Differently abled

Differently abled

Until recently, when people spoke of the blind, the lame, the crippled, the deaf and the dumb, they used the words “handicapped” or “disadvantage”. Now, the words differently abled, disabled, disability and disabilities are used when discussing people with physical problems. The medical term is Disabled, but because of its negative sound, DIFFERENTLY ABLED is considered a more positive term. We have used both terms in this lesson.

Today, in addition to focusing on the problems of people who are differently abled, researchers are also concentrating on the problems faced by disabled women, who are perceived to be doubly disadvantage: first as women, and secondly as disabled.

In Sri Lanka, people tend to either ignore people with disabilities or to make a big fuss about them, leading to immense embarrassment for sensitive people. The objective of this is to make you aware that as far as posibile, we should aim to make life normal for people with disabilities. To be singled out in society for being disabled is a form of discrimination which should be discouraged.

Another aspect of disabilities, in the Sri Lankan context, is the plight of the disabled soldiers. They are war heroes at one level, but in terms of daily life, our society is not geared to look after the disabled. For example public buildings in Sri Lanka rarely have wheelchair access, unlike in developed countries, where facilities for the disabled are legally enforced in public buildings.