Monday, October 15, 2007 Oledan: Barriers By Radzini Oledan Slice of Life
ABOUT 600 million people live with disabilities of various types, and the number is increasing due to the rise of chronic diseases, injuries, violence and other causes such as ageing.
Of this total, 80% live in low-income countries; most are poor and have limited or no access to basic services, including rehabilitation facilities.
More than half of the statistics are children who live with disabilities.
The 58th World Health Assembly has adopted a resolution aimed at improving the daily lives of people with disabilities. It calls on organizations and governments to work towards ensuring equal opportunities and promoting the rights and dignity of people with disabilities, especially those who are poor.
National policies and programs on disability, including community based rehabilitation services and cost effective interventions, are necessary for differently abled children and their families to go beyond the barriers.
Collectively, we fall short on these aspects.
There is an absence of early intervention and identification of disability, especially for children, and much less support to the integration of community based rehabilitation services into the health system.
There is also a huge gap in terms of facilitating development and access to appropriate assistive devices, including wheel chairs, hearing aids, orthoses, prostheses, etc. which help to ensure the inclusion and participation of differently abled persons on their own communities.
Too many barriers can stand in the way of the right education and support for children with special educational needs.
While efforts are geared towards inclusion of differently-abled children to mainstream classes, there is lack of capability building training for teachers to meet their needs, as well as appropriate funding for their education improvement.
The skills and capacity of the whole community to meet diverse needs of children is wanting.
All children should have opportunities to learn, play and develop alongside each other, within their local community, with shared responsibility and a partnership approach to their support.
Every child with special educational needs may reach their full potential, and can make a successful transition to adulthood and even to the world of higher education, training or work.
Parents should feel confident that their child's needs are being met effectively in schools and communities - without feeling that the only way to achieve this is through a statement of special educational needs.
