CERTIFICACIÓN DE LA DISCAPACIDAD INFANTIL: DESMITIFICANDO UN MODELO MÉDICO QUE SE PRETENDE PASADO, Y UN MODELO SOCIAL QUE SE DICE VIGENTE

Abstract

This paper analyses the debates and tensions regarding the
criteria and practices implemented by the evaluation boards in the city
of Buenos Aires to certify disability in children and youth, particularly
children with mental disorders. The common myth that the Argentinian
State adopted a social model of disability is discussed, focusing on how the
professionals question the validity of this idea. The research was based on an ethnographic approach, and field work was carried out in the Integral
Centre for Evaluation and Orientation for Disabled People.
Within this context, the study of this public institution leads us
to a discussion about the concept of State itself, given the heterogeneous
institutional actors involved in the certification. It is argued that the
reification of the State contributes to objectify certain routinised practices
and criteria, and that the professionals’ critiques are part of a dispute for its
demystification.