A self-advocacy meeting focusing on the fundamental right to a dignified life for people with intellectual disabilities, organised by Intact Special School Trust in association with the Advocacy Club and Free Legal Aid Cell in the city on Saturday, reiterated the need for society and the authorities to take the recommendations of the 1995 Disability Act seriously, and to implement them where possible.
The meeting was attended by special educators, advocates, children with special needs, and their care-givers and parents.
Parthiban, national secretary, Self-Advocacy Forum of India (SAFI), spoke about how people with intellectual disabilities could assert themselves and demand dignity.
“We need a group like SAFI because only when you get the right to decide for yourself, can we ask for others. The differently-abled need respect, first from their family, which will ensure that they get it from the world outside,” he said.
He outlined some of the other aspects that governed self-advocacy, such as the right to vote, money management, right to privacy, and advised parents to plan ahead for their differently-abled children’s future.
“Those who are employed, and can manage their disability, should get married when they are emotionally mature, because the person with intellectual disability needs a life partner and supporter besides his or her parents,” he said. “Only a person with intellectual disabilities can understand what their community is going through, and so it is important for him or her to be trained in articulating their demands,” said S. Martin, senior advocate in the presidential address.
“Tiruchi will become a truly ‘smart’ city only when it creates an environment accessible to the differently-abled,” he added.
The meeting examined the issue of the employability of persons with intellectual disabilities. Despite the quotas suggested in the 1995 Disability Act, these were still to be implemented by public and private enterprises, said Mr. Martin.
Karuna Ebenezer, principal, Intact Special School, spoke.
SAFI was established in 2008 by Parivaar - National Confederation of Parents Organisations (NCPO), a confederation of over 180 parental associations and non-governmental organisations in 28 States of India working for people with intellectual disability, autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.
