A large part of the project is still on the drawing board. Those engaged in it call it “Museum Of Possibilities”. It suggests a pit-stop of positivity and new direction in an otherwise disheartening journey that is often rudely interrupted by roadblocks.
It is a space where persons with disabilities (PwDs) would be able to explore the possibilities lying before them. It would present assistive and adaptive devices that would help them meet the everyday challenges of workaday life, at home, work and elsewhere.
It is a project of the State Commissionerate for the Welfare of the Differently Abled and the “museum” is coming up on a space at the ground floor of the Commissionerate’s office on Lady Wellingdon college campus on Kamarajar Salai.
“The museum space has been constructed, and the museum experience will be curated in consultation with experts from civil society and taking inspiration from models across India and abroad. The museum will have state-of-the-art components that would benefit PwD,” says Johny Tom Varghese, State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities.
Varghese adds that they are open to the best practices from anywhere.
To a question, he says that they will also take a look at what Sambhav centres across the country have to offer. Sambhav has centres that introduce PwD to aids and assistive devices, and it is project of The National Trust (for the welfare of of persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities). The Trust has been instituted under the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, which in turn comes under the purview of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
