Remove barriers and enable the disabled
THE EDITOR, Madam:
THE PASSAGE of the Disability Regulation on October 6, 2020, to bring into effect the Disability Act of February 14, 2020, is a show that the Jamaican legislators have recognised disability as an aspect of identity that influences the experiences of an individual, and not as the sole defining feature of a person. While this is the beginning of a transformative process for the disabled community, there are still causes for concern. A government that is serious about the inclusion of the disabled community should not have allowed the passage of the regulation and the act to become law a decade after it was passed.
As non-disabled individuals, there are instances where we are faced with hardships that prove difficult to overcome. Imagine people with disabilities, these challenges, problems, and barriers are recurrent and significantly influence their lives. We have frequently seen disabled people being deprived of human wellbeing because of the extreme barriers of the environment through their absence or presence. Physical barriers include structural obstacles that obstruct or prevent mobility. Attitudinal barriers that cause stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and stigma. Social barriers related to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, learn, work, and the social determinant of health. And, lack of policy and transportation barriers that interfere with a person’s ability to be independent and function in society. In her book titled The Child who Never Grew, Pear Buck highlighted that she developed respect and reverence for every humankind, crediting her child for teaching her humility to fully comprehend that all people are equal, and that all have the same human rights. (Buck, P. S. 1992).
The Jamaican Government should realise that the social model of disability i ndicates that disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. To represent the disabled community in achieving inclusion, there ought to be an understanding of the relationship between the way people function and how they participate i n society. As individuals, let us display altruism to our community by identifying and addressing the barriers that affect the disabled from becoming engaged and participate in community activities as equally as a non-disabled person would. I nvolvement requires more than just encouragement; it requires lobbying with government agencies, legislators, and the business community to ensure that adequate policies and practices are in effect communitywide. No one should be considered less or mistreated because they are less able than others. The means of managing guilt is to seek the role of rescuers or heroes for members of the subordinate group as the sole victim of oppression and do this work for them.
JADEON JACKSON
University of Georgia
Ally for the Disabled