Did you know that almost 15% of the world’s population lives with a disability. That is around 1 billion people! You add caregivers of the disabled people and the number easily doubles or triples. It is the world’s largest minority group.

And yet, much needs to be done even today to ensure that people with disabilities are treated with dignity and are recognized for their abilities and their disabilities. Across the globe – developing or developed countries, people living with disabilities continue to face discrimination, marginalization, exclusion and inaccessibility.

In 1992, the UN, designated December 3^rd, as the International Day of People With Disabilities. This year’s theme for IDPD is “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world”

While this is just one day of a calendar year, it symbolizes the actions we should take every day, in order to create diverse and accepting communities. To mark this day, I have organised a blog hop to spread awareness and empathy to make this world a more inclusive space. Twenty Four bloggers from across India and beyond have come together to share their perspective with us and you will get a new insight every day for the next 24 days! Our bloggers include persons with disabilities, people who are caregivers to persons with disabilities and those that are passionate about the subject. We all come together with one aim – “Let’s make this world a more inclusive place”. Please do read our blogs and share them as far and wide as possible!

This blog hop is being done in collaboration with Bookosmia who have been kind enough to present a copy of their pioneering book “Not That Different” to the blog hop participants. Have a look at their website and purchase a copy of your own!

Meet and read the bloggers – each with their own experiences and perspectives! Keep and eye on this space and come back to read a fresh new perspective every day, for the next 24 days! Starts on 3rd December! You can access all the blogs in one place as you scroll down!

Blog Roll!!!

Day 1. 3rd December. Blogger Sakshi Varma talks about the importance of inclusion, range of disabilities, types of exclusion and what each of us can do to make this world a more inclusive place. https://tripleamommy.com/2022/12/03/idpd2022-what-is-the-need-to-talk-about-inclusion-anyway/

Day 2. 4th December. Blogger Svetha shares her perspective on the lives of para athletes and gives an insight into their achievements as well as the challenges they face. Read the post here. https://oofya.blogspot.com/2022/12/play-sport-form-community-offline-and_4.html

Day 3. 5th December. Ever wondered how someone with crutches gets into their jeans? Or how someone with spastic limbs buttons up their shirt or trousers? Or how do they even fit inside our small trial rooms with their wheelchairs? Or how does a visually impaired person read the size on the clothing label? I am sure for most of us, these thoughts haven’t even crossed our minds. But there are 1 Billion people on this planet who are forced to worry about these issues.

Read Shivangi’s post Fashion, Friendship, and Footloose: a Saga of Clothes, People and Disability.

Day 4. 6th December. Blogger Jeannine shares simple ways in which we can become more mindful and also raise their children to be empathetic. Read the blog here. https://mommywithagoal.com/2022/12/06/indifference-in-a-world-full-of-difference/

Day 5. 7th December. Blogger Ranjeeta talks about disability stereotypes and how they can be damaging because they lead to prejudice, discrimination, and exclusion. Read her post https://rntalksllp.com/disability-stereotypes-why-do-they-matter/

Day 6. 8th December. Blogger Mayura Amarkant reviews ways to make the world more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. Click on the link to read her thoughts. https://diaryofaninsanewriter.com/2022/12/08/lets-make-this-world-more-accessible-and-inclusive-for-disabled-persons/

Day 7. 9th December. “A growing realisation for me over the years has been that if we were to rate ourselves on the a scale, with ability and disability at two ends of the spectrum, we will find ourselves somewhere in between, sliding across the scale at different points in time. “, says Jayapadma RV, and the simplicity and truth of this statement stunned me. I wondered why I never thought of this before. Please click the link below for an incisive take on life’s binaries and shades, inclusion and exclusion.

https://jayapadma.medium.com/beyond-the-binary-of-ability-and-disability-a01ba3127716

Day 8. 10th December. Read blogger Sachin’s interesting take on parenting and investing! Father of a special needs child, Sachin has found that being inclusive is good for everyone in the ecosystem. In his parenting experience, he found some great similarities between the principles of sound investing and good parenting. Needless to say he is reaping rich dividends in both cases! Click the link for more! https://shlokabiity.blogspot.com/2022/12/pursuit-of-happiness.html

#IDPDbloghop2022

Day 9. 11th December. Blogger sister duo Meenal and Sonal, take inspiration from nature as they talk about inclusion. Indeed, nature is a beautiful example of diversity and inclusion as every species has its place to flourish. In fact, Meenal and Sonal correctly observe that, “The more diverse the ecosystem, the more its capability to survive any calamities and disturbances as each resource of nature balances each other. “

Read the post to see how we can learn from nature and become more inclusive. https://www.auraofthoughts.com/2022/12/do-we-mirror-diverse-inclusive-nature.html

Day 10. 12th December. Blogger Sivaranjini Anandan takes us through the inspiring lives of Muniba mazari and Nicholas James Vujuvic to remind us that challenges will come our way in one form or another, but it is important how challenge and overcome them.

Do read ahead to see what she has to say https://thethankyoublogger.com/you-can-be-an-inspiration-despite-your-disability/

Day 11. 13th December. Blogger Tina Sequeira shares her own story of living with disability albeit invisible and how it is sometimes tougher to deal with the stereotypes related to invisible disability. You ‘look’ normal, hence expected to ‘behave’ normal. And finally she shared her learning, that she had to accept her own condition first, and not be ashamed, and then the world follow. Something, which applies to all of us.

Do read her story as there is a lot for everyone to learn from it. https://thetinaedit.com/we-are-not-okay-and-thats-okay/

Day 12. 14th December. Blogger Akanksha Sharma gets into the psyche of ‘abled’ persons and how their own subconscious guilt often dictates how they behave around persons with disability. She has even coined her own term for it – ‘power guilt!. Do read on to see her very interesting (and accurate) perspective!

An abled person’s ‘guilty’ oerspective

Day 13. 15th December. Blogger Sreevas Munnoolam talks about how literature and media have shaped common stereotypes around disability which have seeped into common parlance. It is time now to see beyond them and accept and understand people as they are. https://eraofillumination.wordpress.com/2022/12/15/idpdbloghop-perception-and-deception-through-literature-and-other-medias/

Day 14. 16th December. Blogger Vedalakshmi Venkatesh observes that while small steps are being taken towards disability inclusion in India, those with #invisibledisabilities are still a long way away from support infrastructure and societal awareness and empathy. Read her post here. https://tripleamommy.com/2022/12/16/invisible-disabilities-unseen-yet-real/

Day 15. 17th December. Blogger Shveta Mishra raises awareness about the natural treatments for people with disabilities. As an Ayurveda practitioner, she works with differently abled people and has found that natural treatments enhance the and complement the therapies and other treatments that they are undertaking. She urges parents of special needs children or differently abled adults to explore the natural methods too whether Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, Acupuncture , Reflexology etc. “The more we understand our connection with nature , easier it becomes to follow its rhythm, resulting into better quality of life whether it’s abled or differently abled”, she says. https://shveta5elements.wordpress.com/2022/12/17/natural-disabilities-can-nature-help/

Day 16. 18th December. Blogger Charu shares her personal experience of living with a disability and how often people are not able to look beyond it. From being pitied for her condition to having had her successes attributed to her disability, she has heard it all. Nevertheless, she has continued to move tirelessly towards her work and goals. Click here to see the world from her perspective. https://tripleamommy.com/2022/12/18/%e0%a4%b9%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%af-%e0%a4%ac%e0%a5%87%e0%a4%9a%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%80-oh-that-poor-thing/

Day 17. 19th December. Blogger Sreeparna Sen analyses disability and the laws around it and then compares it with the challenges on ground. Not surprisingly, she concludes that the legislation and practical application do not go together. Loopholes, contradictory laws and attitudinal barriers prove to be big barriers.

Read here for more details. https://wizardencil.com/disability-employment-and-the-challenges-idpd2022bloghop/

Day 18. 20th December. Blogger Aanchal Kapur shares a touching account of her experiences of being a caregiver to her ageing father. She raises the important topic of ‘elder disability’, something that is bound to touch us one way or the other. In her own words, ” Let’s talk about elders’ disability, let’s talk about being daughters and sons to ageing parents, and let’s talk about accessibility, inclusion and ‘unconditional love’.”

Read here for more: https://genderbender1.blogspot.com/2022/12/challenge-to-change-elder-disability.html

Day 19. 21st December. Blogger Mugdha Kalra raises the important distinction between special schools and inclusive schools. As a parent which one should we choose for our child. in her own experience she has found that her neuro diverse child is getting the right kind of attention and environment in a special school which he might not have had in an ‘inclusive school’. The post was a sure eye opener for me and might be for you too.

Read here for more details. https://bookosmia.com/more-than-just-a-prop-on-the-stage-blog-by-mugdha-kalra-2/

Day 20. 22nd December. Blogger Archana Londhe shares her experience of raising a special needs child and takes a hard look at the world and herself. She ponders the lack of inclusivity in the world and in the same vein wonders if she herself would have been much different if not for being a mother to a child with special needs. And if even now, her parenting expectations are skewed because of her son’s disability…..

Read here to deep dive into a mother’s heart looking for answers that are not easy to come by…

How different am I?

Day 21. 23rd December. Today we hear from another mother. Blogger Shivani Dhillon talks about how her parenting journey with daughter Shreya has taken her on a spiritual path and how she has had a chance to rediscover life.

Read here for more details. https://bookosmia.com/disability-a-catalyst-for-spiritual-awakening-blog-by-shivani-dhillon/

Day 22. 24th December. Blogger Prachi a.ka. Pragun shares about her understanding of disability through her father who was half paralysed. She goes on to talk about how this experience taught her a lot about acceptance and how she started her journey in supporting the visually impaired. It began with recording audio tales for the visually impaired and now she has started a podcast of stoires called ‘Tale-a-Katha’ for those who can’t read these stories themselves and dont have anyone to read to them either. Kudos to her and we wish her all the best in this journey!

Read here for more details. https://praguntatwa.com/my-experience-with-ability-in-disability/

Day 23. 25th December. Blogger Nidhi Mishra talks about the importance of starting young. She rightly questions, “Can an ‘inclusion switch’ be turned on in people as they grow up?” Diversity and inclusion sound good but wouldn’t it be more organic if children grow up knowing about diversity and inclusion in schools and colleges while 6, 12, 16 instead of hearing it for the first time as a hiring manager – she argues. And I agree.

Read here for more details and also learn about the first ever ‘Stories for Inclusion’ Festival held by Bookosmia- India’s No.1 publisher ‘for kids, by kids’. https://bookosmia.com/understanding-neurodiversity-and-inclusion-must-start-in-childhood-blog-by-nidhi-mishra/

Day 24. 26th December. Blogger Manas Mukul talks about how inadequate is our country’s infrastructure for the disabled – whether it is government offices or the railways or public transport or basically most places. He painfully recounts how his uncle had to carry his disabled grandmother on his back, when she wanted to visit her hometown.

Read here for more. https://www.manasmukul.com/my-experience-with-disability/

Day 25. 27th December. Blogger Aditi, talks about depiction of neurodiverse characters in media and reviews the Netflix hit show Extraordinary Attorney Woo where the titular character is a brilliant rookey attorney who is on the autism spectrum. Read more here: https://bookosmia.com/netflix-extraordinary-attorney-woo-review-by-aditi/

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Regards, Sakshi aka tripleamommy
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