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People with intellectual disabilities: problems with work
Jürgen Dusel criticizes the fact that many people with mental disabilities cannot get a job. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
People with disabilities often have a difficult time – whether on the job market or in the healthcare system. But when it comes to a group of hundreds of thousands of people affected, the barriers are particularly high.
He first wanted to initiate a discussion about the name. “Many of the several hundred thousand people affected in Germany find the common term “mental disability,” as it is still used in our laws, to be derogatory and discriminatory,” said Dusel. “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 worked in the workshops for people with disabilities. “Three quarters of them are people with intellectual disabilities,” said Dusel.
“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. “This is also because the state benefits are linked to visits to the workshop – they should follow people and can be taken with you like a backpack, regardless of where the work takes place.”
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.”