Our words create reality, they influence the way we see the world and how we react to it. In the 2022 National Census, there is a part of reality that seems to be lost. It is not planned to ask about people with disabilities. Yes, there will be talk of “difficulties” or “limitations”, but who does not have a “problem”? Different abilities, difficulties, limitations describe all people. Disability is something else; the UN uses this definition: “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments that, by interacting with various barriers, may prevent their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with the others”.
As a society, we have an obligation to work so that these barriers become bridges, so that all people have equal opportunities. But if we don't see, if there are no words, if we don't know that there are people with disabilities, how many are there, and where are they, how can we change? Why talk today about the Day of People with Down Syndrome if we don't know how many there are or how they live?
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Words have always shaped reality and allowed decisions to be made. Is it then discrimination for a survey to ask about “disabilities”? It is not, if the objective is to point to know and ensure that more and more barriers fall. For example, labor barriers: according to the NGO Incluyeme, in Latin America, 3 out of 4 people with disabilities are unemployed. Data - which is why the enormous value of a census - is needed to carry out concrete actions.
And actions are decided from words. For this reason, more and more companies are addressing the issue of diversity and inclusion from language. Until a few years ago, social condemnation would have been mild if an organization used the term “Mogolic” to refer to a person with Down syndrome; it was not frowned upon to say “disabled”. Today the corporate world - and society in general - is understanding that words move closer or away and that a “handicapped” is someone who has no value. And does it exist?
For all this, it is necessary to incorporate people with disabilities also from words, but from the right words. We will never talk about someone “suffering” from Down syndrome or that they “suffer” from dyslexia: we must avoid our valuation burdens. Nor are they “little angels”: they are as human beings as the rest and capable of evil. Those who live with people with disabilities are not “heroes” or “heroines” either, they are simply people with their circumstances.
So, also when it comes to counting how many people live in Argentina and how they do it, let's give full visibility to people with disabilities. By naming them, listening to them, knowing how and where they live, we will be able to work seriously towards their full inclusion in society.
Our words create reality... And we have a huge responsibility to make them contribute to creating a more inclusive society.
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