7.6 out of 10
People with intellectual disabilities should have legal capacity and support to make decisions. There is support provided by the government to make voting accessible.
Almost all people with intellectual disabilities live in small care homes. The government had a plan to close institutions, large institutions have been closed.
Few adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family, a small number live in their own place. The government provides some support to families, disability benefits go directly to the person with disability.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to special schools, a small number go to mainstream schools. There is a national strategy towards inclusive education.
Most people with intellectual disabilities have a paid job, some are in ‘protected employment’. People do not risk losing disability benefits when they have a paid job. There are measures in place to make jobs accessible for people with intellectual disabilities. ‘Protected employment’ does not pay minimum wage.
Almost all people with intellectual disabilities have access to healthcare, health insurance is free/ discounted. People with intellectual disabilities have freedom of choice on issues regarding reproductive health. By law, people with intellectual disabilities cannot be forcibly sterilised, but it is still performed.
People with intellectual disabilities are part of the national cross-disability organisation, there is a person with an intellectual disability on the board/ council. Throskahjalp does not receive government funding for advocacy work.
Iceland European average
When a family can no longer take care of their child with an intellectual disability, the municipality provides services. When the person has not turned 18, they go for to stay at a “short term stay houses”. If they are over 18, they get assistant housing.
Since 2019, Iceland has banned nonconsensual sterilisation except in cases of medical necessity. But the law only covers tubal ligation, the surgical blocking of the fallopian tubes. Hysterectomies are considered medical treatment and excluded from the ban.
| Larger institutions | * |
|---|---|
| Smaller institutions | * |
| Small care homes | 814 |
| Psychiatric hospitals | 0 |
| Living with family | 3,850 |
| In foster care | * |
| Living in own home | 2,090 |
| Homeless | 0 |
* Education figures: No data available.
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.
7.9 out of 10
The law says that people with intellectual disabilities should have legal capacity and support to make decisions. There is support provided by the government to make voting accessible.
Almost all people with intellectual disabilities live in small care homes. All large institutions have been closed.
Some adults with intellectual disabilities live with their family. Very few live in their own place. The government provides some support to families. Disability benefits go directly to the person with disability.
Most children with intellectual disabilities go to special schools, a small number go to mainstream schools. There is a national strategy towards inclusive education.
Most people with intellectual disabilities have a paid job. People do not risk losing disability benefits when they have a paid job. Some are in ‘protected employment’, which does not pay minimum wage. There are measures in place to make jobs accessible.
Almost all people with intellectual disabilities have access to healthcare. Access to sex education is poor. People with intellectual disabilities have freedom of choice on issues regarding reproductive health. By law, people with intellectual disabilities cannot be forcibly sterilised.
People with intellectual disabilities are part of the national cross-disability organisation, and there is a person with an intellectual disability on the board/ council. Throskahjalp does not receive government funding for advocacy work.
Iceland European average
When a family can no longer take care of their child with an intellectual disability, the municipality provides services. When the person has not turned 18, they go for to stay at a ‘short term stay houses’. If they are over 18, they get assistant housing.
When a person with a disability is also an immigrant, the system only provides services for one or the other. It’s like the system can’t handle both of these variables at the same time.
| Larger institutions | * |
|---|---|
| Smaller institutions | * |
| Small care homes | 814 |
| Psychiatric hospitals | * |
* Education figures: No data available.
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.