Young people with disabilities

Not being allowed to choose what kind of work you do.  Not being allowed to apply for training or promotion.  Working in fear and hiding a disability in case anyone finds out.  A job offer disappearing when an employer hears that you have a disability.  Being offered less attractive terms and conditions of work than non-disabled people.  Other workers harassing you or calling you names because of an impairment.  Being allocated all the unpleasant tasks.  Feeling you have to work harder than other people in order to “prove” you are as good as them.  Being dismissed if you develop a disability while working.  Not being able to do your job properly because you need some minor adjustments to make your workplace easier for you to use…

 

These are just some of the everyday experiences of young people with disabilities in the workplace.  And they are the lucky ones.  In many countries unemployment among young people with disabilities is well over 80%.  Even university graduates with disabilities find it hard to get jobs.  Decent work?  Any work!  People with disabilities account for 10% of the global population (UN Enable) and make up 20% of the world’s poor, and it’s easy to see why…

 

Access to quality education, vocational training and employment are denied to millions of young people with disabilities worldwide, including here in the Asia Pacific region.  Some people justify this by saying that young people with disabilities have lower productivity than others.  Others say that young people with disabilities don’t want to work.  Another group of people believes that young people with disabilities should be shielded from the harsh ways of the world, and so should be kept out of regular workplaces for their own protection.  Lots of people say that it is too expensive to employ young workers with disabilities.  None of these statements is true, but still many young people with disabilities are denied the right to choose what they want to work at and where, or are denied the right to work at all.  And young entrepreneurs with disabilities are less likely than their non-disabled peers to be able to access credit or start-up funds…

 

The UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which came into force in 2008, aims to change all that (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: www.un.org/disabilities , Plain English version: http://tinyurl.com/360fsl). Article 27 recognises ‘the right of persons with disabilities to work, on an equal basis with others’.

 

This strand of the current Youth Net Discussion Forum aims to gather your ideas about what can and should be done to make this become a reality in the Asia Pacific region.

 

Note: By “young people with disabilities” we mean young people with mobility impairments, vision impairments, hearing impairments, intellectual impairments or mental health difficulties.

 

Discussion topics

During  the first discussion period we’re hoping to explore this question:

“To what extent are young people with disabilities considered in the debate about decent work?”

You might want to think about:

• What are the barriers and challenges that young people with disabilities face as they try to access decent work?
• Are some young people with disabilities more excluded than others?
• To what extent is the designation of “vulnerability” a help or a hindrance?
• How can young people with disabilities become more empowered?

 

After that, we’ll go on to identify:

“What changes to policy and practice are required so that young people with disabilities can access decent work?”

• What are the most pressing priorities, and for whom?
• What needs to be done to get policy-makers and decision-makers to take notice?
• What good practice is out there that we can learn from?

 

There is so little research on this topic specifically.  We know quite a bit about impairment/disability; we understand more and more about what decent work really is. But we have tended to link the two in a quite superficial way.  If I'm wrong, and others joining in this discussion have done, or know of good, solid studies available, I'd be very grateful to learn of them...  Meanwhile, as we begin this discussion, it's worth reminding ourselves that the UN/WHO actually defines 'disability' as the relationship between a person's impairment and the context/conditions in which they work and live.  For example, a sight-impaired child who has access to Braille or equivalent learning materials and trained teachers has a good chance of reading, learning, receiving knowledge and to this extent is not 'disabled' educationally; but a sight-impaired child who is somehow expected to cope in a school environment designed for children who do not have to deal with such challenges is surely 'disabled' by this misalignment of her/his needs and the services available.  SO... although our focus is obviously on the young person with an impairment, we need to keep looking closely at the responsibility of governments to ensure that the services they require and to which they have a right are provided.  I think this is relevant, too, in any discussion of 'vulnerability', because it is not necessarily the impairment that makes a young person vulnerable but the fact that services, policies, procedures, practices etc -- everything that goes to make up the young person's 'context' -- do not or insuffiently take her/his needs into consideration. 

The key to this, of course, is working out what those needs are, and in this organizations of people with disability are crucial partners. We need to work together much more closely, not in our own separate boxes, but this is in itself a challenge.  I worked for a short time, for example, on a project that involved a major organization of people with a disability, and when we set up the project we didn't even think of the logistics of inviting people in wheelchairs to meetings (not just access to a room but their specific travel needs, budgeting for someone to accompany them etc.) We have a long way to go.

One striking aspect of disability in Indonesia is the invisibility of Persons with Disability (PwDs). For instance, PwDs do not appear as such in the official statistics (BPS Susenas, Sakernas, or Annual books - I need to check in the 2000 census). Other estimates point at 3.11% of the population, while the generally accepted global proportion figure given by WHO is 10%. This discrepancy could partially be explained by the fact that people who  have to cope with mild disabilities do not perceive themselves as being disabled: what would constitute a disability in more developed countries would not be regarded as such in Indonesia. There are also too many PwDs being kept kept indoor with little contact with the outside world, because their presence reflect badly on the standing of the family in the community.

In practice, in an environment where there is little to gain for the PwD or his/her family to acknowledge his/her impairment, it is unlikely that PwDs will come forward to join a training programme. In addition, most of the education and training programmes are teacher / trainer centred, and often do not adapt to the learning particularities of the children/ youth. We have seen it for former child labourers for instance who would have typically a shorter attention span than other children, and are often left behind in the class.

The practical implication for skill training providers is that they should adopt a pro-active approach to the recruitment of PwDs in order to identify (a) “hidden” children and youth with disability, (b) the impairment of the recruited students that could have an impact on their learning process.

The ILO EAST project, for instance, is providing technical support to schools and training providers to facilitate school to work transition. We are considering recruiting the services of an organization of PwDs in order to identify (a) potential trainees with disability for the training providers we work with, and (b) the reasonable accommodation these training providers should make to allow PwDs to join the programme.

Great examples of mainstreaming PwDs in skills training programmes were shown by Handicap International, as part of the work it did in the reconstruction efforts of Aceh. It demonstrated that few changes made in an apprenticeship programme were enough to allow PwDs to be recruited. However, skill trainings in Indonesia go very much along the lines of the "protection model" that aims at giving "some" skills to youth with disabilities, for whatever they can do, but not geared towards employment.

In fact, in a context of massive underemployment, many training providers have given up trying to persuade employers to recruit Persons with Disability. There is a need for a campaign targeting employers on fair and inclusive recruitment practices. Creative Private Public Partnerships should also be tried to cost share the reasonable accommodation of PwDs needs at the workplace.

I agree with June Kane: in line with the UN Convention, the lack of reasonable accommodation of the needs of PwDs creates disability. However, the onus to foster an enabling environment is not only with the Government, but with all of us. From the perspective of an ILO project manager, we still have a lot to do in house to properly mainstream disability in the technical assistance we provide to our constituents on inclusive employment and skills development.

This discussion is a welcomed step in the right direction. 

Previously June Kane wrote:

There is so little research on this topic specifically.  We know quite a bit about impairment/disability; we understand more and more about what decent work really is. But we have tended to link the two in a quite superficial way.  If I'm wrong, and others joining in this discussion have done, or know of good, solid studies available, I'd be very grateful to learn of them...  Meanwhile, as we begin this discussion, it's worth reminding ourselves that the UN/WHO actually defines 'disability' as the relationship between a person's impairment and the context/conditions in which they work and live.  For example, a sight-impaired child who has access to Braille or equivalent learning materials and trained teachers has a good chance of reading, learning, receiving knowledge and to this extent is not 'disabled' educationally; but a sight-impaired child who is somehow expected to cope in a school environment designed for children who do not have to deal with such challenges is surely 'disabled' by this misalignment of her/his needs and the services available.  SO... although our focus is obviously on the young person with an impairment, we need to keep looking closely at the responsibility of governments to ensure that the services they require and to which they have a right are provided.  I think this is relevant, too, in any discussion of 'vulnerability', because it is not necessarily the impairment that makes a young person vulnerable but the fact that services, policies, procedures, practices etc -- everything that goes to make up the young person's 'context' -- do not or insuffiently take her/his needs into consideration. 

The key to this, of course, is working out what those needs are, and in this organizations of people with disability are crucial partners. We need to work together much more closely, not in our own separate boxes, but this is in itself a challenge.  I worked for a short time, for example, on a project that involved a major organization of people with a disability, and when we set up the project we didn't even think of the logistics of inviting people in wheelchairs to meetings (not just access to a room but their specific travel needs, budgeting for someone to accompany them etc.) We have a long way to go.

What can we do to change these limiting notions of "vulnerability" as a state which attaches to individuals with disabilities, as opposed to being the result of exclusion, as you so rightly say?  What role can civil society best play to ensure that governments do what they should?  What stands in the way of the empowerment of people with disabilities?

What can we do to change these limiting notions of "vulnerability" as a state which attaches to individuals with disabilities, as opposed to being the result of exclusion, as you so rightly say?  What role can civil society best play to ensure that governments do what they should?  What stands in the way of the empowerment of people with disabilities?

Patrick's points about stigma and under-reporting are well-made.  One part of the solution lies in getting the message across that impairment is part of life,  but that most disability is easily avoidable.  How does the "protection model" endure so well?  If we understood better what it is thought (by its adherents) to achieve, maybe we would be more successful in finding ways of overcoming it.  And what does ILO need to do to be a champion in this regard?

Hi all,

 

We are a group of young girls and boys (13-20 years old) from the Redemptorist Foundation for people with disabilities in Pattaya, Thailand. In our view, acceptance is the main challenge that we face in trying to find a good job.  

 

If we open our eyes around, we see that we clearly can do everything we would like to. We just need not to wait for a chance to come to us, but rather we must look for the chance.  People with disabilities in Thailand don’t need any ‘special’ things, but only accessibility. The disability itself is not a problem, nobody is perfect. What needs to change though, is the attitude of society. In Thailand, although the government has done a lot to improve the status of young people with disabilities in the last ten years, still the attitude of society has not changed much.   

 

Nat: A job for me is something that makes me happy, and helps other people too. I would be happy to both work inside the Foundation or outside, however outside I would be afraid that a manager might not accept me. To that manager I would like to say: “Just give me a chance to show what I can do, I have good communication skills and I enjoy being with people”.

Cap, Dao, and Namchok: we want the opportunity to have a job that we like and that gives us the possibility to have time for our families too. We are not scared of hard work at all.

Lo: I have done many different jobs but I love teaching and this is what realises me. It is an experience where I always need to learn myself and improve. I love teaching in the Redemtorist Vocational School for People with Disabilities, but I can also work outside as I did in the past.

Dao and Urng: we have many dreams, and we know we must work hard to make them true. Dao wants to become a police woman and catch the thieves, Ern a tourist guide in Thailand. It is going to be difficult to find a job, and we need to study hard.

Namchok: Education drives good jobs. I want to continue studying at the end of my bachelor degree and take a Masters as well. Unfortunately, in Thailand not all young people have access to education. In addition, education does not always guarantee access to good jobs. For instance, right now the crisis has caused massive job losses. In these cases, what you need to do is to be proactive and flexible enough, be willing to move, work hard and find a solution that works for you. There are no jobs available in private sector companies? Young people are losing their jobs? Starting up your own business is an answer, then. Of course it’s going to be hard, and maybe particularly hard for young people, but we are also at the right age to face difficulties because this is the age when you want, and need, to learn. I have quite a clear idea of how I want my job to be. I want to start up a business in the field of e-commerce. This would give me the opportunity to work from anywhere, and to be my own boss. This is important because I want to have control of my life, and have the opportunity to devote time and attention to my family when I want to. I would travel and go anywhere, and I am ready to work hard, not scared by that at all. Now it’s time for education though!

 

In sum, as you can see we all have dreams and we are ready to work hard to achieve them. What we need is accessibility. Most importantly, we need the society to change attitude and give us better chances to show our abilities. This will require time. There is still a lot of work to do in order to make society understand that young people with disabilities are an integral part of it, and need to be involved in all decisions that will affect them.

 

Sing tee rao tong karn kue kwuam samer pak nai sungkom - all we need is equality in society!

 

Cap, Dao, Urng, Dao, Lo, Nat, Namchok

 

Let me give my views about the hearing impaired children in Sri Lanka since I associate them very closely
being a parent of 2 such children aged 17 & 18 

One main problem faced by the parents is to make them wear the hearing aids & one way to solve this is to produce some Tele dramas / films
showing the benifits of wearing them.

I think use of IT can help them a lot to give them the Primary & Secondary education, but the software developed for these pruposes are very expencive & difficult to afford.  Also they can be trained as Chef's , Hair Dressers , Bueticians , Web designers , Data entry operators , Other I.T related jobs Photographers , Actors , Money counters ( Banks ) etc

If a worldwide body can be established with branches in all countries to provide the following, I feel it will be a great releif for the parents & the society can benifit a lot from them.

• Guide the parents in bringing up this type of children
• Make learning material available free of charge ( Software packages & other learning material )
• Produce tele drama's / films to encourage them wear hearing aids & also to show how they could lead a decent life
  & also to educate the society how to treat them equally
• Make hearing aids & batteries avialable at a reasonable price
• Provide them with a  ID Card recognised globally
• Provide free councelling on Legal matters , etc
• Allow them to migrate or to study in any country at a reasonable rate

There may be some more which could be done to benifit the handicapped & not only the hearing impaired even the Blind

& Physically handicapped can benifit a lot from most of these things.

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing your ideas with everyone. It's very interesting that although the Thai Government has made changes, the attitudes of the public in general do not appear to have changed. In your experience, what methods work best for improving attitudes to young people with disabilities, especially in relation to getting access to decent work?

A clear message is emerging from some of the contributions: that the actions of Governments, although they may be designed to improve life and employment chances for people with disabilities, do not help to improve attitudes in general among the public.  What are the best ways of changing attitudes?  Has anyone in the region any examples of success to offer - or any advice as to what strategies to avoid?  What role can ILO play?  What role should young people with disabilities play?

The post about young people with hearing impairments in Sri Lanka prompts me to remind you all of a question I posed in the background note: are some young people with disabilities more marginalised than others when it comes to accessing decent work?  For example, here in Ireland people with vision impairments, for example, are far more likely to be employed than people who have mental health difficulties.  Changing public attitudes to people with mental health difficulties is proving to be very slow.  What is going on in your country?

I would like to reinforce Maureen's questions asking about examples of success or of good practice. What works from your experiences in making sure that disabled youth have access to training, decent work or needed services? Can you provide examples of good practice? Many countries have policies, plans and projects related to youth employment. Are disabled youth included in these programmes? It would really be great to get some concrete examples. Our intern, Ah Reum and I will be checking in periodically and I look forward to learning more from your experiences. Thanks.

 

Thanking  You are a lot.

Yes, I agree with June kane,

We are in the developing world, are some how excluded in the quality education, vocational education and employment and human well-beings.

But, now it is a time to acting:

-Stakeholders Institutional development

-Public awareness raising

-Good governance

Because  for example, in  Mongolia do not functioning well addressed system the persons with disabilities. Social welfare Institutions are says in Mongolia have about 80 000 persons with disabilities, but some statistics says we have  more than 130 000 persons with disabilities.With regard to this issue, we how to  focus and challenge  for persons with disabilities and Youths with disabilities.They have a lot of aspirations, challenges and barriers.

So we want to start  work closely to achieve One Mission as individually, as organizationally.to study, work together, I know one is NGO initiative to teach intermediary English for Youths with disabilities. They much harder learned than others. And now the participants are studying and self employing in wide variety of businesses.They have earned a lot of modern development footholds.

 

Thanks a lot and  I`am looking for new Comments and Good Ideas

Regards, Erdenebileg

Mongolia

 

Erdenebileg raises the point about being in the developing world.  So many of the ideas about how to improve the participation of young people with disabilities come from the "developed world".  Does this make them unhelpful?  Are there some specific methodologies about participation and awareness raising (with employers, or the public) which work well in developing countries?  Like Debra says, it would be wonderful to exchange some good practice - and also to hear about attempts that did not work so well.

The educational system can play a critical role in increasing participation and acceptance of young people with disabilities in our societies. Inclusive education, where students with and without disabilities attend the same classes, is sometimes seen as inappropriate. Students with disabilities may not receive the necessary level of care and, as Patrick rightly  pointed out, they may be left behind. However, I wonder if 'special' schools can end up fostering isolation as well, despite the concept itself coming from the best intentions. While special schools addressing the needs of grave forms of disability are important, in less problematic cases a more inclusive system may be preferable? Would an investment made to build a special school be more effective in improving integration, if directed to hiring support teachers for public schools? Inclusive education, for instance, guarantees that all students are exposed to the same curricula. This avoids the risk that students with disabilities be taught only ‘some’ skills, as – again – Patrick mentions above. In addition, an inclusive educational system helps students with disabilities better integrate in social networks, and in all recreational and civic activities that take place around the school building. Most importantly, there seems to be evidence that students with disabilities learn better if they are allowed to go to a public school. Unfortunately, many public schools lack the few accommodations that guarantee full accessibility to students with disabilities. This is unacceptable, especially if we consider that if such accommodations were taken into account since the building’s design phase, the cost of a school would increase by less than 1% (World Bank estimate).

 

Can inclusive education be considered a good practice to increase better integration of young people with disabilities and foster acceptance? And in which cases? I would be very interested in hearing the point of view of the participants in this discussion.

 

Best, Valentina

Previously Maureen Gilbert wrote:

Erdenebileg raises the point about being in the developing world.  So many of the ideas about how to improve the participation of young people with disabilities come from the "developed world".  Does this make them unhelpful?  Are there some specific methodologies about participation and awareness raising (with employers, or the public) which work well in developing countries?  Like Debra says, it would be wonderful to exchange some good practice - and also to hear about attempts that did not work so well.

Thanking You,

Yes, we are initiating a package of policy guidelines and Employment promotion activities for persons with disabilities, But You know the outcome and outputs is not clear, Because I wrote an early, the functioning system, and target groups participatory  approaches, So raising a question? where are carrying-on. These is the  issues of challenges and public awareness raising.

 

 Hello again.  Erdenebileg: what are the outputs meant to be?  Do you think that they come near to what is needed?  Are people witrh disabilities themselves involved at all?  Thank you.

 

Valentina: you raise very useful points.  In the past non-disabled students who went to inclusive schools told me that they were very aware at the time, but forgot all about inclusiveness when they left school.  Disabled young people say that inclusive education gives them more confidence in themselves - as does all well-planned inclusion.  Last month the principal of the main secondary school for people with intellectual impairments in Barbados made a speech in which she called for inclusive education and asserted that it would lead to better outcomes and more social integration for young people with disabilities.  That's very interesting, because in Ireland teachers in special education are very defensive about their work and often feel threatened by the idea of inclusive education.

It seems to me that this defensive view is very short-sighted.  As you say, the money can be better spent on providing resource teachers in mainstream schools.  They could help to build up the skills of mainstream teachers and also provide lessons for disabled children.  Even some "special classes" for some subjects on the same campus would provide a degree of social interaction that is missing from so many children's lives at the moment.  And I am sure that we can do better than that.  Nobody's interests are well-served by the kind of separation that endures in so many places.  Too much well-meant "protection" for people with disabilities actually results in isolation and exclusion.

In many ways, Valentina, the buildings are the least part of it.  Good inclusive teaching in a shed or a field can achieve far more than poor teaching in a perfect building.  Supports to teachers, like classroom assistants who provide additional support to disabled children in the classroom, can really help inclusion.  Until recently we had a lot of classroom assistants in Ireland but their numbers have been cut back now as a result of the recession. 

There is also the issue of teacher training. All teacher training should involve learning how to accommodate children with disabilities in the classroom.

Of course, there are issues about involving children with intellectual impairments in an academic curriculum.  But it seems to me that predicating all consideration of educational inclusion on this premise is starting at the wrong end.  Let's start with what is easily achievable and work from there. 

At the same time, we can't rely on educational inclusion alone to solve all our issues about access to decent work for people with disabilities.  It will be too slow, take too long - two generations, perhaps.  So what will help us to speed up the results, do you think?

 

 Forgot to say: the key word here is WELL-PLANNED inclusion.  Just throwing young people into a mainstream school, with no reasonable accommodations and no support, will never work.  This happens all the time; then people say, see, I told you inclusion doesn't work.  We have to make sure that the thinking is done and the resources are put in...

 

G'day everyone:
I'm afraid it's an example from the 'developed world', but I was close to a wonderful project run by ENABLE, the Scottish NGO that works with young people with disability and which, importantly, has a structure that involves these young people in decision making and implementation.

ENABLE developed a project that also worked through a sister organisation in Denmark (to see if it successfully 'crossed borders') where the young people themselves became the protagonists of a national campaign aimed at encouraging other young people to understand what they have in common, rather than what might seem to set them apart. In Scotland, the materials used comprised a fabulous set of posters showing young people with a learning disability wearing t-shirts with the wittiest, funniest slogans, each of which had a memorable message. One, for example, said: "Gee thanks. I never noticed I had learning disabilities until you so kindly pointed it out".  Another said: "Congratulations on spotting that I have learning disabilities -- you must be some kind of expert."  Sharp, but the kind of thing one young person would say to another.

The slogans really caught the public imagination (and I'm sure there would be some message(s) that would draw the public to 'tune in' in other cultures/countries) and the media picked up on them.  At the same time, the young people were trained to go into schools and to use the poster slogans to stimulate discussion among students and teachers about learning disabilities.  The project found they had more requests for visits than they could manage.  And to top off the success of the initiative, the young people who had featured in the posters became minor TV celebrities, appearing as guests on chat shows and the like. Not only did this do a lot for their self-esteem, it did a great lot for the campaign.

I suppose this ties in with discussions around youth participation too. There is a fine line to be drawn, as we know, between participation and exploitation, but certainly in the ENABLE example I've given, the young people themselves were driving the project and putting themselves forward.

Just an example but, off the top of my head, this kind of initiative could be adapted, for example, for workplaces, to help both workers and management to understand what 'disability' is and how it is neither threatening nor inconvenient but manageable...

June

Previously Maureen Gilbert wrote:

A clear message is emerging from some of the contributions: that the actions of Governments, although they may be designed to improve life and employment chances for people with disabilities, do not help to improve attitudes in general among the public.  What are the best ways of changing attitudes?  Has anyone in the region any examples of success to offer - or any advice as to what strategies to avoid?  What role can ILO play?  What role should young people with disabilities play?

In China, every 3rd Sunday of May is the National Day for supporting people with disability.  In order to celebrate this important days, there will be a lot of activites for media advocacy, public awarness. In 2008, China host the Paralymic Games, a lot of media, such as TV stations, radio stations, newspaper, website reported this import event.  It is a big campaign for public awarness. The primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for everyone including people with disabilities, to obtain decent and productive work, based on the principles of freedom, equity, security and human digity. The China Decent Work Country Programme estabilishs the framework for delivery of ILO action.

 

I think it is important to look at the principles of Article 24 (Education) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which stresses the importance of inclusive education with the support required. While many developing countries are moving towards education reforms and policies that are inclusive, a problem that is often raised by ministries of education is that most of these initiatives are donor driven and once the funding ends, inclusion ends as well....

Article 24

Education

1. States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to

education. With a view to realizing this right without discrimination and on the

basis of equal opportunity, States Parties shall ensure an inclusive education

system at all levels and lifelong learning directed to:

(

a) The full development of human potential and sense of dignity andb) The development by persons with disabilities of their personality,c) Enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in aa) Persons with disabilities are not excluded from the generalb) Persons with disabilities can access an inclusive, quality and freec) Reasonable accommodation of the individual’s requirements isd) Persons with disabilities receive the support required, within thee) Effective individualized support measures are provided ina) Facilitating the learning of Braille, alternative script,b) Facilitating the learning of sign language and the promotion ofc) Ensuring that the education of persons, and in particular children,

 

 

 

 

 Yes, the big issue is sustainability.  How can we show that inclusive education benefits everyone?  And what about inclusive working?

 

 

Hello .

I`am much appreciating all of us.

My targeted output is Institutional strengthening and public awareness raising, and outcome will be social inclusion  the persons with Disabilities to education, vocational education and training as well as employment generation.

 Thank You.

 

 Erdenebilig: thank you for your reply.  Institutional stregthening and raisign public awareness go together, I know, but in Mongolia, which do you think you should do first?  Here we think that public awareness is the first, because the institutions are made up of people, but there might be a difference in emphasis in your country.  Also, is there resistance in Mongolia to inclusion of young people with disabilities in mainstream education, vocational training and employment?  Thank you!

 

Previously Maureen Gilbert wrote:

The post about young people with hearing impairments in Sri Lanka prompts me to remind you all of a question I posed in the background note: are some young people with disabilities more marginalised than others when it comes to accessing decent work?  For example, here in Ireland people with vision impairments, for example, are far more likely to be employed than people who have mental health difficulties.  Changing public attitudes to people with mental health difficulties is proving to be very slow.  What is going on in your country?

 

Yes even in Sri Lanka people with mental health difficulties are very rarely considered for decent work. One major problem I see here is that the parents do not want to expose disable children to the society. Its very important that the society is educated on how to respect them. The media can play a major role in this regard. The blind is well looked after by the society in their day to day work, but when it comes to employment I doubt whether they get equal rights.

 

Asoka: thank you for this.  What you say about parents not wanting to expose disabled children to society is very interesting.  It happens in many places, I am sure.  We talk a lot about changing society's attitudes to young people with disabilities, but it seems that one group in society which needs particular attention in this regard is the parents of disabled children.  Perhaps we need to work on both areas at the same time?  As you say, society often "looks after" people with disabilities, protects them to some extent, but this excludes people and means that they are denied equal rights.  Do you think that the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities will make a difference in Sri Lanka?

From U. C. Pandey, School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis, Bhopal

 

I feel that we have not so far properly realized that people with disability and their stakeholders represent a large group of consumers, employees and voters. We need to promote such systems which can help the people with disability to take advantage of their common concerns and present themselves as a pressure group in the society .Once they are mobilized on these lines they will be able to ensure a decent work for themselves as a matter of right and with dignity.

 

This market model of disability is a viable solution which will not only help the disabled people to get rid of stigma of being disabled and assert for their rights.

 

For further reading I would suggest the readers to go through the following website

http://www.returnondisability.com/content/who_we_are.htm

 

It’s clear one of the main points is raising awareness. But how to do this? Numbers. Numbers can influence policies. They don’t only inform them, but ground them.

Who believes in prevalence rates of one or two percent? This is ridiculous.

Why have other demands of vulnerable groups gained much attention? I think it is because of the number of persons who are “afflicted”, in a direct or indirect way, by them.

 

We need to explain to the world that disabilities are not about having a physical ability or not; it is most of all about functioning. And when “they” learn that people with “disabilities” are perfectly well to function in a job as any other person, only then, things can begin to change.

 

My suggestion is to push for better data on persons with disabilities, especially based on the WHO’s ICF framework, which underlines the social as opposed to the medical model. With this approach, people “out there” will understand that disabilities are not about physical or mental impairments, but about limitations that in most cases society levies upon them.

The business case:

Everyday activities like shopping or traveling can often be difficult for persons with disabilities. Sometimes this is due to lack of facilities. More often it is because of people's attitudes and lack of understanding. Few facts from the UK where the business case approach works very well:

1) Disabled people have an annual spending power of around 80 billion pounds

2) At least 1 in 3 customers in the UK is disabled or is close to someone who is disabled

Designing products, services and premises in partnership with disabled people helps to ensure that everyone can access them more easily. Disabled people want the products and services that are available to all consumers.

Great examples of the business case are available with The Employers' Forum on Disability www.employers-forum.co.uk

This approach is not yet much used in Asia, despite some examples in the hospitality and care business. Yet if employers and the business community realize the business potentials, discrimination becomes less of an issue. Still it is important for the employers to understand that nobody knows better what a disabled person needs than a disabled person him/herself. Hence, employers should make it easier to employ disabled people, welcome disabled customers and develop partnerships with disabled people as stakeholders in the wider community. It is in the interest of everybody.