January 2024, Year XVI, n. 1
Fernanda Castro Maya
Invisible? Never again
Telos: You fight so that people with intellectual disabilities like you can take part in political life. Can you tell us about your work as an activist?
Fernanda Castro Maya: In 2018 I joined the CONFE (Mexican Confederation of Organizations in Favor of Intellectually Challenged People) to take part in their landscaping workshop, and that same year I joined the group of self-advocates.
We self-advocates are people with intellectual disabilities who are taught to know our rights, we speak on behalf of all people with intellectual disabilities and meet in groups to become active parts of society. In 2019 I prepared to join the group Empower Us of Inclusion International and I was subsequently nominated to represent Latin America.
I have taken part in webinars and conferences on topics such as women with disabilities, participation in political and public life, work inclusion and legal competency. For CONFE I teach self-advocates about empowerment and their rights ...more
Editorial
The most powerful, meaningful expression in the interview for the January issue of PRIMOPIANOSCALAc with Mexican activist, for the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities, Fernanda Castro Maya is “We mustn’t be invisible.” I asked myself: Today, do we continue to hide disability, think of it as an obstacle to try to get around, ignore or brush under the rug? Is it still invisible? In 2016 Italian President Mattarella used the same word, saying: “It is no longer acceptable for many of our citizens to become like this, invisible…” A whole piece of the country marginalised, and Fernanda forces us to open our eyes to something that scares the 'abled' world more than anything else: intellectual disability ...more
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