We grew up in the society where it was not accepted to talk about congenital defects or peculiarities, where such people did not exist at all. They do not study in usual schools with our children, they do not go with us by public transport, you will not meet them in public places, and they just do not exist in our reality. That is why when suddenly life throws us together with a person with cerebral palsy, autism, Down’s syndrome or other neuropsychic deviations we feel ill at ease, it is difficult for us to look at their eyes, to talk with them. It is America where, as it is known, they are called alternatively gifted. And in European countries where they are in earnest about human rights observance they consider doing everything for such people not to feel excluded from the common life holiday as the duty of the society and state.
In civilized Europe it is customary to equip public areas, housing estates and public transport system taking into account needs of disabled people. But besides there are systems and state institutions for any kind of help to realize usual human rights to full life, work, intercourse and cultural leisure. In many countries, especially in Great Britain and France, the great attention is paid to the problem of access providing of all citizens to the main cultural valuable. And, at last, the most of curative practices are based on the most powerful strength recognition of the individual’s creative constituent of every person and appealed to it. Art therapy is becoming the medicine field recognized by the state, and not only disabled people but people considered as comparatively healthy resort to it more often.
In Russia according to the data of the State Statistics Federal Service number of people with disability signs was 12.546 thousands of people by January 1, 2006. And children with congenital development deviations are not included into the data. The child’s statistics exists as well, but it covers children only under fourteen. Russian citizens from 14 years old to 18 are not accounted at all. According to the experts and practical men, not less 10% of inhabitants in our country are disabled people. Every tenth.
At that, according to the same Statistics Federal Service the state has 258.000 places in its rehabilitation institutions. Think it over, 258.000 places for treatment and living of 14 millions of disabled people.
Is our native land really so bald? After all, the available situation is nothing else but the legacy of the former totalitarian system whose ideology did not presuppose defective citizens of the society and then the care of them. Above 20 years have passed since the regime changing. The Federal Law “On the Social Defense of the Disabled People” has been passed since 1995. There the state policy towards disabled people is firstly determined not only as a medical care and provision of pensions but also as provision of equal opportunities of realization of main rights and freedoms for disabled people. But this law does not work in practice. Look at your yards and porches, remember what services public institutions suggest and you will make sure of it. Perhaps, these people live, study and work in separate settlements, specially equipped for them, as in Sweden, Holland and Germany? Read how it is done in Russia and abroad in the material of this column.
You can hardly hope for the natural change in our state consciousness if this change does not happen in the consciousness of each of us. After all, people and not the government build the civil society. We need and must support the experience of the Russian State Museum and Darvin State Museum in the capitals, incipient in different towns’ initiatives for organization of classes and studios of social and curative education, art therapy. This experience is beyond the usual departmental classification and develops in spite of the fact that the sphere of culture and additional education is habitually directed to upbringing and service of elites.