Respect the Person First Isidore Domnick Mendis India has some 40 to 80 million persons with disability……..In the years to come, the number of disabled people in India is expected to rise sharply as age related disabilities grow and traffic accidents increase. ( People with Disabilities in India from Commitments to Outcome - World Bank , 2007) India is an abode to a large proportion of people suffering from disability -a state in which a person has either a physical or mental impairment. In India, the percentage of five types of disabilities
Seeing 48.55 Speech 7.49 Hearing 5.76 Movement 27.87 Mental 10.33 (Source: 2001 census) The study by the World Bank further states that low literacy and poor employment rate coupled with age old social stigma makes India’s disabled among the most excluded people in the world. The disabled children in India also bear the brunt of exclusion. Studies reveal that a child with disabilities is 5 times more prone to be out of school than a normal one. According to UNESCO’s 2009 work -Policy Brief on Early Childhood “98% of children with disabilities in developing countries do not attend school”. There are over 30 million children with disability in India. Yes, there is a Herculean task in front of everyone of us be it the government, the private sector , the cooperative sector , the NGOs, the individuals etc to do their bit to get people with disability integrated into the mainstream of society . The state policies vis-à-vis people with disability like scholarship in education, concessional assistive device, job reservation, traveling concession, specialized training institutions, tax benefits, loans for business at a lower interest rate etc are positive initiatives and need to be further strengthened. There is also a paramount need that both private and public places provide disability friendly access like space for use of wheelchairs- ramps for wheelchair access, specially-designed restrooms, and designated parking slots, proper signage, and hand rails for ramps, staircases, lifts and toilets. Apart from making a vigorous effort of getting the people with disability in the mainstream of the society , there is also a dire need among the part of the abled to inculcate an etiquette culture of making the people with disability feel comfortable by the way they behave. In a nutshell it means using the formal rules of correct behavior towards another person with disability . “It is very important to use person sensitive language when conversing with any body, irrespective of ability or disability. Every human being needs to be respected for what he or she is .” says Percy Cardozo, Psychologist, Sangath - the NGO which works in Goa’s area of mental health . The terminology or the language concerning person with disability should completely do away with outdated terms like handicapped , crippled , disabled, physically challenged . “It is important to put the person first. One should say person with a disablity instead of a disbaled person. Similarly it is sober to state people with disabilites than disabled/crippled people . In the same way, a person living with AIDS could be referred to as person with AIDS instead of AIDS victim or for that matter you do not call a person ‘mad’ or ‘mentally retarded’ but rather an individual with mental challenges” says Tina Mendis Regional Manager , The Leprosy Mission, Belgaum. The Leprosy Mission’s Choice, Dignity and Integration of the socially excluded focus’ on disability management and rehabilitation in Gokak, Saundatti, Raibag and Hukkeri talukas of Belgaum District. Mendis further says “Using the correct language provides dignity and respect to a person with disability She strongly believes that one should “not feel awkward or sorry while dealing with a person with disability. While talking one should converse directly with a person with disability.” Once while airborne with a colleague with visual impairment, she remembers how the air hostess came up to her and asked if her colleague needed any assistance. While the air hostess’ intention was good, her approach was wrong. Mendis’ colleague was capable of asking for assistance, if needed - after all she was visually impaired but her hearing and speech was like anybody else’s. This is what unconsciously most of us generally do (with good intentions of helping). We assume if there is disability, the individual is incapable from all aspects. Adults with disability prefer to be treated as independent individuals. A help should be offered only if a person requires it. It is important to be sensitive when physical contact comes into place, one should avoid patting a person on the head or the back or even touching the cane or the wheelchair. If people who are visually impaired require to be guided it is important to offer one’s arm and not take his/ hers because they require their arms for balance. In the case of the person who is hard of hearing shouting should never be resorted to as it distorts the sound if the person is using a hearing aid Etiquettes while conversing with people with Disabilities Affirmative Phrase Negative/ Passé Phrase Person with disability Disabled person Person with disability Handicapped/Crippled Person Person with AIDS AIDS victim/ Person who suffers from AIDS Person who is blind/visually impaired Blind/Invalid Person who is deaf or hard of hearing Deaf/Invalid Person with a mental health disability Hyper-sensitive, Psycho, Crazy, Insane Wheelchair user Confined to a wheelchair Person with an emotional disability Emotionally disturbed Person of short stature Dwarf, Midget person with epilepsy/ person with seizure disorder Epilectic (Source : Disability Etiquette: United Spinal Association, NY and Communicating With and About People with Disabilities , Office of Disability Employment Policy, USA) Last but not the least we should not make assumptions about people with disabilities rather these people should be left to themselves to decide what they is best for them. The various policies for people with disability intitiated by the Central Government and the State Governments can really bear fruits if etiquettes are juxtaposed with these measures. “ There is a change happening in Goa, but we have a long way to go. Very few people treat persons with respect that they deserve. Many times it is out of pity that people with disabilities would be addressed sensitively, not because of their right to be treated as respectable human beings. There needs to be a lot of awareness, and people working in the field as well as the media has to play a big role in this endeavor says Cardozo. Yes we need to respect the person first as etiquettes are important not only to communicate with a person without disability but the entire communication becomes more effective when affirmative phrases are used with a person with disability.