Amendments to Law 107/2010: a discrimination against deafblind people has been eliminated
by Francesco Mercurio, President of Lega del Filo d’Oro Committee for Deaf-Blind People
A bill about the law on deafblindness was recently approved, extending the right to recognition of this unique disability to those who become or are recognized as deafblind after childhood. This amendment also grants this disability true autonomy from deafness and blindness.
This concerns Article 63 of Law No. 182 of December 2, 2025, which contains “amendments to Law No. 107 of June 24, 2010, on the recognition of the rights of deafblind people.”
It seems like a purely technical issue, but, as anyone who works in the field knows, “technical issues,” in these cases, are never purely technical; they are never neutral and their effects are felt in real life.
In this specific case, this represents an important milestone for the Lega del Filo d’Oro, which fought for fifteen years to improve Law 107 of 2010 recognizing deafblindness, precisely in the same way that the legislator did in 2025.
But to understand the issue, let’s proceed in order.
Let’s start with Law No. 107 of June 24, 2010, containing “Measures for the recognition of the rights of deafblind people.”
The purpose of the law (Article 1, paragraph 1) is to “recognize deafblindness as a specific disability, based on the guidelines contained in the European Parliament’s written declaration on the rights of deafblind persons of 12 April 2004.”
It’s a law of historic significance but with limitations: the definition of specific disabilities and eligible people.
The law marked a historic moment for the Foundation, its users, and their families, establishing for the first time that, yes, deafblind people finally “exist” under the Italian legal system as well; that deafblindness is a unique specific disability.
Yet that fundamental provision, a long-awaited goal and a milestone in the history of our founding, was not without problems.
In particular, two issues immediately came to light following the entry into force of the final text of the law, a compromise between the various political forces and different interests.
The first was a clear and obvious contradiction in the definition of deafblindness. While, as we have seen, Article 1 defines deafblindness as “a unique disability, based on the guidelines contained in the European Parliament’s written declaration on the rights of deafblind persons of 12 April 2004,” just below, Article 2, paragraph 1, states instead that “For the purposes of Article 1, deafblind persons are defined as those who are distinctly recognized as having both impairments, on the basis of the legislation in force, regarding civil deafness and civil blindness.”
In this way, it openly contradicts the declaration of the European Parliament – which the law is intended to be inspired by – which establishes that deafblindness is, indeed, a unique specific disability – but that it is “distinct” from deafness and blindness”, as Law 107/2010 itself adds in the first paragraph of its Article 3, and then concludes, once again contradicting itself, “that they compose it”.
The second critical issue concerns the number of people who can be recognized as deafblind. In fact, pursuant to Law 107/2010, as written before the new law came into force, to be recognized as deafblind, a person had to meet the requirements for recognition of civil deafness and civil blindness.
It seemed like a common-sense rule, but there was a problem. Infact, in Italy, while a person who loses their sight, regardless of the stage in life at which it occurs—from 0 to 100 years of age— it will always be recognized as “civilly blind,” a person who loses their hearing after the end of developmental age—or who is recognized as such after this event—pursuant to and for the purposes of Law No. 381 of May 26, 1970 (as amended by Law No. 95 of February 20, 2006) that person is not recognized as deaf, but rather as a civilly disabled person, thus falling into a macro-category that includes all disabilities—from motor to cognitive—that are not civilly deaf or blind. The result is paradoxical: many people, including myself, president of the Committee for Deafblind People, and a huge portion of the members of the Committee, did not fall within the definition of deafblind people pursuant to and for the purposes of Law No. 107 of 24 June 2010.
And the legislator remedied these two critical issues with Article 63 of Law No. 182 of 2 December 2025, containing “Amendments to Law No. 107 of 24 June 2010, on the recognition of the rights of deafblind people.
The following changes have been made
a) in Article 1, paragraph 1, after the words “single specific” the following is inserted: “distinct from the sum of hearing and vision impairments”;
b) in Article 2:
1) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
“1. For the purposes of this law, deafblind persons are defined as those with long-term total or partial combined impairments of vision and hearing, whether congenital or acquired, which, in interaction with various barriers, lead to difficulties in orientation and mobility and in accessing information and communication, hindering full and effective participation in various life contexts on an equal basis with others.”
2) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
2. Deafblind people are entitled to receive unified financial benefits based on the requirements set forth in the legislation in force regarding civil blindness and civil deafness. In the cases referred to in Article 3, paragraph 2, second sentence, in which the lasting hearing impairment is acquired after the age of development, deafblind persons are entitled to receive unified financial benefits based on the requirements set forth in the legislation in force regarding civil blindness and civil disability. Deafblind people are also entitled to receive unified benefits from any other benefits received for the condition of civil deafness, civil blindness, and civil disability, respectively, provided by the National Institute of Social Security (INPS).
c) in Article 3:
1) in paragraph 1, in the first sentence, the words: “of both disabilities” are replaced by the following: “of disabilities” and, in the third sentence, the words: “of civil blindness and civil deafness” are replaced by the following: “of civil blindness, civil deafness, and civil invalidity”;
2) In paragraph 2, the following sentence is added after the first:
“The status of deafblind is also recognized for individuals who are certified as having civil blindness and, as a result of long-term hearing impairment, including during childhood, civil disability.”
In short, the law establishes surgically necessary amendments to Law 107/2010, exactly what the Lega del Filo d’Oro has been fought for in the last 15 years.
To be clear, it’s important to clarify that nothing will change regarding the benefits already due, which remain unchanged and were previously received on a unified basis. The law does indeed refer to them, but only to add to the previous rule the category of deaf-disabled civilians among those receiving unified benefits for the deaf-blind. But since the beginning, the battle that has occupied us and continues to occupy us, especially in times of crisis like these, has never been about increasing benefits (a thorny point where the Foundation’s demands would certainly have slipped disastrously), but, in the meantime, about achieving adequate recognition and services, a path that is clearly proving to be the most viable.
A starting point towards equality with other citizens.
Conclusion
We are interested in a provision which is not easy to find, as it’s part of a huge legislative provision that touches on several heterogeneous matters, such as Law No. 182 of December 2, 2025, containing “Provisions for the simplification and digitalization of procedures relating to economic activities and services for citizens and businesses.” Better known by its unofficial name, the “Simplification Law-bis,” it’s located precisely in Chapter II of Title III, which contains “Simplification Measures in Healthcare Matters.”
Getting it, if you don’t know exactly what to look for and where to look, can be challenging; it requires skill, tenacity, and a modicum of patience, even when using search engines and perhaps even artificial intelligence. In this, I found, albeit in a small way, a perfect metaphor for the journey that led our foundation, with skill and tenacity, through patient and constructive dialogue with all institutions, to achieve this victory.
This is a significant victory, certainly worth celebrating, but without too resting on our laurels. Soon, we’ll see the implementing measures, the INPS circulars that will give substance to the new law, and the specific services that, based on Law 107/2010, must be activated but have not yet been.
Making predictions about the future of this law is difficult; everything will depend on its implementation. We’ll need to see, first, how INPS will implement it and translate this recognition into operating instructions for its certifying physicians. Then we’ll have to see whether the specific services envisaged by Law 107/2010 will finally be activated.
This goal is certainly an important milestone, but it is only a starting point towards, hopefully, greater inclusion of people with deafblindness in our nations’s life, on an equal basis with other citizens.