“I'm meeting a friend for lunch and, when we make a reservation at the restaurant, which has to be notified of my situation, the waiter says: 'One person and a wheelchair.' Actually, two people will go, one of them (me) in a wheelchair. But people are much more than a disability. More than cerebral palsy. More than an autism spectrum disorder, than Down syndrome, that….”
That cry echoed this Tuesday at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (TNC), before, during and after the brilliant monologue by Marc Buxaderas, author of the previous quotation marks and which put one of the finishing touches to the anniversary party of the 50 years of Dincat, the festival of social inclusion and the defense of people's rights. Marc is an actor and a thousand other things. But above all he is a person, not a person with a disability.
Marc also has spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is part of the group that Dincat defends and represents, which brings together 300 social entities and safeguards the rights of more than 75,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Catalonia, as well as their families. The event in a packed TNC, with the presence of more than 800 people, caused those present to feel dizzy as they reviewed recent history.
That feeling was born from the realization of how much work still lies ahead and how much has already been done. Only five years ago people with intellectual disabilities could not freely exercise the right to vote (in Catalonia, more than 15,000). And until just three years ago, women in this group could be sterilized without even asking their opinion. Much progress has also been made in the field of language.
In these 50 years we have gone from talking about charity to rights and obligations, justice. And, above all, words that today cause or should cause unanimous rejection have fallen or should fall into disuse, such as mongolic, subnormal, disabled or handicapped. An expression like a person with a disability is more accurate because it puts what is important (the person) first and relegates what is secondary (the wheelchair).
“Put a person with a disability in your life” is the motto of Marc Buxaderas, who put the audience in his pocket. In reality, and this is another of the lessons taught by entities like Dincat, we will all be disabled at one time or another in our lives. If we break a leg and have to go to a building without an elevator, we will be disabled. We just need an elevator to stop being one.
The same thing happens to other people. Only its elevator is called access to the labor market, independent living or cognitive accessibility. “We have made a lot of progress, but we have great challenges ahead of us to build a society that we are all proud of, but today it is time to recognize the important contribution of those who have made it possible for us to move towards a more just, inclusive and supportive reality.”
These are the words of José Carlos Eiriz, president of Dincat, who remembered absentees such as Manuel Palou (his predecessor) or Ramon Trias Fargas, among many others, known or not, but all relevant. The event also paid tribute to those who have taken over with notable success, such as Andy Trias himself, son of the aforementioned politician, who demonstrates with his example how far a person with Down syndrome can go.
Others honored are old acquaintances of our readers, such as Montserrat Vilarrasa and Sergi Moncunill. Montserrat is the first woman with Down syndrome to speak before the UN. And Sergi is a politician, university student, activist and Treasury official, although he was born with an intellectual disability. One of the final speeches, that of Jordi Durà, made it clear what we are talking about when we talk about disability.
Jordi is a representative of the Family Council in Dincat. “In Catalonia there are no disabled people. There are very capable men and women. “We all have a natural ability,” he said. His words were some of the most applauded of the entire day. The families were ultimately the great protagonists, as José Carlos Eiriz said before when he thanked them: “You have made us what we are.”
Families, he added, are the ones who “make a daily effort, rarely recognized, in the tireless defense of their daughters and sons.” Thanks to this effort, society has discovered that we are not talking about “invisible people, but essential ones.” That question, that of visibility, was one of the most repeated by the institutional, political and municipal representatives who also spoke at the celebration.
The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, said he felt in 2020 “embarrassed by the waiting lists to access residential places. The situation has not improved much, judging by the families consulted at the party after the parliaments. During his meeting, however, President Aragonès praised the agreement signed with the unions to “improve the quality of life of the recipients of social services.”
The Government has also reviewed “the portfolio of services, for the first time since 2007”, has achieved “an increase in rates” and “an increase of 700 jobs in the public administration”. But granting places to a percentage of people with disabilities is of absolutely no use if the oppositions and tests are not suitable for this group, as Sergi Moncunill knows very well.
Like the rest of the winners, Sergi received a beautiful wooden heart from the Alba de Tàrrega association (here, their charity store). Before passing the exams to enter the Treasury, he took some tests from the Generalitat that left vacant places because the exams had not been adapted to the people for whom they were directed. As I said, a lot has been done, but there is still much to do.
There is a lack of resources, budget allocations. “I wish one day Dincat would be unnecessary,” said another of his representatives. Aragonès himself recognized that without this institution “there would not be so many people with disabilities working or enjoying an autonomous and full life.” And, for the final point, what the great Marc Buxaderas said to the waiter: “Okay. One person and one wheelchair. Well, the steak for me and the bill for the chair.”
