People with intellectual disabilities sometimes encounter enormous barriers in the job market and when visiting the doctor. In order to change that, the Federal Commissioner for the Affairs of People with Disabilities, Jürgen Dusel, handed over recommendations to Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (both SPD) on Wednesday evening, among others.
Lauterbach announced an action plan for a diverse, inclusive and accessible healthcare system this summer, according to a statement. Structural and communication barriers in the healthcare system must be eliminated. Heil held out the prospect of reducing barriers in the labor market.
He first wanted to initiate a discussion about the name, Dusel told the German Press Agency in Berlin. Many of the several hundred thousand people affected find the term “mental disability” to be discriminatory. Even if this is still used in the laws. “That’s why I’m currently using the term intellectual impairment, but the discussion about it in society is not yet over.”
People with disabilities are often unemployed
Even 15 years after the EU Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into force, Germany still has a lot of homework to do. “People with disabilities are significantly more likely to be unemployed, and people with intellectual disabilities are particularly often unemployed,” said Dusel. 260,000 people with disabilities worked in the special workshops – three quarters with intellectual disabilities. “Anyone who goes to a special school often has a virtually predetermined path to subsequent employment in one of the workshops.” Less than one percent of employees in workshops manage to switch to the general labor market.
State benefits are linked to a visit to the workshop – they should be able to be taken with you like a backpack, regardless of where you work. The recommendations also call for, among other things, a consistent focus on people: All services must be geared to people’s corresponding talents and needs.
Dusel criticizes medical care
A “huge problem” is also the lack of access to the healthcare system – especially to outpatient doctors. “This is particularly true for people with intellectual disabilities,” said Dusel. Because there is hardly any so-called easy language in practice and doctors with time and understanding for the special needs of those affected. “Studies and reports show devastating results in the health of those affected.” There is often a lack of correct diagnosis and appropriate treatments, even for common diseases such as diabetes.
Dusel gave the example of a mother with a severely disabled daughter in her late 30s who behaved unusually. “The doctor consulted could not find the cause and wanted to sedate the affected person and refer her to a psychiatric hospital.” A double herniated disc was discovered late. “She was just in terrible pain but couldn’t articulate.”
Many people without disabilities feel unsafe
There are also too few encounters between people without and with disabilities. “Many people are unsure how they should behave towards those affected.” This is also why it is important that children without disabilities go to school together with children with disabilities, as long as they receive the additional needs they need. “Anyone who has had such normal encounters in childhood and adolescence will not have any reservations about those affected later on.”
