Brazil bill to recognise Tourette syndrome as a disability goes to President Lula

Brazil’s Senate has sent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a bill that would recognise people diagnosed with Tourette syndrome as disabled people under Brazilian law, according to O Tempo. The bill went for presidential approval on Tuesday 10 November. It now needs only his signature to become law.

What the bill would change

O Tempo reports that the bill recognises Tourette as a disability for all legal purposes. In practice, people with Tourette could get access to:

• places reserved for disabled candidates in concursos públicos, the competitive exams Brazil uses to recruit people into public-sector jobs
• welfare benefits (benefícios assistenciais)

The recognition works as a bridge. According to O Tempo, it applies until Brazil finishes regulating the official tools used to assess disability.

A change made in the Senate

The Chamber of Deputies, Brazil’s lower house, had added a condition. People would have needed a “biopsychosocial” assessment before getting the new rights. This is a wider assessment that looks at a person’s life and circumstances, not only their diagnosis.

On Tuesday, the Senate’s Human Rights Committee removed that condition. The bill’s rapporteur, Senator Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), is the senator responsible for steering it through. She argued that the requirement could stop people using the rights in the bill while the assessment itself has still not been regulated.

She said that keeping the solution in the original text would make sure the protection works in practice until the assessment is fully regulated. She also spoke about who the change is for:

“Behind the legal discussion are people and families who live every day with the barriers imposed by Tourette syndrome.”

That quote is our translation from the Portuguese, as reported by O Tempo.

What happens next

Lula has three options. He can sign the bill in full, sign it with some parts vetoed, or veto it entirely. If he signs it, the law must then be formally promulgated and published in the Diário Oficial da União, Brazil’s official government gazette. O Tempo did not report when a decision is expected.

About Tourette syndrome

O Tempo explains that Tourette involves several involuntary motor tics and at least one vocal tic. Motor tics can be things like grimacing or sudden movements. Vocal tics can be repeated sounds or words. Tourette usually appears in childhood or adolescence. It often occurs alongside other neurodivergent conditions, including ADHD, OCD and autism.

The paper notes that Tourette does not affect cognitive ability, but it can affect social and working life. It says some people with tics feel discomfort and embarrassment, which can add to social anxiety.

Why it matters

The biggest change for people with Tourette in Brazil is that a diagnosis alone could be enough to reach concrete protections. They would not have to wait for an assessment system that is not yet in place. Senator Alves’s argument, as reported by O Tempo, was that a missing assessment process should not be what keeps people from rights the law intends to give them.

Whether a diagnosis should be enough to unlock support, or whether people should face a wider assessment first, is a question disabled and neurodivergent people in many countries will recognise. Brazil’s decision now rests with the President.

This piece summarises reporting by O Tempo. Read the original article for the full story.