Self Advocates Training Workshop

 When Pranita Madkaikar invited me to experience' the self-advocate training workshop' that she was conducting, I was only too happy to accept. I had heard about this 5 weeks workshop that she and Charu Shah were organizing for special students/ mentors and was curious to know how the children had benefited from this program.

I reached the SBP, Centre for mentally challenged school at CBD and the session was on. The children were introducing themselves and the theme was ‘Voting and Elections’.

A group of about eight children (in the mock elections) sat together facing the audience. Each child was given a chance to make a speech; they tried to make promises like leaders, trying to express their will to bring about change when they were elected.

This exercise might be very easy for a normal child who is creative and spontaneous, but with special child it was an effort, it is tough when the thought process and the speech are not synchronized togather. Each child struggled to get his idea across, for a Cerebral Palsy child, the speech was slow and slurred and it was difficult to understand as she struggled with every word. Some just spoke few sentences and some just made few sounds, then there were some who were able to give a speech in 5-6 sentences but the remarkable point was that all children willingly took the mike to say something. Nobody was conscious about speaking on the mike.

That was followed by all children standing in queue, registering for the election, staining the finger, taking the printed paper with the picture of the contestants, standing behind the booth, stamping on the desired picture and dropping their vote in the ballot box.

The whole process was done so efficiently that one could never guess that how much effort and training was involved for them to be able to perform such an act with so much confidence and discipline.

When the children registered for this training, most of the children had no confidence to speak freely.

Hands-on corporate style training was imparted on important self advocacy skills like

• 1. Developing self esteem
• 2. Identifying ones strengths and limitations.
• 3. Listening
• 4. Getting to know each other
• 5. Making choices
• 6. Working together
• 7. Problem solving
• 8. Leadership
• 9. Public speaking
• 10. Reporting abuse
• 11. Health & Hygiene

Different games were played during the sessions to help children interact with each other. Different teaching aids like colored beads, musical instruments, kitchen utensils, picture postcards, fresh fruits and vegetables, and things used in daily life activities were used during the program.

The trainer would explain the activity, the members would be divided into groups, the trainer would pose a problem, children would be encouraged to find a solution, they would later have discussion and interaction in understanding the problem.

The member were encouraged to recollect activities held during the day and were encouraged to relate the learning from the activities

Remarkable positive changes were observed in the confidence levels and expressive abilities of all the self advocates.

The Navi Mumbai & Raigad Chapter of the SASI was officially launched on 21st October, 2011.

23 Adults with Intellectual disabilities from 7 Organizations from Navi Mumbai and Raigad took part in this program. These self advocates underwent a formal 5 week training for this purpose.

These weekly full day training programs conducted at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan Special School, Belapur and Skills & Ability Special School, Nerul from 17th September to 15th October, 2011, were planned and conducted by Ms. Charu Shah and Ms. Pranita Madkaikar. 7 mentors (one from each of the participating Organizations) and three Volunteers were also an integral part of this training.

Formal elections were conducted and 6 Office Bearers and 2 members elected by the self advocates from amongst themselves took charge of the Navi Mumbai & Raigad Chapter of SASI from 21st October, 2011. The Mentors will continue to be with the team as facilitators, with the self advocates deciding the roadmap for the future. The volunteers too will help the team by maintaining liaison with external agencies.

Funding for operational expenses of this project is being provided by the Maharashtra Chapter of PARIVAAR (PARIVAAR SAHYADRI) and the Parents association of Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan Special School, Belapur. PARIVAAR is a National level Federation of associations of parents of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

SASI (Self-Advocates Society of India) is an NGO that pledges to open up a world of opportunity for people with developmental disabilities by educating its members, families and supporters, and the general public on the abilities of people with developmental/intellectual disabilities.

• - Communities will profit from the contributions of hard working citizens.
• - Families will benefit from the inclusion of their loved ones into their communities.
• - People with developmental disabilities will grow, building their self-respect and confidence in their ability to succeed.

All the children who took part in this program were given the certificate of participation

Joys and Challenges of Teaching Mentally Challenged

It is time for games. Each person is given one chit containing the name of the animal. At the sound of the whistle, the participants unfold the chit and make a sound of the animal searching for similar sounds. Whole room is filled with different sounds, some baying, some mooing, some quacking and some barking, within 2 minutes one group has found the family of four meowing cats and is the winner. The winners are the staff of a special school and the game organisers are the parents of special children. Celebration of teacher’s day is in progress and special children are having fun watching their teachers running around making strange sounds.

Teachers around the world celebrate 5th September as teacher’s day. The birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakhrishnan came to be celebrated as Teacher's Day when, one day, some of his students and friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday. In reply, Dr. Radhakrishnan said, "instead of celebrating my birthday separately, it would be my proud privilege if September 5th is observed as Teacher's day". From then onwards, Dr. Radhakrishnan's birthday is observed as Teacher's Day all across India.

The greatest joy is when children show their appreciation to their teachers by singing their favorite song, reciting a poem or giving a rose. But teaching a special child has a joy of its own.

“You experience the purest form of love when working with the special children”, says Sukanya Venkatraman, the Principal of Swami Brahmamnand Pratishthan, Centre for Special children. “They are the most innocent beings that I have come across in my life. They are totally selfless and I have had the opportunity of learning the concept ‘Love without any expectation’ while teaching them. Their genuine appreciation, their thoughtful gestures fill me with wonder.”

In the early years, during her training period, Sukanya was scared to teach the children with severe behavior problems and had no idea how she would handle that, but experience over the years have helped her overcome her initial fear and apprehensions. “More than handling the behavior problems of the children, handling their parents is more challenging.” She says. “Helping them accept their child’s handicap and making them believe in themselves and in their child took the utmost effort. Most challenging is finding the job placement for our well-trained students.”

Swami Brahamanand Pratishthan was founded in June 1990 by Shirish Poojari with just two children. Over the period of twenty years, the school has progressed considerably and has 150 students on its roll. “I am happy to see the development in the children, and see their progress in daily life activities”, says Shirish Poojari, “In our institution, children are trained according to their ability and our goal is make them economically independent but our biggest challenge is funding and keeping the school afloat. When the children are older we are not able to keep them in school for long and there is need for some residential home where they could be looked after and work in the sheltered workshops.”

“My greatest joy is when they bring home the certificate of appreciation, I love working with special children, when I reach home at the end of the day, I am refreshed and active” says Madhuben Shah, the drawing teacher. “I want them to bring out their artistic expression through their painting. My biggest challenge is making them focus to attain near perfection by drawing and painting.” Madhuben teaches drawing starting with basic strokes, graduating to more complex designs. One of their paintings was appreciated by my friend from US and she bought it on line. The children also make beautiful greeting cards and colorful posters.

“Being in their company and working with them is a joy itself” says Sunit Marwah, who is in charge of the vocation unit since last five years. There are various activities in the vocational unit such as making paper-bags, Rakhis, lamps, toran, pillow covers, duster, hand-bags, beaded jewelry, chocolates, ground masalas, etc which are later sold during exhibitions and children are given little stipend for their work. “I like to see the joy on their face on completing a certain articles and this gives me the greater joy. My biggest challenge is taming an aggressive child.” She talks about one particular child, Rohini, who was so aggressive when she came to school, she would throw temper tantrum, fling things and create commotion in school, but with little understanding and love, she has been able to discipline the girl.

“When I came to teach the special children I didn’t know what was expected of me” says 43-old Anita, who has been teaching computers to the special children since last 11 years. “Now-a-days there is wealth of information on internet and it has become easy to plan a proper lesson program and follow the particular format but during those days there were no proper reference books and I had to adopt trial and error methods to understand what works and what doesn’t. My biggest challenge is when the children are not in the mood of doing a particular activity and I am forced to steer my activity to their liking, sometimes I am not sure if the child is hearing and understanding me at all. But my greatest joy is when they are able to follow my instructions and produce good results.” She proudly talks about her student who had won the competition at state level on art work produced on computer.

While teaching a normal child is a challenge, teaching a special child is double challenge. Teaching special children involves parents, social workers, society members and other professionals. It is the continuous process. The children tend to forget easily and they have to be taught again and again till the child is able to understand the concept and use it to his daily life. The simple adding and subtraction is taught in different ways to suit his level of understanding.

It is not easy for parents too.

“I always worried how my child would manage when she starts menstruating, but I am glad that she has managed quite well” says Madhu Verma, mother of 17-years-old Sneha. Sneha is Down’s Syndrome child who surprises her mother by watching ants walking in line, of running after soap bubbles and gracefully shaking her hips to the rhythm of the music. “I have learnt to appreciate her and see the world through her eyes” says she with a smile.

The biggest challenge the parents of the special child face is to plan their future. “My son is 22 years old and the extreme pressure is ‘What next?’. I worry about the guardianship after our existence, of financial investment and how these investments will guarantee their future, about the family life of my son, whether he will be able to nurture a family of his own” says Davis Ipe, father of Neil who is learning some vocation skills at school. “Most challenging is the fact that we are growing older and weaker everyday and to find the perfect substitute to replace parents is our deepest concern.”

The special child unaware of the challenges that are lined up by society, lives each day as it comes, enjoying the present moment. He is unhappy when in pain, aggressive when things go wrong and claps his hand with joy on seeing his smallest achievement. His teacher and his parents try their best to block his pain.Happy teacher’s day to his teachers and his parents!!
 
excerpts from this article can also be found on Women's Web Magazine

The joys of working for no salary

by  Raamesh Gowri Raghavan

The list of joys gained when working at a job with a salary can be detailed as follows:


1.Receipt of salary in bank account

2.Payment of dues, bills etc without late charges

3.Relied at timely payment

These are all I could envision. I have a distinct feeling that nagging bosses, unreal deadlines, conflicting ethics, family pressures, unfulfilled aspirations and suffocating compromises have a tendency to more than cancelling out these joys. Yet, the bills get paid, and that is {insert swear-word here} important.

Then comes the list of joys gained for working without a salary. It could be a bold step into entrepreneurship, or volunteering for charity. I have neither the money, nor the boldness to throw away my job (however I may itch to fling my resignation at my bosses’ faces) and start a business venture of my own. Nor do I have a great idea yet that a venture capitalist will throw money at, though I can dream of unsecured loans by a deluded investor into some grand chicken-egg-chicken-egg-chicken scheme I will think of. So all I can do is select a charity and volunteer for it.

And that, trust me, has been one of the best decisions I ever made in life. (In fact, I think it ranks second only in my decision not to marry or have kids). Five days a week I slog for an ungrateful, underpaying company (as every hard-working employee thinks s/he does), keeping the rational and calculating part of my brain active, while placing the emotional and aesthetic parts of it in a coma. On Saturdays, I switch the rational calculator off, and the emotional aesthete comes alive. I pack my bag in the morning, to catch a local train to Belapur.

For the last couple of years, I have been volunteering every Saturday at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, a school for the mentally retarded. Despite its religious-sounding name, it is not affiliated to any math or peetham or trust. It was founded by a gutsy special education teacher, Shirish Poojary, on 7th July 1990 (Guru Poornima that year), and named after her mentor, Swami Brahmanand*. I like this particular Swami for he made no effort to set up a multi-crore religious trust operating several lucrative colleges, lived in modest circumstances in Ratnagiri district, and died as unknown as he lived. His only legacy to the world is this school set up in his memory.

[A note on the phrase ‘mentally retarded’. Some of us try to be politically corrected and say ‘mentally challenged’ or ‘special children’ or ‘differentially abled’ instead. It makes no difference to the children themselves; they will never understand. Besides, it is misleading. Many have suffered, because of genetic defects or because their mother contracted some unfortunate disease while pregnant, or because there was an accident during delivery. It leaves their mental development retarded; often they remain stuck at the mental age of seven or eight for the rest of their lives. They cannot do anything special, or different, nor can they rise to the ‘challenge’. ‘Mentally retarded’ is to me the right phrase, for it immediately alerts the ‘normal’ people around them that there is a problem, and that it needs sensitivity and empathy, not political correctness.]

So what do I do in this school? I’m not qualified to teach the students anything (since I have nothing I can teach them, nor anyone else), so I do whatever is assigned to me. Some bit of blogging the school’s activities (http://sbp-pushpa.blogspot.com/), acting as photographer during school activities, and generally doing paperwork. This includes writing letters to sponsors, updating records of sponsorships, drafting other letters, and a whole lot of similar things. Which I would have considered immensely infuriating had it come with a salary attached. But since it doesn’t, it is very interesting, and gives me a great deal of happiness.

The minus side is that it is a drain on my finances. I have to spend money travelling to and fro every Saturday (and because this is me, snacking on the way). And I have taken up sponsoring half the expenses for one child’s education, which comes to Rs. 12,000 a year. But if I grudge even this, then deep inside, something within me is not human at all. And since I have no wife to be nagged by or no children whose complaints irate neighbours bring home everyday, what am I to do with my salary? After all my insurance premia and home loan EMIs, helping a child along seems like a good idea for the money. My only wish is that I could do more. Which would mean finding a job with a nastier boss, outrageous clients, meaner deadlines and tearfully boring work, because that seems to bring in higher salaries.

The plus side is that I get invited to all school dos, the teachers treat me as a friend, and the founder (Mrs. Poojary, still going strong these 21 years) is quite fond of me. That means I can get free chai and snacks at school (which over-compensates the overall effort I put in). The school dos are a real treat, for while these children cannot cheat, trick, get angry, run for election, lie, plot, complain, deceive, crib, steal or willfully inflict violence (like normal, intelligent people do all the time), they can really sing, dance and remain cheerful through thick and thin. Most Saturdays I don’t get to meet them, because they get that day off, while teachers are doing up reports, holding parent-teacher meetings etc. But the days I do get to meet them, I manage to win a smile from one or a few. That can keep my spirits going for days on end.

And then I can talk to the parents. Dealt a cruel black swan by life, knowing their child will remain a child for the rest of its life. They manage, they cope, they even redesign their lives around their child. While their normal children grow old, find jobs and get married, there is one that retains its innocence forever. One that laughs at the littlest thing, complains about nothing, and accepts its lot with the stoicism that the greatest philosophers cannot achieve. Who will live and die without knowing the evil in the world. After that, who am I to complain about a cribbaceous boss, or cryaceous juniors?

I’ve managed to recruit my parents to the cause. Which means that they do not crib when I’m off on Saturdays, do not crib about how the money could be better used (which means it be spent mostly on them, or saved up for spending on my future children), and gladly agree to do my share of the housework. Not that Saturdays are an excuse to escape the housework (since their agreeing to do housework does not mean they actually do it; it jumps on me the moment I enter the house). Lately they’ve even been willing to buy some of the things the children make.

My sister is still a great critic. That’s because she is in the line of dealing with mentally retarded children herself, and she disagrees with the vocational approach taken by the school. Though I am sure she will come around, as she knows the school better. For who will take care of a child who is abjectly poor, is too mentally retarded to do even simple things like eat its food or go to the bathroom, and to make it weven worse, is a Dalit from a roadless hamlet? It takes a great amount of effort to get them to learn even a simple skill like stringing beads.

But they have an incredible sense of beauty. I’ve seen them struggle to paste bits of paper and thread while making rakhees (which are on sale now). But the choice of colours, the patterns they make, their sense of combination and contrast is unbelievable. They seem to me the very paradigm of the ‘idiot savant’. Incredibly stupid, and yet incredibly aesthetic. A genius buried irretrievably deep by an accident of birth.

I used to think I was sensitive and could understand people. Till I started volunteering at my school. Now I know there is a lot, a great lot I have to learn. To learn to be happy knowing full well I have nothing that is truly mine. To be truly sensitive to the needs and requirements of people who are vastly different from me. To understand that there is nothing superior about me, to not patronize, to not do anything I would hate done to me.

One day I will in fact fling my resignation on my bosses’ faces and work at my school full time. But there is such a thing as a grumbling stomach. Till then, joy is confined to Saturdays. The joy of enriching work at no salary.

cross-posted at Raamesh's FB notes

Special Education Careers

Opportunities are growing in the field of special education
By Jerry Webster

The career field of Special Education is made up of more than teachers, though they make up the largest group of professionals. Special Education professionals provide a whole range of services and support to children with disabilities, from mobility, feeding and hand over hand support to physical therapy. Preparation for these jobs can be on the job training for high school graduates to specific certification programs that require Master's or Doctoral degrees.

Job opportunities in special education:

Therapeutic Support Staff: Not all people who work directly with special education need to have a degree or certification in the field. Support staff, who work as "wrap arounds" or classroom aides, work directly with children but are not required to have college degrees or certification in special education. Some college can be helpful, and because support staff do not "take their work home"--ie. plan or write reports, it is often rewarding work with little stress. Some training may be required, but the district, school or agency who employs you will provide it.

The responsibilities of the classroom aides revolve around that single student. That child may have been identified as needing "wrap around" support because of emotional, behavioral or physical needs that require individual attention. They will see that the student stays on task, and that besides supporting the student in participating appropriately in class, they also sees that the student does not disrupt the educational progress of other students. They are often provided in order to help a student stay in their neighborhood school in a general education classroom.

Classroom Aides: Most school districts provide "para-professionals" who assist special education teachers by providing instructional support to individuals or small groups of students. Hired by school districts, they may require some college education. School district will hire classroom aides to assist special education teachers, occupation therapists or in full inclusion classrooms to provide support to students with disabilities. Classroom aides may be expected to provide toileting, hygiene or hand over hand support to children with more severe disabilities. Learning support children need less direct support: they need help completing assignments, checking homework, playing drill games, or working on spelling assignments.

Special Education Teachers: Teachers are required to have at least a special education degree from a college or university. Some states provide alternate routes to certification through post baccalaureate Masters Degree programs. Some states require Masters degrees. Another requirement since passage of the latest reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is that teachers are "Highly Qualified" which requires certification in another curricular field
Occupational Therapists provide services to children and adults with disabilities, or who have suffered from brain injury, stroke, severe injury or any other injury or life event that takes away a person's ability to perform everyday tasks. They help disabled individuals acquire skills they need to cope with everyday life or find employment. They teach dressing, feeding, shoe tying and help build fine motor skills needed for handwriting, typing and other tasks needed for school. In educational settings they also help with the sensory needs of children with autistic spectrum disorders.

Occupational therapists also support students and teachers with adaptive technologies, such as adapted spoons, weighted vests (for sensory integration.) adapted pencils, computer keyboards, and on and on.


Speech Pathologists/Therapists: Speech-language pathologists or speech therapists work with special education students to assess, diagnose and treat disorders related to speech, language, cognitive communication and fluency. Many years ago, speech therapists focused on speech articulation problems such as lisps, stuttering and difficulty with r's and t's. Speech-language pathologists now focus on language disorders that effect a child's academic and life-skill functioning. They focus on pragmatics (understanding language as communication,) receptive language, augmented communication, fluency and language production. As well as working specifically with children with language difficulties, they also work with children with developmental delays and other cognitive disabilities who have difficulty producing language, understanding language or communicating.

Physical Therapists: Physical therapists (PTs) help patients, including accident victims and individuals with disabling conditions such as low-back pain, arthritis, heart disease, fractures, head injuries, and cerebral palsy, by providing services that restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities. They restore, maintain, and promote overall fitness and health. PT's also provide support for children with physical disabilities to help them with ambulation (walking or getting around in a wheel chair) and the other physical requirements of daily living.

Source :http://specialed.about.com/od/specialedcareers/a/careerspreparation.htm

New Horizon Child Development Centre (NHCDC)

NHCDC is a Centre dedicated to the optimal development of all children. NHCDC was founded by Dr. Samir Dalwai, Pediatrician with special interest in Child Development, child Psychology and Child Law, in 2003 with the vision that ‘Every child can do better”.

Testimony of a parent

“My son took treatment in NHCDC for one year and in this one year I got to know my son’s diagnosis properly. NHCDC team helped me in understanding my son’s health problem and most important their positive attitude helped me accept my son as he is. All my questions were answered here and all the doubts were patiently cleared by team and they also helped me in gaining knowledge. My son is not taking treatment from NHCDC now but still whenever I have problem I always go back to Deepti or Dr Dalwai and get my problem solved and they work as my support and as a friend., showing me that they are not working for money but they believe that every child is special and can show progress.

NHCDC for me is a remedial centre which is systematic, organized, working for the overall development of the child, very professional and at the same time has a personal touch for every child which makes the child and his parents feel at ease. It is working for every child’s treatment and is also doing the difficult task of spreading awareness about children’s problems and the right of a child to receive treatment.”

NHCDC believe and practice working together in an integrated manner with the child as focus of intervention.

NHCDC believe that

*It allows them to understand and help the child and the family in the manner most suited to them.

*It brings about regular coordination between Consultants and Therapists; thus the child gets individualized and personalized therapy.

*The therapy focuses on special needs of every child

*Child adapts faster to such an environment and cooperated better.

Services offered by NHCDC

Psychological testing and counseling
-Intelligence testing(IQ/DQ/SQ)
-Personality testing
-Parent counseling
-Behavior modification
-Aptitude test and vocational guidance.

Occupational Therapy

Physiotherapy

Speech therapy

Special education/Remediation

Pediatric Neurology

Pediatric orthopedic surgery

Diet consultation

Development enhancement programs for children

Understanding child development and child psychology (awareness program, workshops and courses for doctors, teachers, parents and school management.)

Visiting Consultants at NHCDC

Dr Atul Bhaskar
MS(Orth) FRCS (Orth) M.Ch.(Orth)
Pediatric orthopedic Surgeon and Scientific Director

Dr. Anaita Udwadia-Hegde
MD, MRCPCH. Fellow in Pediatric Neurology(London)
Pedritric Neurologist, NHCDC

Panel of Advisors at NHCDC

Dr. Y.K. Amdekar
M.D, D.C.H. Senior Pediatrician, JJ group of hospitals
Ex-president, Indian Academy of Pediatrics

Dr Anuradha Savani
Ph.D Clinical psychology, Clinical Psychologist and Reader
Department of Applied Psychology, Mumbai University

Dr Anjali Joshi
Master of Science in Occupational Therapy, Certified Sensory Integration Therapist freom University of Southern California, Lecturer and Associate professor at K.E.M hospital, Mumbai.

Dr. Mamta Manglani
M.D.D.C.H. Professor and Head of department-Pediatrics
LTMG hospital (Sion)

Sharan- A Centre for Recuperation

The society for the Rehabilitation of Paraplegics established in 1968, endeavors to rehabilitates a person, who, due to injury or disease of the spinal cord, is paralyzed from the waist downwards. Its beneficiaries, many of whom are young adults, come from the low socio-economic strata and when faced with such a tragedy they have neither the economic resources nor the support system to live a meaningful life. In the initial stage under the guidance of its founder president late Dr. K.S. Masalwala, the Orthopedic department of J.J. Hospitals.

As there was a crying need for a rehabilitation centre for the poor paralyzed patients from the government and municipal hospitals, Sharan, Smt Kamla Raheja Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1987 at Vashi, Navi Mumbai.

The paraplegics stay at the Centre on an average for 18 months. During this time they are given medical care, nutritious diet, clean living conditions, mobility aids and appliances, intensive physiotherapy, psychological counseling, sports training, occupational therapy and vocational training courses, totally free of cost.

This unique and complete approach towards rehabilitation has enabled over 753(since 1968) paraplegics to date to emerge from Sharan as strong, independent, self-sufficient members of our society. Even today it is the only Centre in India for civilian patients who have tragically become paraplegics. The design of the centre is noted for the barrier free environment which is of International standards.

National Institute Of Open Schooling ( NIOS)

NIOS is a Autonomous body, by Ministry of HRD that was set up in 1989

Mission of NIOS is to provide education to all. It has special concern for girls and women, rural youth, working men and women and all those who could not continue their education with the formal system.

The reasons to make NIOS your choice is because it has freedom to learner, it has flexibility, Relevance, teaching of choice, and recognized quality education

The features and flexibility of NIOS is that it has no age limit, it has flexible examination, you have the choice in medium of instruction and subject, it has combination of academic and vocational course and it has education of the disadvantaged group.

For the disabled person NIOS has admission through SAIED/AL, they have separate seating, they give the facility of extra time, there is facility of an amanuensis and they have project work instead of practical work.

Disability Rights

As full citizens, people with disabilities are entitled to equal rights. In their daily lives, they continuously battle exclusion and restriction to their full participation in society, facing discrimination, abuse, and poverty.

There are many types of disabilities and many degrees; visible or hidden; temporary, permanent or unpredictable; cognitive, developmental and many others. Some groups find the following definition helpful. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), defines disability as the outcome of the interaction between a person with an impairment and the environmental and attitudinal barriers one may face.

People with disabilities are entitled to equal access to education and employment, equal rights to parenthood, property ownership, political rights, and legal representation.

Presently, there is no internationally binding convention specifically devoted to the rights of people with disabilities. However, in December 2001, the General Assembly adopted resolution 56/168, establishing a committee to consider proposals for an international convention to protect and promote the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. A treaty on the rights and dignity of people with disabilities would create legally binding human rights obligations specific to the needs and situation of people with disabilities.

A human rights perspective to disability requires society, and especially governments, to actively promote the conditions for all individuals to fully realize their rights. "Reasonable accommodation" (the necessary modifications without a disproportionate burden) must be made to ensure persons with disabilities the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Accessibility is a major issue for people with mobility impairments, but the concept of universal design can create more opportunities for participation in society. Universal design is inclusive; it sees people with disabilities, older people and children, as part of - not distinct from - society.

Source: http://issues.takingitglobal.org/disability