Friday, 14 February 2014

Understanding Disability

Disability is one condition that elicits diverse reaction when discussed. Some see it as a karma befalling individuals who must have done evil in their past lives or in time past, necessitating their present incapacitation. People in this bracket see disable people as sub-humans and dissuasion is placed on relation with challenged people. This is a result of believe that their “misfortune” could be transferred by association. Some other people are non-chalant to the disability issue, and simply view the condition with apathy. This category association with disable persons is merely tolerated. Few embrace disable people with open hand as humans, who aspire for greater things but are in certain ways limited by conditions constraining maximum making usage of body parts in their daily activities.
Disability Works Australia summarised disability “as a condition which may restrict a person's mental, sensory, or mobility functions to undertake or perform a task in the same way as a person who does not have a disability”.
This does not mean that a person with a disability is unable to perform all the important requirements of a job and exceed the expectations of their employer.
Disabilities affect people in different ways. Many people associate the 'disabled' with someone who is in a wheelchair, or who is blind or deaf. They have the attitude that people with a disability are totally different and therefore need to be treated differently. Unfortunately, this kind of stereotyping is in itself a form of discrimination.
People with a disability come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colours, sex and cultures - just as we all do. The only thing that separates a person with a disability is that, for one reason or another, they are unable to do certain things in the same way as the mainstream of society. They may require some form of adaptation or alteration to assist them to overcome the effect of their disability.
A person's disability is always specific to that person.
A Disability is generally a condition either caused by accident, trauma, genetics or disease, which may restrict a person's mental processes, senses or mobility  http://www.dwa.org.au/
Disability is NOT attributable to Karma.. It’s a condition that that deserve equal human right like others in the society.
Who are people with disability?
Disability is part of human diversity. One in ten people in Nigeria, almost 14 million people, have a disability and this proportion is increasing with the active and ageing population because of insecurity, poor infrastructure, non-existent emergency service etc.  People with disability purchase consumer goods, have jobs, go on holidays, access information and do all of the things that people without disability do.  The only difference is that often people with disability come up against significant barriers while trying to do the things that many take for granted.
Types of disability
The majority of people with disability have a physical disability, while others have mental and behavioural disability.
Disability is categorized as fellows:
Physical - affects a person's mobility or dexterity
Intellectual - affects a person's abilities to learn
Mental Illness - affects a person's thinking processes
Sensory - affects a person's ability to hear or see
Neurological – affects the person’s brain and central nervous system,
Learning disability
Physical disfigurement or
Immunological -the presence of organisms causing disease in the body
To be deemed a disable, the impairment or condition must impact daily activities, communication and/or mobility .
People with disability are part of every section of our community: men, women, and children; employers and employees; students and teachers; indigenous and non-indigenous; customers; and citizens.  No two people with the same disability experience their disability in the same way.
The only thing that distinguishes a person with disability is they may require some form of adaptation/adjustment to enable them to do certain things in the same way as people in the mainstream of society.

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