Literal question
Resident Population (Present and Absent)
[Questions P09 to P12 were asked of the resident population.]
P10 Type of major disability or handicap
[This code is a concatenated code with 2nd adding]
[] 1 Blind
[] 2 Deaf
[] 4 Mute
[] 8 Disability in lower limbs
[] 16 Disability in upper limbs
[] 32 Multiple disability
[] 64 Other
[] No disability or handicap
Interviewer instructions
Column P10: Type of major disability
One of the goals of the census is to produce statistics related to handicapped people which will serve as the government's basis in developing the nation's social policies. The central variable in determining if a person is handicapped is "Type of major disability." According to the International Classification on Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (Classification International des Déficiences, Incapacités et Handicaps (CIDIH)) of the World Health Organization, "a handicap is the disadvantage for an individual resulting from an impairment or disability which limits that individual in fulfilling/exercising what would be considered a normal role for him/her, taking into account age, sex and socio-cultural factors.
An impairment is any loss or abnormality of a structure or a psychological, physiological or anatomical function. A disability is all loss or absence, due to an impairment, of the ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being."
[p. 41]
Defined in this way, the scope of handicaps is broad, and it is for this reason that for the purposes of the census the National Census Bureau has limited it to a certain number of broad categories of the following visible disabilities: complete blindness, complete deafness, being maimed, impairment of upper limbs, impairment of lower limbs, mental impairment. For all of the handicaps not mentioned above, the National Census Bureau provides for grouping them into a single group called "Other Disabilities." Thus it is possible to distinguish between people who are "handicapped" and those who are not in a given population.
If one counts carefully, the variable "Type of major disability," has 8 modalities/possibilities. An individual can be at the same time deaf, mute and blind, for example, and display several disabilities. Thus for each possible response there is a small box [in] which you should mark an "x" if the person displays the corresponding handicap. Otherwise, do not write anything in the box. The 8 modalities/possibilities are as follows:
1) Av: Blind (completely blind)
2) So: Deaf (completely deaf)
3) Mu: Mute (completely mute)
4) IMI: Impairment in one or both upper limbs
5) IMS: Impairment in one or both lower limbs
6) DM: Mental impairment
7) Aut: Other handicap
8) SH: No handicap
Example 1:
Case of a blind person
Av X
So
IMS
IMI
MU
DM
AUT
SH
/ / /
Example 2:
Case of a person with one eye and one arm
Av
So
IMS X
IMI
MU
DM
AUT X
SH
/ / /
Example 3:
Case of a normal person
Av
So
IMS
IMI
MU
DM
AUT
SH X
/ / /
When the person being enumerated is in front of you, it is possible to see if he/she is blind, deaf, mute, disabled or not during the interview. As a result your approach and the type of questions you should ask are largely determined by the circumstances of the interview.
A very easy question, one which is perhaps a little too lengthy and might often give rise to smiles, is to ask a series of 7 questions to verify if the person being enumerated is affected or not in each of the 7 categories of handicap mentioned in the questionnaire. If all of the responses are negative, all of the corresponding boxes should remain empty, and the person is normal, so put an "x" in the box corresponding to "no handicap" (SH).
