The year 1981 was proclaimed the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP) by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. It called for a plan of action with an emphasis on equalization of opportunities, rehabilitation and prevention of disabilities. The slogan of IYDP was "a wheelchair in every home", defined as the right of persons with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

to take part fully in the life and development of their societies, enjoy

living conditions Habitability refers to the adequacy of an environment for human living. Where housing is concerned, there are generally local ordinances which define habitability. If a residence complies with those laws it is said to be habitable. In extreme e ...

equal to those of other citizens, and have an equal share in improved conditions resulting from socio-economic development. A major outcome of the International Year of Disabled Persons was the formulation of the

World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1982. This also is recognized by the Preamble (f) of the

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. Parties to the convention are required to promote, ...

. The International Decade of Disabled Persons ran from 1983 to 1993. It was closed by a speech in the General Assembly by Dr. Robert R. Davila, then an Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Education who declared that "before the year is up, we expect the number of disabled persons to double". December 3 each year, since 1992, is identified by the United Nations as the

International Day of Persons with Disabilities International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) is an international observance promoted by the United Nations since 1992. It has been observed with varying degrees of success around the planet. The observance of the Day aims to promot ...

. British new wave singer-songwriter

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads an ...

, himself a disabled person, released a song titled "

Spasticus Autisticus "Spasticus Autisticus" is a song written by Ian Dury and co-written by Chaz Jankel, released both as a single and on the album '' Lord Upminster''. History and ban by the BBC "Spasticus Autisticus" was written in 1981 as a protest against the ...

" in 1981, which he intended as a scathing critique of the International Year, which he viewed as "patronising" and "crashingly insensitive".George McKay (2009)
"Crippled with nerves": popular music and polio, with particular reference to Ian Dury'.
''Popular Music'' 28:3, 341–365.

References

External links

United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, IYDP

1981 in the United Nations Disabled Persons, International Year of Disability observances {{UN-stub

See also

References

External links