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Mercedes Rodriguez Loeb
Last Thursday, December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated; In this context, the URJC Legal Clinic together with the Sphere Foundation have presented the first easy-to-read guide on the rights of citizens in the pandemic situation so that this group can understand the text.
The idea of making this adaptation arose during confinement when the Sphere Foundation contacted several professors at the University. At that time, the Clinic was not yet in operation and the teachers decided to launch a citizen collaboration plan through the Development Cooperation and Volunteering Service, thanks to which a first draft could be made.
The Guide seeks to facilitate the reading of the material created by the institutions and all the available help and resources that had been put in place due to the crisis generated by the pandemic since people with intellectual disabilities could not understand the terms used.
The act has been carried out electronically and has been guided by the journalist Nieves Herrero. The inauguration was carried out by the vice-rector for University Extension, David Ortega, and was attended by the person in charge of Social Development of the Sphere Foundation, Mabel López, and the director of the Legal Clinic, Marta Albert, together with the coordinator Alfonso Vicente and the students who carry out the practices.
Mabel López has underlined the importance of generating easy-to-read legal texts and materials, which allow people with intellectual disabilities to know and understand their rights.
On the other hand, Marta Albert has shown what the elaboration of this project has meant to students not only in terms of acquiring legal knowledge but also from the point of view of their awareness of problems related to social justice. .
During the act, Sandra Alañon and Salvador Díaz, two of the students who carry out their internships at the Clinic, together with the Foundation's team of validators, explained the process of preparing the materials and their verification by people with intellectual disabilities. .
A member of the Foundation has commented on the relevance and usefulness of the Guide for people with some type of intellectual disability. The event ended with a few words from Lidón Montón, academic secretary of the Faculty of Legal and Social Sciences, who attended on behalf of the Dean.
For the future, the Clinic plans to produce a report on the restriction of freedoms for people living in residences, a StreetLaw on the right to education to report on the new education law and a legal advice service aimed at workers of the Sphere Foundation. In addition, in the penitentiary field, they have on the table several demands raised by the Isla Merced reintegration center of the EPyV Association.