Today’s guest post is by Sindhura Gaddepalli. She is an Electrical Engineer by education and a mom of 2 lovely kids. A special parent counsellor by profession, she provides strategies and IEP support for special needs parents, currently pursuing masters in Autism and severe multiple disabilities from Adelphi university.
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Inclusion is a practice or policy providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who have either “physical” or “hidden disabilities”. “Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it is not there.”
Globally one in six of us live with a disability i.e., approximately 1.3 billion people. While some of us experience a disability that is “visible”, many have a “non-visible condition” called Hidden Disabilities or experience a combination of both visible and non-visible conditions.
These disabilities can be temporary, situational, and permanent. They can be Neurological, Cognitive and Neuro developmental as well as physical, visual, auditory and include sensory processing difficulties. They also include, ASD, ADHD, cerebral palsy, PDD, Asperger’s, Anxiety, Sleep disorders and many more.
Challenges faced by persons with disabilities
The disability model is classified into medical and social. The medical model says that a disabled person is a problem whereas the social model says that the barriers within the society are the problem. Social model emphasizes on understanding and accommodating strengths, abilities, and perspectives of individuals with disabilities. It acknowledges lack of accommodation which are physical and environmental barriers. Information and communication barriers, classroom barriers, attitudinal barriers.
Making the world more inclusive
We need to eradicate barriers so that the persons with disabilities can thrive and achieve their dreams. To make the world more inclusive, following can be done:
- Accessible fitting rooms
- Accessible parking spaces
- Accessible toilets
- Assistive listening
- Audio description
- Braille
- Changing places toilet
- Companion or Career access
- Large font/print
- Level access in elevators
- Quiet hour/sensory breaks
- Safe space
- Seating
- Sign Language
- Step-free access
Also, we can offer quick help to co-regulate with the persons having disabilities as follows:
A person with disabilities is much more than the challenges that are too often used to define them. It is a serious problem that many individuals grow up regularly hearing about what their problems are. It can have a detrimental effect on how they see themselves. Despite many strengths, they often experience poor outcomes in education, employment, independence, community engagement and interpersonal relationships because their strengths get neglected.
It is the “time for change” that we support individuals with difficulties to help to grow and get better outcomes. They become the most productive if allowed to self-organize in teams by building up confidence. They are truly worthy of “dignity” and “acceptance” just the same way the persons without disabilities are embraced and accepted in the society.
On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities – IDPD day 2023, let each and every one of us take a pledge that all the individuals are same and equal irrespective of their disabilities (either visible or non-visible) and overcome the thought that “people with disabilities as a model of deficit” to considering and accepting them as people with unique/unusual interests and optimal learning capabilities.
Let us make the world more “Inclusion Diversified”.
This post is a part of “International Day of Persons with Disability” blog hop hosted by Sakshi Varma – Tripleamommy. #IDPD2023Bloghop. Access all posts of this bloghop at Championing Diversity, Uniting Voices: Commemorating IDPD Together
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Regards, Sakshi aka tripleamommy
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