Differently abled people in Pakistan are finally being judged on their abilities rather their disabilities
By Arbab Ibrahim, Hawwa Fazal, Yamna Masood, Zaimal Mastikhan & Tooba Hameed
“As I held my degree in my hand, my only fear was that I might not get a job because of my disability. Surprisingly though, people at my work place proved me wrong,” expressed a disabled person in Karachi through sign language, due to his hearing impairment. He has worked as a graphic designer at a local news channel for few years and now helps his father run his transportation business.
Pakistan is on the trajectory of growing from being an underdeveloped country to a developing country, where people have begun to consider differently abled people as a talent and not a waste. Today, differently abled people have better chances at education and employment at various posts in every sector. Those who aren’t are self-employed.
Imran Noor, a rickshaw driver, sets a good example for such people. He is handicapped but his disability never became a hurdle for him in achieving his dreams and aspirations. Noor shared that he felt his family treated him as a ‘nobody’ and everyone felt sorry for him. “So I decided to be a self-made man and introduce a system of employment for the handicapped,” he said.
Imran successfully designed a functional rickshaw for the handicapped with the support of a Non-Government Organization, Network of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities Pakistan (NOWPDP). Currently, he is training a bunch of handicapped young boys, enabling them to live an independent life, like he envisioned for himself.
According to Family Educational Services Foundation (FESF), job opportunities for the deaf are driven by five per cent quota from the government, as well as through Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives (CSR) initiatives by assorted corporations. Some corporate entities like have recently joined the league.
“They’re diligent people who know how to work with dexterity and proficiency; however, very few companies have realized that. These people are in no way lesser than any other normal working person,” asserted Naila Karim, communications manager at FESF.
“The economy is in crisis and jobs are hard to find, but even then some of these differently abled people are employed at government jobs while others have years of experience working in corporate offices,” added Karim.
Although Pakistan is a signatory to almost all of the international conventions that instruct member states to alleviate the problems of the disabled, there has been a consistent lack of interest in the issue from successive provincial and federal governments.
However, Sindh Government introduced a new Act, the Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018, which serves as a visionary step in the right direction. It defines the disabilities clearly, in contrast to the previous recognition practice of four disabilities i.e. hearing impairment, visual impairment, physical impairment and mental retardation. The new Act has defined new disabilities like Autism, Dyslexia, Down Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorders, and other neurological disorders, even though there is still not enough awareness about some of these.
The Act takes a drastic shift towards how disability is perceived today. Changing perceptions holds paramount importance as it has the power to dictate social norms and behaviours framing mindsets, subsequently. In previous times a charity model was followed, whereby the differently abled were seen at a disadvantage and needed to be chaperoned all the time. However, the new model portrays them as an equal part of the society. It has paved a new way to combat negative attitudes and systematic barriers.
It gives them equal right for exclusive education, instructing schools to enroll them without discrimination, and make necessary adjustments to facilitate them. Under the Act, special and exclusive school teachers would be entailed to detect learning and intellectual disabilities at an early stage. This would enable pedagogical alterations, along with accessibility of persons with disabilities (PWDs) at public places, including polling stations.
Sindh Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Act 2018 was also impactful in the positioning and placement of the differently abled in various reputed organizations.
While our government organizations have recently shown concern in changing lives of the disabled, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have stood steadfast in uplifting conditions of the disabled population of the country. In fact, for a long time, organizations like NOWPDP, KDSP (Karachi Down Syndrome Program), KVTC (Karachi vocational training center) and FESF (Family Educational Services Foundation) were the only source of help for the PWDs.
“I was a young deaf boy who knew getting jobs wasn’t a piece of cake, especially for people like me who are differently abled. During these hard times, FESF appeared like a silver lining for me by helping me get my first job. To date, they stand as a mentoring institution that edifies hearing impaired people in the corporate sector by teaching them sign language,” signed Ali Noonari, while he conducted a class in the Gul Ahmed Teaching Center for the Deaf.
These respective NGOs have been working for decades to uplift the lives of disabled people. Such organizations provide education and skill training to the disabled so that they may utilize their capabilities to the fullest and prepare themselves for the challenges of the real world.
This has also assisted parents to connect with their special children, by giving them basic training on tackling day-to-day challenges with their child.
“KDSP has helped develop and enhance the skill set of my child. This institution plays an integral part when it comes to educating me and my child about the syndrome,” says Muniza Durrani, whose child is a patient of Down Syndrome.
In spite of all these constructive changes in the policy-making of the government and the demeanor of general public, it seems like we still have to a long way ahead in accepting the differently abled at workplaces and more importantly in our mindsets.
As Daulat Asif Visram, a founding member of KVTC, correctly said, “Pakistan still awaits a time when we’ll shed all our biases aside and provide equal opportunities to differently abled people around us”.
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