to verify the information, the concept of disability, and the restrictive categories used at that time.4
In contrast, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)
reports that the 2000 census was compatible with the International Classification
of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), which was released in 2001 by the
World Health Organization. The new methodology allowed the IBGE to identify
a larger number of people with disabilities through a more comprehensive
approach.5 Specifically, persons with mild disabilities were much more likely to be
identified by the 2000 census than the 1991 census.6 The questions asked by the
2000 census included:
Do you have any permanent mental disability restricting your daily activities? (Such as working, attending school, jumping, etc.)7
(yes/no)
How do you assess your ability to see? (If you wear glasses or contact
lenses, state how well you can see with them)
(Unable/Severe permanent difficulty/Some permanent difficulty/No
difficulty)
How do you assess your ability to hear? (If you wear hearing aids, state
how well you can hear with them) (Unable/ Severe permanent difficulty/
Some permanent difficulty/No difficulty)
How do you assess your ability to walk / climb stairs? (If you wear a
prosthesis, walking stick or an auxiliary device, assess how well you can
move with it) (Unable/Severe permanent difficulty/Some permanent
difficulty/No difficulty)
Do you have any of the following impairments?: (Choose only one item,
giving priority to the largest impairment)(Total permanent paralysis/
Permanent paralysis of both legs/Permanent paralysis of one [or] two
sides of the body/Lack of a leg, arm, hand, foot or thumb/None of the
above)8
5. IBGE, Comunicação Social [Social Communication], 8 May 2002, http://www.ibge.gov.br/.
6. Center of Social Policies, Retratos da Deficiencia no Brazil [Portrait of disability in Brazil], Getulio Vargas Foundation, (2003), http://www.fgv.br/cps/deficiencia_br/PDF/PPD_Sumario_ Executivo.pdf.
7. Decree 3298/99, Mental disability in this context means, as defined by Decree 3298/99, "a functional intellectual capacity, significantly below the average, evidenced before the age of 18 and accompanied by limitations related to two or more areas of adaptive abilities, such as communication, personal care, social skills, utilization of community resources, health and safety, functional learning abilities, leisure, and work."
8. Decree 3298/99.