In most countries, the quality of life of disabled people is usually lower than the rest of the population, due to the following

  • lack of humanism and compassion in our society towards people with special needs
  • underdevelopment and unsuitability of the social infrastructure of cities and rural settlements to meet the basic needs of the disabled;
  • low level of material security and social services, their insufficient flexibility;
  • low quality or lack of technical means and devices necessary for the maintenance, movement and work of disabled people;
  • significant difficulties in obtaining quality professional, especially higher education, in meeting spiritual needs.

Disabled person (from Latin invalidus – powerless, sick). According to the Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN, 1975), a disabled person is any person who is unable to independently meet, in whole or in part, the needs of a normal personal and/or social life by reason of a deficiency, whether congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities. In our opinion, the concept of “disabled” should be referred not so much to the subject of life, as to consider it as a social phenomenon, namely the result of the interaction of psychophysical limitations and barriers of social nature.

In Recommendation 1185 to the rehabilitation programs of the 44th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of May 5, 1992, disability is defined as a disability caused by physical, psychological, sensory, social, cultural, legislative and other barriers that prevent a person with a disability from being integrated into society and participating in family or community life on the same basis as other members of society.

Let’s take a closer look at the barriers. First of all, we can talk about the physical limitation or isolation of a disabled person – this is due to either physical, sensory, or intellectual and mental disabilities that prevent him or her from moving independently and (or) navigating in space. On the other hand, environmental factors can increase or, conversely, compensate for the impact of these individual disabilities. In this aspect, it is customary to speak not only about a barrier-free environment for a disabled person, but also about a friendly or unfriendly environment. This limitation causes many consequences that complicate the situation of the disabled person and requires special measures to eliminate the spatial, transport, domestic isolation of the disabled person, emotional deprivation and provide the possibility of labor adaptation.

The second barrier is labor segregation, or isolation of a disabled person: due to his pathology, a disabled person has extremely narrow access to jobs or does not have it at all. In some cases, the disabled person is completely incapable of working, even the simplest. However, in other situations, persons with disabilities are offered (or have access to) jobs requiring low qualifications, involving monotonous, stereotypical work and low wages. This situation is due not only (or not so much) to the limitations of their individual physical or intellectual resources, but also to the underdeveloped nature of the labour market for persons with special needs. In a “wild” market economy, adaptation of jobs for such individuals is considered by employers as unprofitable and undesirable.

The third barrier in the lives of people with disabilities is poverty, which is a consequence of social and labour restrictions: these people are forced to exist either on low wages or on assistance (which also may not be sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living for the individual). However, in recent years there have been entrepreneurs who have become disabled as a result of an injury, terrorist attack, etc. Financial limitations are not significant for them. However, overcoming all other barriers requires little effort from them.

An important and rather difficult to overcome barrier for a disabled person is spatial-environmental. Even in cases where a person with physical disabilities has means of transportation (prosthesis, wheelchair, specially equipped car), the very organization of the living environment and transport is not yet friendly to the disabled. There is a lack of equipment and devices for household processes, self-service, free movement. People with sensory impairments experience a shortage of special information tools that inform about the parameters of the environment. For persons with intellectual and mental disabilities, there are no opportunities to navigate the environment, move safely and act in it.