Written by Henning Lambrechts
Persons with Disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.
I was born Deaf, and have 2 cochlear implants which enhance my hearing. The very first sound I could hear was the Waterpipes in the walls at the Hospital. It was an amazing sound to hear after having been completely Deaf until the age of 13. My speech was never affected and today I am very vocal about People with Disabilities.
I can vouch for Differently Abled Persons that we still experienced unfair Discrimination whether it is in Public, Workplace, Public Spaces, Accessibility of Buildings. People do not always understand our needs and one need to handle the different Disabilities in a different way.
People with Disabilities still face challenges in terms of the following:
Equal Access to Education
Equal Access to Health Care
Equal Access to Buildings
Access to Transport
Access to Job Opportunities
Sign Language Interpreters
We recognise the South African Government’s effort in ensuring that the Differently Abled Community are been treated the same as our Abled Bodied citizen’s however, Government can do more in order to Promote and Create Awareness.
The government can do Imbizo’s to find out what are the Challenges that the Differently Abled Persons experiencing still.
Do campaigning for Differently Abled Persons and Educate the Nation.
We are been judged by the general public when it comes to our Disability, however, it is because of a lack of Education and Awareness.
I believe that we can learn from each other and we should be open to People about our Disability because if we explain to people, then its knowledge to them. Remember as much as we are scared of our own Disability and don’t want people to see as Different, we need to understand that they are also scared because they don’t know how to approach us.
Remember KNOWLEDGE IS POWER! Let us EDUCATE ourselves about People with Disabilities and change how PEOPLE see us.
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