5.5 out of 10
Legal capacity can be partially removed, and people with intellectual disabilities can be denied the right to vote or to stand for elections.
Almost all adults with intellectual disabilities live in smaller institutions.
Many adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family. Almost no one lives in their own place.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to special schools, few of them go to mainstream schools and few of them have no education.
Few people with an intellectual disability have a job on the open labour market and they risk to lose their disability benefits when they earn their own salary.
Most people with intellectual disabilities have access to general healthcare.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented within the national disability organisation. EVPIT receives government funding for their advocacy work.
Estonia European average
Support workers did a lot to improve the rights of people with intellectual disabilities, making sure there are never again large institutions deciding how our lives should be. Our lives should depend on ourselves. Our opinion must be heard.
| Mainstream education | 500 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 2,000 |
| No education | 200 |
| Larger institutions | 0 |
| Smaller institutions | 6,000 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 0 |
Estonia scores relatively high on right to live independently and to be included in the community because they cap the official capacity of residential services at 30 people. However, in reality some of these 30-person units may be grouped together in a larger institution.
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.
6 out of 10
Legal capacity can be partially removed, and people with intellectual disabilities can be denied the right to vote and cannot stand for elections. Voting is not made accessible.
Most adults with intellectual disabilities live in smaller institutions and small care homes. There is a plan to close institutions and the government follows it.
Many adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family, a small number live in their own place or are homeless. Disability benefits go directly to the person with disability. There is some support for families.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to special schools, a small number of children go to mainstream schools.
Few people with intellectual disabilities have a job on the open labour market, and few people stay at home. Some measures in place to make jobs accessible. People with a paid job risk losing their disability benefits. ‘Protected employment’ does not pay minimum wage.
Most people with intellectual disabilities have access to healthcare. Healthcare is free/ discounted for people with intellectual disabilities. Access to sex education is poor. There is freedom of choice for reproductive health but in practice, there is little support. People with intellectual disabilities cannot be forcibly sterilised.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented within the national disability organisation, there is no person with an intellectual disability on the board/ council. EVPIT receives government funding for their advocacy work.
Estonia European average
We want equal access to health care. All people must have access to hospitals, doctors and other health services. Health care workers need to learn how to communicate with us.
| Mainstream education | 500 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 2,000 |
| No education | 200 |
| Larger institutions | 0 |
| Smaller institutions | 6,000 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 0 |
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.
5.2 out of 10
Legal capacity can be fully removed, which can limit the right to vote. People with intellectual disabilities can stand for elections. Voting is not made accessible.
Most adults with intellectual disabilities live in smaller institutions. Some live in large institutions and some live in small care homes. Some live in psychiatric hospitals.
Many people with intellectual disabilities live with their family. Some live in their own place. Disability benefits go directly to the person with an intellectual disability. There is a mechanism to assess quality of services, but it is not user driven.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to special schools. Very few children go to mainstream schools. There is a national strategy towards inclusive education, but it does not work in practice in mainstream schools.
Some people with intellectual disabilities have a job on the open labour market, and some people stay at home. Some measures are in place to make jobs accessible. People with a paid job risk losing their disability benefits. ‘Protected employment’ does not pay minimum wage.
Most people with intellectual disabilities have access to healthcare. There is freedom of choice for reproductive health but in practice, there is little support. People with intellectual disabilities cannot be forcibly sterilised.
People with intellectual disabilities are represented within the national cross-disability organisation, but there is no person with an intellectual disability on the board/council. EVPIT receives government funding for advocacy work.
Estonia European average
Access to rights for people with intellectual disabilities has worsened over the year. Funding for supportive services has not been increased for 2 years (by the state). The interest and support of the state and local government regarding the rights of people with disabilities are much lower than before. The focus is on the state's capacity for protection, which is understandable. However, leaving advocacy and supportive services in a difficult state is unacceptable.
In September, providers of special care services organised a protest in front of the parliament, due to the lack of funding for supportive services and waiting lists for supportive services lasting 3-5 years for adult people. There are indications that special care and housing services are once again being planned to be under state or local government ownership. EU support is going only to government organisations. The private sector is involved minimally. Funding for advocacy is highly uncertain, including support for self-advocates.
| Mainstream education | 500 |
|---|---|
| Special education | 2,000 |
| No education | 200 |
| Larger institutions | * |
| Smaller institutions | 6,000 |
| Small care homes | * |
| Psychiatric hospitals | * |
These are the reported or estimated numbers of the country. In most cases, in reality, the numbers will be higher as the data is underreported or missing entirely.