Daniel Robles, Activist With Disabilities: 'Society Should Know, We Are Also Productive'
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Daniel Robles Haro is one of the most important activists of the disabled movement in Mexico. At the age of 27, he has promoted various projects aimed at making the environment more inclusive and making society aware of the importance of this population group.
In Mexico, there are 6,179,890 people with some type of disability, which represents 4.9% of the country's total population, according to the 2020 Population Census prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi). According to this analysis, most of them have difficulties in walking (48%), seeing (44%) and hearing (22%). As for Robles Haro, he is a person with severe cerebral palsy.
For many years, he has been fighting for more places for this population group in Zapopan (Jalisco State), where he lives with his mother Maura Haro, and throughout the country. Therefore, the Mexican activist appeared at the conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. During his participation, which took place on March 16, 2023, Robles Haro proposed two topics: the inclusion of pictograms in the national system of basic education and the development of special changing tables for people with disabilities.
"It is important that society stops seeing us only as objects of pity. People with disabilities can also be productive and should have the same rights as any other citizen," he said in an interview with Sputnik.
The Pictogram World
Daniel can't communicate verbally or in writing, as he only controls his eyes. It is through them - and with the assistance of his mother and technology - that he is able to express his needs, thoughts and feelings.
One of the communication strategies they use is a picture board. These pictograms represent specific words and ideas and are divided into categories.
"They contain basic expressions such as "yes", "no", "hello", "goodbye", "please", "thank you". They also include body parts, verbs, places, numbers, moods, and so on, Robles Haro noted. "The user points to an icon that expresses what he wants to say."
He proposed to use this method as soon as a person is detected as having difficulties in verbal communication.
At the conference of the President of Mexico, the activist suggested including this system of alternative communication in free textbooks that are distributed at the elementary school level by the the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education (SEP).
"I believe that my proposal to introduce this information into [these educational materials] in Mexico is a good start, because in this way we will form a generation of students who will be more aware and informed about this problem," he said.
Robles Haro also proposed to create the first bank of pictograms for free use.
In his opinion, some of the words that should occur both in the texts and in this collection are "taco", "beans", "corn", "tamale", "chili", "balero" (a typical Mexican toy), "rebozo", "tianguis" (mobile market), as well as typical expressions for each region.
The Mexican activist also suggested conducting awareness campaigns not only in schools, but also in medical centers and homes so that they can learn about and use the picture board.
Special Changing Tables
Since 2021, Robles Haro has been promoting the creation of changing tables of the necessary design and size for people with disabilities to use them in the restroom. His first breakthrough was in Zapopan municipality, where such an attachment was organized in one of the state institutions.
This changing table "turned out to be very useful for many people. For me, in particular, it is convenient when I go to do paperwork or to the park next door [to that site]. In fact, I celebrated my birthday there [in the park], just so my guests could use it," he said.
Despite the fact that Robles Haro presented this project at the First Parliament of People with Disabilities, which was supported by the Mexican Senate, there is still a long way to go in this area.
For this reason, he not only attended the conference of the President of Mexico, but also promoted the initiative on the website Change.org, where he talked about the difficulties people with a particular form of disability have to go through to change a diaper or fix clothes.
"I have been negotiating with a Spanish organization that has developed a concept that goes beyond a changing table: it combines a number of accessibility features invented and developed by real professionals in this field. They are called special inclusive changing tables and this movement is developing all over the world. I hope it will be implemented in Mexico soon," Robles Haro remarked.
More Inclusive Environment
Robles Haro is not only a fierce activist for the rights of people with disabilities, but also a columnist for such media as Yo También, and for a little more than a month he has been an adviser to the Minister of Social Security Ariadna Montiel Reyes.
Fue un gran gusto conocer a @DanielRoblesMEX, un joven a quien nada lo detiene para alcanzar sus metas, quiere aportar todas sus ideas en materia de inclusión de las personas con discapacidad. Por eso desde ahora será mi asesor en la materia#PensiónDiscapacidad#PrimeroLosPobres pic.twitter.com/nDZX3u5tki
— Ariadna Montiel Reyes (@A_MontielR) March 20, 2023
With this, he became the first Mexican with a severe disability to hold a higher level position in the country's public service.
"To the government, society and families I reiterate: people with severe cerebral palsy should have the necessary tools from childhood to develop our abilities, [have] the right and access to communication, education, recreation and equal opportunities, among many other things," he concluded.
