Respect colleagues with other abilities
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you see or meet a person with disability? Do you look at him or her with sympathy? Why do some consider people with disabilities as abnormal or strange? As some people, when they hear the word disability, immediately think of people who can’t walk, talk, see or do things people take for granted. Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn’t mean he lacks vision.
The Almighty Allah has created them with diverse characteristics and they have nothing to do with it. It’s their fate to have such disabilities. We know that Allah has taken something from them: their sense, organs or mind.
As studies and history show many people with disabilities are more talented and mentally superior than some normal and healthy people. We should not undermine any human no matter how he / she looks like. Being disabled doesn’t mean being disqualified from having access to every aspect of life. The world is blessed with many renowned inventors, scientists, actors and others more with disabilities.
Among those who served the world’s education movement since the 19th century until date is the American lecturer and creative author Helen Keller. Though both blind and deaf, she travelled over the world fighting for improvement in education and in the life of the physically handicapped. She also wrote dozens of books and several articles during her life span.
She never thought of her disability as an obstacle, but as a challenge to bring the best out of her. That is crystal clear in her statement: “I am conscious of a soul-sense that lifts me above the narrow, cramping circumstances of my life. My physical limitations are forgotten — my world lies upward, the length and the breadth and the sweep of the heavens are mine.”
World-famous American Hollywood actor Tom Cruise was suffering from dyslexia which is disability in reading. He was diagnosed with this problem since the age of 7 and he was trying to hide it from his peers. However, at the age of 19, when he embraced the love of acting, he worked hard on his disability and refused to let dyslexia stand in the way of his acting career.
Locally, we have many enthusiastic youth with different disabilities working in different spheres and contributing to the national development either in the public or private sectors or running their own business.
In order to support people with disabilities, public and private establishments should spare more efforts and dedicate special customer service to them. They should be accorded special care and consideration as some of them are unable to queue or wait for long to finish their matters.
Kindness is the only language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. It is essential that we all provide the best possible care for people with different disabilities in our society. Like all other normal people, disabled have their insight, energy and deep devotion to serve the nation in various walks of life.
Dear people with disabilities, don’t let others’ behaviour destroy your inner peace. It is not your fault if other people leave you because of your illness. You don’t have to apologise for something out of your control. You are to be seen not as disabled, but a person who has and will continue to bloom. Turn your disability into ability.