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  • Diversity and Disability
    Diversity and Disability

    Celebrate Life; Celebrate Diversity

    We welcome you to the community page "Celebrating Disability", an online discussion forum where we introduce, discuss, debate as well as campaign and advocate various concepts, perspectives, paradigm shift, models and legal provisions that concern and impact persons with disabilities. The title Celebrating Disability emerges from one of the ideologies of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) to celebrate human diversity and that Disability is a part of human diversity. 

    This online community page aims at demystifying the stigma associated with disability and reinforces the paradigm shift experienced by persons with disabilities from the charity and medical model to the social and developmental model, a holistic development of the society where persons with disabilities are an integral and contributing part and not apart. It will also focus on discussions and debates with regard to legal frameworks that impact persons with disabilities rightfully as well as adversely. The context and connect of UNCRPD with most terminologies & concepts to be discussed in the forum goes without saying. The perspectives of different professionals and their work with persons with disabilities are to be dealt as well. Any requirement for a larger campaign or advocacy may also be analysed in due course of a discussion. 

    This community page "Diversity and Disability" will provide motivational stories and achievements by persons with disabilities on an equal  basis with others, articles by expert persons with disabilities as well as professionals without disabilities on their work and perspective, the gaps in the legal framework and way forward to harmonise the same, strategies/models to implement UNCRPD at every level and a lot more, by way of public discussions, debates and other creative methodology on each article/story. In addition a webinar will be organised every quarterly to discuss the topic of the term. The topics may widely range from different provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its connect with UNCRPD & vice versa, evolving concepts on disability, innovations pertaining to products, designs, services, infrastructure, information, communication and technology etc. 

    Supported by Vidya Sagar, Chennai

     

  • A young boy in a blue kurta walking hand in hand with his friend in yellow t-shirt and jeans in a hotel lobby
    "Let's Make Happy Memories For Our Children With Special Needs"
    Rohini Singh, mother of an 11 year old child with special needs, introspects on how sometimes parents themselves are guilty of not giving their children an opportunity to be loved and accepted the way they are. And yet again, an event has led me to think what we as parents of children with special needs demand from the rest of the world to do but not have it in us. Yes, I am talking about the words ‘acceptance, inclusion’. We ask the world to accept and include our children the way they are, to…
  • A woman in a pink swim suit doing yoga in a pool
    Hydrotherapy Makes Physiotherapy Enjoyable For Wheelchair Users
    Madhavi Latha Prathigudupu, who has been using a wheelchair since childhood due to polio linked paralysis, found a world of freedom when she started physiotherapy and yoga in water. Now she is in the forefront advocating aquatherapy to others disabled in the community. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your disability? I was born in a remote village in South India. I have a very loving and caring family. Today, whatever I am able to achieve in my life is mainly because of the…
  • A mother and her son sitting together with their heads touching
    He Is Like An Amex Card. We Never Leave Home Without Him.
    Dr Renuka Nambiar, based in Malaysia talks about her son Sanjeev, who was diagnosed with Autism when he was 4 years old. She talks about all the love and effort the family put together to make Sanjeev a person of his own today. Please tell us a bit about your son’s condition: Sanjeev was born in 1994. He was diagnosed Autistic with comorbid Epilepsy when he was 4 years old. What were the early symptoms? He was a normally developing child who reached all his developmental milestones on time,…
  • A mom in a printed top and black skirt flanked by her adult sons,  the one on the left with a dark t-shirt and the one on the right with a blue t-shirt. In the background is a red car parked in front of a building on the right and a fence and trees on the left
    I Am Here Because Of Your Love, Maa
    Vineet Saraiwala, Inclusion Lead, Future Retail Limited, pays an emotional tribute to his mother, a mother of two sons with Retinitis Pigmentosa. A Mother's Day Special. It was my mother’s destiny to have two sons, both with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative disease in which vision deteriorates as age progresses. We, my brother and I, are glad that we are not alone in this journey as our mother is equally there in our struggles for the past 25 years. But we never noticed it. My mother’s…
  • A collage of pictures of Nikita with autism mom Anupama Bakhshi and her brother Pranav
    Thank You Mom, For Being The Wind Beneath My Wings
    Not all superheroes wear capes! Nikita Bakhshi appreciates her mother Anupama, not only for all that she has done for her brother, Pranav who is on the autism spectrum but also for the unconditional love she shares with her daughter. A Mother’s Day special! Mother’s Day, or let me say ‘I will post a picture with a long caption day’ – Hold your horses. I’m not saying that’s wrong, I very often post pictures with my mom on my instagram too and shower her with instagram PDA, nobody deserved it…
  • A young autistic man wearing a smart suit and tie
    "We Are Proud My Son Has Completed 6 Years Of Employment!"
    Ajit Bharathan from Mysore talks about his son Amar, who is on the autism spectrum, the changes his wife and he made to help Amar become independent and a committed worker, valued by his employer. Please tell us a bit about your son. Amar was born in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E, in 1986. He is autistic. He is quite well built,  tall and almost 6 feet. He is independent but lacks speech even though he has reasonably good comprehension and follows simple commands. He has difficulty in forming sentences…
  • A mother and her autistic son both wearing white and standing against a book shelf
    Indian Children’s Literature Featuring Characters with Disability
    Children's books are instrumental in shaping early thoughts and perceptions. Chitra Paul, mom to a teenager on the autism spectrum painstakingly lists 20 Indian books that feature children and young adults with disability. Books that must be read by every child. As a child I don’t remember reading very many books with Indian characters or even those that featured disabled characters. The few books with Indian characters or stories about India were those by Ruskin Bond or Amar Chitra Katha comic…
  • Destiny Is Controlled By My Mind, Not My Eyes
    Vineet Saraiwala, Inclusion Lead, Future Retail Limited, who has fearlessly embraced his retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, writes a poignant account of his reducing vision and how he derives immense pleasure from tandem bicycle tours, trekking and running marathons. Living with the realisation that your eyesight is deteriorating is not easy and accepting the reality is challenging. Life is an illusion and you trick your optimistic mind in not believing the reality. The…
  • 5 Lessons From A Young Adult On The Autism Spectrum
    Pranav Kumar Rajgopal is on the Autism Spectrum and works as a Business Analyst in a technology firm. He shares lessons he has learnt based on his experience. His advice to others on the autism spectrum and their parents.  1. Never force your children to do something they are not interested in doing. Every child is unique and special. They may have an interest in pursuing drawing, painting, and creative craftwork, or pursue hobbies and passions in music and dance. Autistic children may…
  • A young autistic boy on the left in a red shirt with his father in a striped blue and white shirt in a home balcony
    Close Encounters with Autism: A Dad's Journey Of Coming To Terms
    Ganesh Anantharaman reflects on his journey as a father of a teenager on the autism spectrum and coming to terms with the toughest question for an autism parent - What after us?  The toughest parenting question My son Ananth just turned 17. Each birthday, along with being a source of joy and celebration about how far he has progressed since his diagnosis and ongoing treatment from the time he was just 1.5 years old, is simultaneously also a source of many new questions and attendant…
Received a request for an OT in Patiala for a 2 year old child with Cerebral Palsy. Any suggestions, recommendations would be welcome Family currently going to PGI Chandigarh for doctor visits thanks 
People tend to develop their personalities from the different things that they get to know and do in their lives, which may also have an impact from time to time. People develop their personalities at all ages and it is a constant shift for every…
Vidya Sagar (Formerly, The Spastics Society of India), a 30 year old non-profit organisation working with  persons  with disabilities , is conducting a 2 Day Expo titled "VaccesS" @ Vidya Sagar, #1, Ranjith Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai - 600…
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