How does a person with disability look?

AMONG THE issues militating against the disabled community at some public and private business places is the question of how to identify a disabled person.

Sarah Newland-Martin, a double prosthetic user, said that ignorance on the part of some persons as to who is disabled is creating problems for them.

She shared with The Gleaner an incident in which security personnel at a business place challenged her claim of being disabled. “My sign is on the car, you know, and he would say, ‘Why are you parking there?’ When I come out, they disappear and then come back and say, ‘You don’t look disabled.’

“How does a person with a disability look? Newland-Martin said rhetorically. “They have in their mind that you have to have a dribbling mouth and a twisted hand. Worse, you shouldn’t be driving.

“I don’t wish for persons to become disabled to understand why it is that we need that sign. It’s just for easy access to get in and out.”

She said that the management at Sovereign Centre has been ver y accommodating to the disabled community. Newland-Martin said requests for handrails to be installed along stairs have been granted, and there are five spaces reserved for the disabled.

Debating a motion i n the Upper House i n December, last year, Senator Dr Floyd Morris, who is blind, drew attention to the challenges faced by the disabled who could not find parking in public spaces, as able-bodied persons often take over those reserved facilities.

He suggested that persons without disabilities who use facilities set aside for the disabled community should face sanctions.