Likewise, the Ministry of Education now uses "discapacidad" and the expression "necesidades educativas especiales" (special education needs).⁶

Definition of Disability

The definitions of disability used in Bolivian legislation resulted from changes in approaches to disability over time. Because early concepts of disability were based on "impediment" and "incapacity," definitions tended to focus on impairments. The act dated 22 January 1957 that created the Bolivian Institute for Blindness stated that "a blind person is an individual with a visual ability of 20/200 or lower or a visual field of 20 degrees or lower, considering the best eye and the best correction."⁷

With the international development of new frames of reference, Bolivia's concept of disability began to reflect those shifts taking place elsewhere. For example, the International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap (ICIDH) definition of disability is included in the People with Disabilities Act, Law 1678. According to the text, a disability is "any restriction or lack, resulting from an impairment, of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being."⁸ The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the United Nations in 1993, also served as important guidelines for the drafting of legislation and official documents.

However, population measurement instruments in Bolivia continue to rely on ideas about disability based on individual impairments. All survey questions about disability present respondents with a short list of impairments that implicitly define disability. This impairment-based approach is common among the general population making such questions easy for interviewers to ask and respondents to understand. However, this narrow definition of disability does not conform to the newer legislative framework and likely resulted in a deflated estimate of the number of persons with disabilities.

^6. Ministry of Education, Políticas de Integración para los Alumnos con Necesidades Educativas Especiales a la Modalidad Regular [Integración de Niños con Discapacidad a la Modalidad Regular [Integration of Children with Disabilities into Regular Schools], (Documento Trabajo, La Paz, 2002), 13.

^7. Ley del 22 de enero de 1957 [Act passed on 12 January 1957], (certified copy provided by Norberto Vargas (Director of the General Archive of Bolivia's Presidency)), La Paz, 1986.

^8. Ombudsman, Ley de la Persona con Discapacidad, 2nd ed. [People With Disabilities Act, Second Edition Chapter I, Definitions; sec. 1. B] (D.P., La Paz, 2002), 5.