One in five children suffer from disabilities institutionalized – Renaissance

The number is troubling. One in five children suffer from institutionalized disabilities, but statistics can mask a more complex problem.

Paula Campos Pinto, Observatory study coordinator of Disability and Human Rights, speaks of a delicate reality, because “many of these problems are the psychic disorders and, in the case of children, this type of situation often goes unnoticed, so it is not properly diagnosed or have monitoring that should have. ”

So, this expert believes that we are talking about a problem “undervalued, even though the known statistic is, in itself, quite alarming”.

Portugal surpasses all records institutionalization smaller than the European average. The situation worsened in the case of children with disabilities. Paula Campos Pinto recalls that “legislation provides for periodic reviews” of institutionalization, and the creation of “conditions, either within the family or in the community for the rehabilitation of these children in their natural context of life, which is the family.”

In most cases, “this does not happen.” It will be a symptom of social prejudice towards disability. “It shows that there is still some rejection by adoptive families to adopt children who have some kind of problem. There is still negative feelings towards disability in Portuguese society. “