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What is a disability?
Things to know about disability
With regard to working life, disability is first and foremost a social law concept. Assuming that people with disabilities have limited opportunities for self-determined participation in today's society as it is at present, various legal texts regulate entitlements to participation benefits and their financing as well as the claiming of Disadvantage compensation. The aim of these regulations is for people with their respective disabilities to lead as self-determined and independent a life as possible in all areas of life and - also as far as the workplace or training place is concerned - to make the most of their potential.
In order to be able to assess which legal rights apply in individual cases, some definitions are helpful.
Useful definitions
In principle, all people with or without disabilities are considered legal subjects who are bearers of inalienable human rights. The human rights foundation of the concept of disability is laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD):
"Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others." (Art. 1 UN CRPD).
In Germany, the UNCRPD is implemented primarily through the Ninth Book of the Social Code (SGB IX). There, among other things, criteria of a disability are derived from the UN CRPD and defined for Germany. Just like the UN CRPD, the SGB IX specifies three criteria which, taken together, interpret 'disability' in the sense of the ability to participate in society:
- a health impairment in the sense of a health-related functional deviation that deviates from the typical age, e.g. if a staff, people's ability to read and write is impaired despite school and Vocational training,
- a project duration of the functional impairment that is most likely to exceed six months, e.g., when the ability to read and write is permanently impaired in adulthood, and
- the interaction of the impairment with environmental and attitudinal barriers, e.g., reading bus schedules or files, menus, scientific texts, or using software at work, etc.
In addition, various distinctions between disability and chronic illness are relevant:
- At risk of disability.
This group of people includes people without an officially recognized disability, whose physical functions, mental abilities or mental health deviates from the normally expected age-typical condition. Whether a person is at risk of disability is to be taken into account in each individual case. Decisive for the application of the concept of disability is the potential or actual restriction of social participation, in the case of adults in particular of occupational participation.
For example, an employee who suffers from depression and has since been frequently absent from work due to illness may be at risk of disability. An animal keeper whose mobility is restricted for an unforeseeable period of time as a result of an accident may also be at risk of disability, e.g. if joints threaten to stiffen and restrict the performance of the previous activity.
- disabled
From an officially determined degree of disability of 20, a person is considered disabled.
- severely disabled
From an officially determined degree of disability of 50, a person is considered severely disabled.
- equal
People with a degree of disability of 30 or 40 can be legally equated with severely disabled people.
- Severely chronically ill
According to the chronic illness guideline, people are considered to be seriously chronically ill if they are dependent on medical treatment once or more per billing quarter for at least one year, without which there would be a permanent impairment of the quality of life or a massive worsening of the symptoms of the illness. A level of care may also be a criterion for a severe chronic illness.
Chronic breakdowns include mental illnesses and behavioral disorders such as anxiety disorders, personality disorders, addictive disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, eating disorders, trauma sequelae disorders, depression, and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, or dyslexia.
Other chronic diseases include cardiovascular disease, rheumatism, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, allergies, back pain, cancer, or migraine.
Severe chronic diseases can be recognized as (severe) disabilities. The decisive factor for the classification as a disability is the existing restriction of social participation. In the event that a disability is officially determined, chronically ill people can make use of the specific rights of disabled people.