International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2022: The Midlife Crisis


3 December, International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The Spanish Disability Law is turning 40, and Pablo Pineda and Lola Robles are sounding the alarm: don’t let disability suffer a midlife crisis.

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which will be celebrated on 3 December, we want to reflect on the 40th anniversary of the Spanish Disability Law. We don’t want disability to suffer a midlife crisis! Although we’ve seen a great deal of progress in recent years as far as achieving rights and inclusion for disabled people, we still have a long way to go, which is why we want you to help us to avoid a midlife crisis. 

On the 40th anniversary of the Disability Law, ambassadors, collaborators and friends with disabilities have sent us a message to show their gratitude, but also to encourage us to not give up and to keep making progress.

Pablo Pineda, Desirée Vila, Raquel Domínguez, Caterina Moretti, Edu Carrera, David Aguilar, Carmen Giménez, Avi Mashiah, María Petit, Javi Martín y Alan Akhimien “Alan El Ruedas”.

 

December 3rd 2022, International Day of People with Disability

Los firmantes de la carta con motivo del día internacional de las personas con discapacidad 2022: Pablo Pineda, Desirée Vila, Raquel Domínguez, Caterina Moretti, Edu Carrera, David Aguilar, Carmen Giménez, Avi Mashiah, María Petit, Javi Martín y Alan Akhimien “Alan El Ruedas”
Dear friend,

I’m turning 40 this year. We all turn 40. Even you. We’re turning 40 because 40 years ago, Spain decided to create a law to guarantee the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities.

This law thing sounds quite tedious, but it’s very important for millions of people in our country. Over the course of these 40 years, we’ve matured, and disability today is different. Even though the 80s were cool, disability is much more modern nowadays. It’s more visible, and people look at us in a different way. We are no longer handicapped, or invalids, or retarded. Now we’re TikTokers, we study at university or vocational college, we vote and we decide how we want to live. We’re professionals, sportspeople and parents, and we go partying and form relationships… In short, we’re people and we’re in the midst of a social revolution for inclusion.

For 40 years, we’ve been defending our rights and the rights of 4.2 million people. We’ve helped businesses, institutions, families and society to tear down so many different forms of prejudice and historical stereotypes that have left a very deep mark on us.

After 40 years, have we achieved full inclusion? The answer is no. We haven’t, which is why we’re having a #MidlifeCrisis. We’ve had it with being thrown out of nightclubs in summer, with our disability being more evident than our talent in recruitment processes, with being bullied at school, with being looked down on and being considered a percentage or a part of a quota. Although this is a somewhat of a downer for us, with your help it won’t last long, because we don’t give into crises; we’re all about taking action.

So here we are, with our wheelchairs, our extra chromosome 21, our prosthetics, walking sticks and therapies; but above all – and we can’t stress this enough – we’re here, with all of our talent on full display, to continue fighting our revolution.

We’re forty-somethings now and we’re so hyped!

From LISMI to LGD, 40 years of rights for people with disabilities

In 1982, the Social Integration of the Handicapped Law (LISMI in Spanish) was enacted. Although the language used is now considered outdated, it was the first law to enforce the right of access to the job market by people with disabilities, which until then had not been respected. In 2014, as the result of the merger of several laws, the General Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Their Social Inclusion, the General Disability Law for short, or LGD, was enacted. Since then, such basic rights as access to the job market (LISMI), universal accessibility (Law on Equal Opportunities, Non-Discrimination and Universal Accessibility of People with Disability, LIONDAU) and the right to vote (amendment to the Electoral Regime Law, LOREG, in 2018) have been achieved.

Although these are all fundamental rights, and we are very proud of what we’ve accomplished, we know that we still have a long way to go.

Midlife crisis

After 40 years, it’s time to stop and reflect: have we accomplished everything we’ve been fighting for all these years? The answer is no. People with disabilities continue to find themselves in countless situations of discrimination, both in the job market and in daily life. But it isn’t all tragedy; we’re aware of everything we’ve accomplished, and this gives us the strength to continue fighting to create a more inclusive society. 

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The Midlife Crisis, a story of friendship, disability and overcoming difficulties

In this video we find Adela, a woman with a disability who is celebrating her birthday. Adela is going over in her mind what she thought her life would be like at 40 and what it’s actually like. When she starts to feel overwhelmed by not having achieved all her goals, she goes to the home of her friend (and neighbour), Pablo. 

Pablo is an activist who is fighting for the rights of all people with disabilities. Although there’s still a lot left to accomplish, he uses his vast experience to help Adela to see the positive side of things. 

In a very intimate conversation, Adela opens up to Pablo, and together they come to the conclusion that Adela is suffering from a midlife crisis. Although she has to keep fighting to pursue her goals, she has to learn to appreciate the milestones she’s already reached. Adela plays the role of the Disability Law, which requires the support of everybody around it in order to avoid having a midlife crisis. 

At the same time, Pablo Pineda gives society a heartfelt wake-up call, reminding us that we’ve spent 40 years learning and committing ourselves, and that the time has now come to take action. 

Adela

Adela is a blind woman who has just turned 40. She was fortunate to have grown up in a family who believed in her talent and inclusion. She hasn’t experienced more overprotection than is normal for any other person, and she was always encouraged to get an education and to believe that she is “no less than anybody else”. She has always been aware that she would encounter more barriers than others because of her blindness, but she’s always faced them with spirit and hope. On reaching the milestone of her 40th birthday, she takes stock of what she’s achieved so far in her life: she is well educated and has a social circle and family that support her, and despite the ups and downs of her financial situation, she’s managed to hold a more or less steady career. But she expected much more, because she continues to feel that she’s invisible. 

Adela is played by Lola Robles, a blind actress who decided to pursue her dreams and devote herself to the acting profession against all odds. 

Lola Robles en un momento del rodaje de la crisis de los 40, vídeo de sensibilización para el día internacional de las personas con discapacidad 2022
Pablo Pineda en un momento del rodaje de la crisis de los 40, vídeo de sensibilización para el día internacional de las personas con discapacidad 2022

Pablo Pineda

Pablo is a 48-year-old special educational needs teacher, and he become the first European with Down syndrome to gain a university degree. His multiple talents have led him along different paths to knowledge: he’s a writer, actor (recipient of the Silver Shell Award for Best Actor at the 2009 San Sebastian Film Festival) and lecturer, a role he performs as a Fundación Adecco ambassador. Pablo is one of the leading lights in the world of disability and advocates integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into society and the corporate world. Pablo is seeking to bring about a shift in companies so that they hire more people with disabilities, and with this in mind, he acted as a spokesperson for all people with disabilities before the United Nations in 2015. 

Pablo plays himself, a person with a great sense of empathy who is fighting for the rights of people with disabilities, and who is there for his friends whenever they need him. 

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