10 years ago we said yes to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities
is very important.

We call it the CRPD for short!

The CRPD is a document
that shows the rights
of people with disabilities.

People with disabilities include
people with autism.

“Rights” mean things you can
and cannot do.

The United Nations
wrote the document.

The United Nations harmonizes
the actions of countries
around the world.

The CRPD says that
people with disabilities have
the same rights as other people.

In December 2010,
the European Union ratified
the CRPD.

The European Union is a group
of 27 countries in Europe.

To “ratify” means that the European agreed
to follow the rules in the Convention.

It means that the European Union
said yes to the things
in the Convention.

It was a very important moment!

Today all 27 countries
of the European Union
have said yes to the CRPD.

This means that now
all countries in the European Union
agree to what the CRPD says.

Autism-Europe works together with other organisations
to see if the European Union follows the rules of the CRPD.

We try to make sure
the European Union really respects
people with disabilities.

We want people with disabilities
to do the same things
as other people.