The social isolation of people with disabilities can be observed even in countries where specialized institutions do not exist or have been eliminated. The detailed analysis of the provisions of Article 19 of the Convention proposed in the previous sections of this report is intended to help identify the various manifestations of isolation within the community.

People with disabilities living at home

In countries where there are no or very few specialized institutions, but stereotypical attitudes and lack of support prevail, people with disabilities can be isolated and highly marginalized within the community. People with disabilities may be forced to lead a reclusive lifestyle without any interaction with the world around them. They may be prevented from attending educational institutions or working. In the most extreme cases, their family members hide them from public view (and even forcibly confine them) because they fear prejudice or feel helpless due to the lack of outside support.

People with disabilities living in family-type homes

Another form of segregation is the placement of people with disabilities in special apartment complexes. Despite the fact that people are physically inside society (these complexes can be located in an ordinary residential area), the system of organizing life activities in them copies the system of specialized institutions. As an example of such complexes, it is possible to take “family-type homes”, where, as a rule, two to fifteen people with disabilities live. In countries where the process of liquidation of specialized institutions has begun or is already being completed, family-type homes are often offered as a possible alternative76. That is why it is so important today to pay attention to this problem and take measures to ensure that specialized institutions are not “by default” replaced by group homes, which, as many mistakenly believe, allow people with disabilities to realize their right to live in society. The very fact of placing people in groups separates them from the rest of society, draws people’s attention to the fact of disability rather than to the person of the individual himself, and contradicts the state’s obligation to “encourage positive perceptions of people with disabilities and a deeper understanding of them by society”.

The greater the number of people in such a group, the greater the risk that the family-type home will resemble a specialized institution in many ways, since in this case people with disabilities remain dependent on the will and decisions of the staff. Despite the fact that these homes are geographically located within the city, they are often closed systems, isolated from the outside world on the same principle as specialized institutions. Those who are especially in need of individual assistance are least likely to interact with other members of society and make their own decisions. The size of these associations is usually such that all necessary services, including medical care, employment, and recreational activities, are provided to a group of people with disabilities at their place of residence, or their groups are taken directly to the appropriate service provider, which reduces their chances of meaningful interaction with the rest of society.