-15-70Email: [email protected]
6. Ilya Ivankin Minister of Education and Science of the Arkhangelsk region (Arkhangelsk, Russia)
Address: Ministry of education and science of the Arkhangelsk Region163000, Arkhangelsk, Troitsy 49/1Tel. +78182 21-52-80Email: [email protected]
7. Gudrun Ytterstad
Chairman of the Norwegian Association of Blind and Partially
Address: Norges Blindeforbund Troms, Postboks 11689262 TROMSØ
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Sighted People (Tromsø, Norway)
Tel: +47 77 68 51 90Email: [email protected]
8. Klaus Mangold
Chairman of the Foundation for hearing-impaired people in Schleswig-Holstein, former head of the Department of Integrated Education in the state boarding school for hearing-impaired children (today: Support Centre for hearing-impaired children in Schleswig) (Schleswig, Germany)
Addresse: Landesförderzentrum Hören und Sprache, SchleswigLutherstr. 14, 24837 SchleswigTel. +49 4621 8070Email: [email protected]
9. Susanne Voß Chairman of the Organization “Lebenshilfe” in Ostholstein, manager of the limited liability company “Support and consultation centre Lebenshilfe” (Lübeck, Germany)
Address: Lebenshilfe Ostholstein e.V., Am Kirchhof 10, 23611 Bad SchwartauTel. 0451 / 2 90 01 14Email: [email protected]: Lebenshilfe Lübeck, Lübeck und Umgebung e.V.Carl-Gauß-Str. 13-15, 23562 LübeckTel. 0451/6203359
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EMail: [email protected]
10. Maria Perfilyeva
Programme director of the regional public organization “Perspektiva” (Moscow, Russia)
Address: “Perspektiva” , 115114, Moscow, Letnikovskaya, house number 11/10, building number 5, entrance number 1Tel. +7(495)725-39-82.Email: [email protected]
11. Mikhail Novikov
Leader of the programmes promoting employment of people with disabilities in the regional public organization “Perspektiva” (Moscow, Russia)
Address: “Perspektiva” , 115114, Moscow, Letnikovskaya, house number 11/10, building number 5, entrance number 1Tel. +7(495)725-39-82.Email: [email protected]
12. Wolfgang Medrisch
Chairman of the Foundation of Social Support for Eastern Europe (Kiel, Germany)
Address: Freesenberg 140, 24161 Altenholz, KielTel. 0431/32 20 47Email: [email protected]
176
13. Roger Riise Advisor on the universal design of ICT at the University of Tromsø (Tromsø , Norway)
Address: HSL-fakultetet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet, Postboks 6050 Langnes, 9037 TromsøTel. +47 776 44585Email: [email protected]
14. Maksim Larionov
Head of the Department of Social Programmes and Projects in Social Policy and Rehabilitation Administration in All-Russian organization of people with disabilities “All-Russian Organization of hearing-impaired people” (Moscow, Russia)
Address: All-Russian organization of people with disabilities “All-Russian Organization of hearing-impaired people”101000, Moscow, 1 Krasnoselskiy pereulok, 3Tel. +7 (499) 264-00-70, +7 (499) 264-00-21Email: [email protected]
16. Pavel Shevelev
Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region (Arkhangelsk, Russia)
Address: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region, 163000, Arkhangelsk, Gaidara, 4/1Tel: +7 (8182) 41-08-70Email: [email protected]
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18. Tatiana Kulimanova
Deputy Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region (Arkhangelsk, Russia)
Address: Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Development of the Arkhangelsk region, 163000, Arkhangelsk, Gaidara, 4/1Tel: +7 (8182) 41-08-70Email: [email protected]
19. Martin Liegmann
German Union for Child Welfare, Regional Department of Ostholstein, Schleswig-Holstein (Lübeck, Germany)
Address: Deutscher Kinderschutzbund, Kreisverband Ostholstein e. V., Vor dem Kremper Tor 19, 23730 NeustadtTel. 04561/5123-0Email: [email protected]
20. Galina Shashurina
Lawyer in the project “Persons with disabilities – for the Equality before the Law” (Arkhangelsk, Russia)
Address: Association of Disabled Peoples’ Organizations in the Arkhangelsk region, 163046, Arkhanglelsk, Rozy Luksemburg street 78,Tel. +7 (8182) 27-12-80Email: [email protected]
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