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Causes to Support - Disability
There are over 70 million
disabled people in India. This is about 6% of its population.
Disability
is a physical or mental impairment that interferes with the performance of activities
expected of an individual of a certain age. Many disabled people have demonstrated
their capacity to excel in professional courses, but their employment percentage
in comparison is still a dismal 0.4%. There is an urgent need to assimilate them
in the work force to enable them to live a life with dignity and contribute to
the national GNP. Disability needs to be a 'social, development, economic or a
progress issue' rather than just a 'medical one'.
Some relevant
websites:
www.disabilitynet.org.in/legal/index.htm
www.healthlibrary.com/reading/disability/defi.htm
www.ncpedp.org
www.empowerinfo.com
Issues
I Specific Disability
1. Cerebral palsy
2. Mental
3.
Physical, locomotor
4. Autism
5. Speech,
Hearing, Visual
6. Multiple Disability II Capacity
Building
1. Livelihood & Training
2. Education
3. Rural awareness & Advocacy
4. Indigenous Technologies Click
here for Recommended NGOs Click
here for General NGOs List Donate
Now for the cause of Disability
Specific
Disabilities - Cerebral Palsy There are more than 3 million people afflicted
by cerebral palsy, and the figures are rising.
Cerebral palsy is a term, which
covers a variety of disorders that affect a child's ability to control movement
and maintain posture and balance. It is caused by injury or damage to the brain
before birth or in early childhood. Top
Specific
Disabilities - Mental
More than 10 million people are the victims of
mental deficiencies. Mental handicap is a delay in the development of a child.
A child with a mental handicap will learn things at a slower rate than other children
of the same age. Mental handicap or retardation refers to a condition and not
a disease. This is characterized by sub normality of intelligence. These disabled
are dependent on others for daily activities.
Specific
Disabilities - Physical / Locomotor
A disabled activist had to file
a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in order to make air travel accessible and
disabled - friendly. More than 8 million people are physically handicapped. Locomotor
disability means a person's inability to execute distinctive activities associated
with moving. This is the result of an affliction of bones, joints, muscles or
nerves. A person with such a disability finds it difficult to walk or lift objects.
Autism
Autism is a disorder of the brain that causes a lifelong development disability,
primarily affecting the communication and social abilities of people. Symptoms
of the condition are evident either from birth or may begin appear after a period
of normal development, but definitely by the time the child is two and a half
years old.
Autism is known as a 'spectrum disorder,' because the severity
of symptoms ranges from a mild learning and social disability to a severe impairment,
with multiple problems and highly unusual behavior. The disorder may occur alone,
or with accompanying problems such as mental retardation or seizures. Autism is
not a rare disorder, being the third most common developmental disorder, more
common than Down's Syndrome. Typically, about 20 in a population of 10,000 people
will be autistic or have autistic symptoms. 80% of those affected by autism are
boys. Autism is found throughout the world, in families of all economic, social,
and racial backgrounds. Doctors, politicians, and rickshaw drivers alike all have
autistic children.
www.autism-india.org
Top Specific
Disabilities - Speech, Hearing and Visual 3.5 million are hearing impaired.
2 million are speech handicapped .Over 5 million visually deprived.
Blindness
greatly restricts the capacity of the individual to obtain information about the
environment and function independently. A person is considered visually impaired
when there is: - total absence of sight - visual activity of 20/200 or 6/60 in
the better eye with correcting lenses - visual field subtending an angle of 20
degrees or worse. Hearing impairment means having a problem with hearing.
Hearing impairment and the difficulties it can cause, is based on two factors:
- the degree of hearing loss, and, - the age at which the hearing loss manifests
itself. Hearing is essential to acquire language and speech. If a person does
not hear clearly, he will not be able to speak clearly. Normally loss of one sensation
leads to the loss of the other.
Specific
Disabilities -Multiple
About 80% of people with disabilities are
in the rural areas.
Parkinson's Disease, Leprosy. Loss of sensation and other
physical impairments are included here as forms of disability.
Some relevant
websites:
http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/disability/edu.htm
Top
Capacity Building
The number of disabled persons in the Employment
Register till 2000 was over 5 Lac( estimated population of disabled persons :
70 million)
There are over 200 voluntary organisations that offer facilities
for vocational training to disabled persons. NGOs addressing the issues of empowerment
of the rural poor are actively including persons with disabilities in self-help
groups. They are mobilising support for them through community based services.
Training programmes that cater to Skill development greatly increase the capability
of disabled people. The inclusion of disability in the 2001 Census has been a
turning point in the awareness campaign of the disability sector. NGOs are trying
hard to overcome prejudices and bridge the barriers between disabled and the non-disabled. Capacity
Building includes: - Social Mobilization and Awareness
- Networking
- Employment
and Training
Education India
has approximately 35 million children with disabilities but less than one per
cent has access to education. There is an urgent need to ensure the provision
of education for disabled people. Research on designing and developing new supportive
devices, teaching materials is being done to give a child with disability equal
opportunities in education. Several factors like necessary changes in staff training
for educators, parental support, community involvement, and inter-agency co-operation
are being emphasized. The Policy on INCLUSION education represents a supportive
approach to serving those with special needs. Top
Indigenous
Technologies
Low cost indigenous technologies have been developed
to enable the disabled to acquire a range of skills required for their economic
and social participation in society.
For details on Government Schemes
for the disabled click here:
http://socialjustice.nic.in/disabled/schemes.htm
www.nationaltrust.org.in (National
Trust Autonomous body under Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment) Top
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