“The only disability
in life is a bad attitude”—Scott Hamilton
When we think of the word
“Disability “, we generally form a mental picture of a person on a wheelchair.
But we need to understand that there is a spectrum of disabilities, including
physical, intellectual, visual, hearing and psychology. Disability is not
impairment itself but rather it is attitudes and environmental barriers that
often result in disability. Disability therefore is a social issue. Research
indicates that societal attitudes and behaviours towards person with
disabilities impact their lives and continue to do so leading to them having
negative and devaluing experiences, including bullying, harassment, isolation,
rejection, segregation, lack of relationships as well as lack of control over
their lives.
Can something be done to prevent
this kind of ostracism faced by people with different needs? Such social stigma
and discrimination can be combated, for example, through direct personal contact
and through social marketing. The need of the day is to bring about some
legislative and societal changes and its proper implementation. And more
importantly, what is required is a change in the societal attitudes towards
people with disability.
We need to understand that people
with disabilities want to be recognized for their abilities, not their
disabilities. And Man is God’s creation. And it is the responsibility of every
human being to respect God’s creation. It is the duty of each one of the citizens
to work towards bringing about a change in the attitudes of the people towards
persons with disabilities, so as to make the atmosphere more conducive, and
thereby to make the world a better abode for them to reside in. While we may
have a long way to go in this direction, each one of us needs to take a pledge
to make a beginning.
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