Both the Program of Action for Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (PreveRDis) and the Program for the Labor Integration of Persons with Disabilities make reference to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF or ICIDH-2), which purports to change the traditional approach to disability by integrating medical and social models.² However, the ICF is currently undergoing a thorough review prior to implementation, so it has not yet impacted definitions of disability in Mexican law. The following are representative of the definitions written into official documents:

Disability. "Restriction or lack, resulting from a physical or mental impairment, of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being." (12th General Population and Housing Census)³

Disability. "Lack, restriction or loss of the ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being." (Official Mexican Standard (NOM-173-SSA1-1998) for the Comprehensive Assistance of Persons with Disabilities.)⁴

Person with disabilities. "Any human being with a temporary or permanent restriction, loss or reduction of his/her physical, intellectual or sensory abilities to perform the activities that are inherent thereto." (Decree enacting the Federal Act for Persons with Disabilities)⁵

From a review of 13 official definitions, some patterns can be observed. Terms such as "suffers from" or "endures" recur frequently entailing the idea that people with disabilities are ill and restricted by life-long diseases. The word "normal" is used often, implying that any disability-related issue or activity is abnormal. This type of language can prevent disability from simply being considered a living condition.

^2. Secretary of Health in collaboration with the Presidential Office for the Advancement and Social Integration of Person with Disabilities, Programa de Integración Laboral para Personas con Discapacidad 2001-2006 [2001-2006 Program for the Labor Integration of Persons with Disabilities, Contents I Disability: Concept Approach], 2001, 7; Secretary of Health in collaboration with the Presidential Office for the Advancement and Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities, 2001-2006 Programa de Acción para la Prevención y Rehabilitación de Discapacidades (PreveR-Dis) [Program of Action for Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation (PreveR-Dis)], 2001, 13.

^3. INEGI, 12th General Population and Housing Census, "Tabulados de la Muestra Censal, Cuestionario Ampliado" [Tables of the Census Sample Extended Questionnaire], Glossary. 2000, 321.

^4. Secretary of Health, Mexican Official Standard NOM-173-SSA1-1998, Para la Atención Integral a Personas con Discapacidad, Definiciones [For the Comprehensive Assistance of Persons with Disabilities, Definitions],1998, 3.

^5. Decreto por el que se expide La Ley Federal para las Personas con Discapacidad [Decree enacting the Federal Act for Persons with Disabilities], ch. 1, sec. 4, 2003.