Disability is an Art.

Disability is part of every society. There is no society without disabled persons. So far the expression disability surrounds the mentally ill, the visually disabled, people with behavioral and communication disabilities, the poor who cannot meet their fundamental needs, people with learning disabilities, physical and health problems. Such problems are a result of factors including infection by diseases, intoxication, genetic inheritance, war, starvation and accidents.

In the past, the Romans used the disabled as comedian to perform and entertain the rich and powerful. In most African societies, such people were supposed to be cursed by gods and were thrown and left to die in the backwoods.

During the rule of kings in Uganda, the incapable and other people with obvious kinds of disabilities were supposed to be “half-men” and were exempted from paying some taxes.
Exempting them from taxes is good, but regarding the disabled as “half-men” is wrong. All men are equal and therefore, should be treated equally without any kind of discrimination.

It’s a lucky thing to see that a high-quality number of local and international bodies give up their time and resources to promote the welfare of the disabled in Uganda. Some organizations are included like the National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), among others.

The government of Uganda is also working hard to ensure that the rights and welfare of the disabled are provided to. Like, through the Education Assessment Resource Services (EARS) program under the Ministry of Education, populations are informed on disability issues. Placement for children with disabilities is organized in or recommended to schools. In recent times, the government has made it possible for the disabled to be represented in the national parliament.

Despite attempts to promote the welfare of the disabled in Uganda, many of them still face problems like discrimination, lack of self-confidence, improperly trained teachers to handle their education and wheelchairs.

The government and local non-government organizations claim to be improving the welfare of the disabled, but some irregularities are still there, like discrimination, still present in almost all over the Uganda. There are so many disabled people in Kampala’s streets roasting by the sunshine every day and begging for survival. If such situations exist in Uganda’s capital, what about other parts of the country? In schools, there are no special toilets for the disabled. Therefore, most of the country’s disabled people are benefiting from the services of different organizations.

The government should pass an employment policy to make sure that the people with disabilities are given top priority in fields like education, accounting and law. Like a mathematic teacher on a wheelchair is as effective as one without any disability. The government should create special employment and radio programs for the disabled.

Local organizations dealing with disability issues should have disabled people on their management teams. This will provide a chance to have better understanding about the needs of the disabled people, to get them employed and reduce the misconduct of funds allocated to them.

Awareness of people about disability issues should be strengthen and done so regularly. This will help the disabled people to develop their self-confidence and overcome self-pity. Some disabled people have done this and used their disability as a blessing, utilizing their own potential. Like, some disabled Ugandan musicians like “Bucha man’ and Sam Gombya have won hearts because of the quality of their music.

A lot should to be done to improve the welfare of the disabled people. This should be everyone’s role and thus, discrimination and other barriers to positive living will become history soon.

Depression is a disabling disease that can affect a person’s work, mood, thoughts, family and school life, sleeping and eating habits, general health and aptitude to enjoy their life.
There are many types of depression like clinical depression, melancholic depression, and psychotic depression. Many people suffer from depression but don’t even understand that they are depressed.
Many people are suffering from depression but most of us don’t know about it.
If we have been feeling sad or unhappy for more than just a few of weeks and have no interest in most of the activities we used to enjoy and our daily lives are now being affected, then we could be suffering from some form of depression.
There are many signs linked with depression and everyone will not experience the same ones nor with the same degree of intensity. Thus, diagnose and treatment of depression can be a big problem as it is important to know about other possible causes of the symptoms like a primary medical condition.
One way to find out if we could be suffering from depression is to take a depression test. Depression tests are often used by health professionals to assess whether depression is indicated, and if so, how severe the depression might be.
There are many tests available but one of the most popular is the Goldberg test.

The Goldberg Depression Test:

This test was designed by Dr Ivan Goldberg and contains of 18 questions, each of which are answered by the individual using a sliding scale of responses based on how they have felt during the previous week.
This test can also be useful to check occasionally to see if the symptoms of depression are improving or getting worse as any change of 5 points or more in either direction is considered to be significant.

Allocate points to each question:

Not at all (0) A little (1) Somewhat (2) Moderately (3) Quite a lot (4) Very much (5)
Once all the questions are answered, the scores are added up to give a final score and an indication of whether depression is likely.

Depression Test Questions:

1 I do things slowly
2 My future appears hopeless
3 It is hard for me to concentrate on reading
4 The pleasure and fun has gone out of my life
5 I find it hard to make decisions
6 I have lost interest in things that used to be important to me
7 I feel unhappy, depressed and sad
8 I feel agitated and unable to relax
9 I feel tired
10 It takes a lot of effort for me to do simple things
11 I feel guilty and I deserve to be punished
12 I feel like a failure
13 I feel numb and lifeless, more dead than alive
14 My sleep is disturbed; I’m sleeping too much or too little
15 I spend time thinking HOW I can commit suicide
16 I feel trapped or confined
17 I feel depressed even when good things happen to me
18 I have lost weight or put it on without being on a diet

Score in the Depression Test

If our score was less than 9 then depression is not indicated.
Between 10 and 17 - possibly some minor depression
Between 18 and 21 - maybe on the verge of depression
Between 22 and 35 - minor to moderate depression indicated
Between 36 and 53 - moderate to severe depression possible
Over 54 - possibly suffering from severe depression.

Conclusion:

It’s important to remember that no test can give us a reliable diagnosis.
If we think we or someone is having signs of depression then we should seek professional advice for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate help.
Our GP will be able to discuss symptoms with us in detail and will be able to recognize other factors that might be influencing how we are feeling. If accurate diagnosis is made once then treatment options can be discussed.

Some people think that a few fat people 250lbs+ who get to collect disability benefits just for being fat but they blame it on back problems or some other lazy excuses.
It just goes to show how lazy they are and so they get a handout for eating and lying around. Some of those people really were lazy and abusing the system but people has made no attempt at trying to understand their situation.

So, that is not true. Fat people don’t want to be fat. It could be hormonal; it could be metabolism problem. It’s like telling an autistic kid that he is not reading or concentrating enough, and that’s what makes him autistic. Obesity really is a medical issue. It’s not as easy as starving yourself or running everyday. It is harder for some to lose weight than the others. This means that they do have some sort of actual medical problem preventing them from being physically able to work. It seems irrelevant that these medical problems occurred due to obesity because they do exist.

In disabled people, the fatness usually comes after the disability. Especially if we have a physical job and suffer an injury that forbids us from ever doing that job again, in one year, we’ll look like that we’ve spent ten years on the sofa in front of the TV.

some people, by the nature of their weight can get SSI just because they’re morbidly obese. That is obese enough for it to threaten our life. That’s usually about 350 and up on an average frame. Many people qualify for the surgeries, but their healthcare won’t cover it. There are medications that again, healthcare won’t cover. There all these medical advances for large people, but only the privileged few afford them.
So there is always a reason behind the fat. Some cases are pure laziness. But definitely not all, it’s not right to presume that all fat people are lazy. No one can collect disability or SSI without there being hard medical proof to back it up. Disability is the hardest benefit in the world to be granted. They have so many evaluations and scrutinizes, that are all put there to prevent fraud.
What do you think about it?

Some people have a paralyzed (from neck down) family member and dependent on a ventilator, they are completely helpless and there is a lot of work involved in caring for them properly and they have to have special supplies and medication with them to care for. They want to bring them on a trip with them to visit overseas, but they are not sure how they can care for them properly and make them as comfortable as possible on a very long airplane flight. They only want to take them on the trip if it will for sure be safe for them and if they will be able to have everything they need to take care of them properly on the airplanes. They always want to know that Are there special arrangements they could make with the airlines to bring them on the trip.

The best advice is to make sure they have everything planned and in place before they go. Most airlines are only too willing to help and will most of the time go out of their way to help them. They need to ring the airline well before they go and tell them all the details of the help their family member will need and what equipment they will be taking on the plane, especially in hand luggage. They do let them take extra liquids and extra hand luggage in the cabin as long as they have a signed letter from their doctor. They usually help them with everything once they get in the airport to leaving the airport at their destination. As long as they have planned ahead and made sure they have enough medical supplies for any delays they shouldn’t have any problems. If they have the correct documents from their doctors they should have no problems with airport security either. So call the airline and tell them the situation, regardless of what the doctor says (or if the doctor writes an order telling the airline things must be a certain way) the airline has the right to accept or reject. Bring as many extra supplies as the airline will allow in case something breaks or medicine is short.
In this way, it’s a hope that they have a good trip because airlines are required by law to accommodate disabled people.

Some people want to travel on plane with their autistic child but they are worried that if his or her behaviors get out of control, then flight crew would go to kick them off the plane. We know how difficult it can be traveling with a person who has special needs but we have some proposals about traveling on plane with an autistic child.

Its all depends on the severe ness of autism. First of all talk to his or her doctor. He may be able to prescribe a mild tranquilizer that will help him or her sleep during the flight.

Try to keep them as normal as a routine as possible and bring things he or she is familiar with such as a favorite toy, blanket and foods.

Take advantage of pre-boarding. Normally this is reserved for passengers traveling with small children or the disabled who need a few extra minutes to get seated. This way she or he can get on the plane before everyone else does and will have a minute or two to take in her or his new surroundings.

If they have an issue with strangers or people they don’t know, you may want to request a window seat for them so they only have to sit next to you, and they won’t have to deal with people walking up and down the aisle. You may want to request a wheelchair escort to your gate. At most airports this will allow them to go to the front of the security line or to a special line for disabled and first class passengers. This way they won’t have to stand in line with a bunch of strangers. Also, make sure that they wear shoes you can easily remove because they will have to take them off to go through security. You may want to let the security screeners know that they have special needs, especially if they have to go through any extra screening for different reasons.

Discuss his or her medical condition with the gate agent and flight crew. Often if they know ahead of time that a child may be difficult due to medical issues, they will ‘put up’ with more disruptive behavior than they would from a ‘normal’ child.
The biggest reason why they would remove them from the plane is if she or he is a danger to their self or others. So you should have a long talk with the airline counter agent first.

Definition of disability

A disability is a situation judged to be considerably damage comparative to the usual standard of an individual or group. The expression is used to refer to individual performance, physical injury, sensory injury, cognitive injury, intellectual injury mental illness, and various types of chronic disease are also included.

Kinds of Disabilities

Kinds of disabilities contain a variety of physical and mental disabilities that can trim down a person’s ability to carry out his everyday activities. These destructions can be expression as disability of the person to do his or her everyday activities.
“Disability” can be divided into a number of kinds, which contain the following:

Brain Disability

A disability in the brain happens because of a brain injury. The size of the brain injury can vary from mild, moderate and severe. There are two kinds of brain injuries:
Acquired Brain Injury (ABI)
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
Acquired Brain Injury is not a genetic type of fault but is the deterioration that takes place after birth.
The reasons of such cases of injury are many and are mainly because of outer forces applied to the body parts. Traumatic Brain Injury results in emotional dysfunction and behavioral disturbance.

Vision Disability

There are large numbers of people that experience minor to different serious vision injuries. These injuries can also outcome into several serious diseases like blindness and ocular trauma. Some of the common vision injury contains scratched cornea, scratches on the sclera, diabetes related eye conditions, dry eyes and corneal graft.

Invisible Disabilities

Invisible Disabilities are disabilities that are not at once evident to others. It is predictable that 10% of people in the U.S. have a medical condition measured a type of invisible disability.

Hearing disability

This group contains people that are completely or partly deaf. People who are partly deaf can often use hearing aids to support their hearing. Hearing disabilities can be evident at birth or take place later in life from some biologic causes, like Meningitis can hurt the auditory nerve.

Cognitive disability

It is a kind of disability that found in people who are suffering from dyslexia and different other learning difficulties. People having dyslexia face difficulties in reading, writing and speaking.

Mobility disability

This kind of disability contains people with unreliable kinds of physical disabilities like:
Upper limb(s) disability.
Lower limb(s) disability.
Manual dexterity.
Disability in co-ordination with different organs of the body.
Disability in mobility can be also an in-born or get with age problem. It could also be the effect of a disease. People who have a broken bone also include into this kind of disability.

Spinal Cord Disability:

It can sometimes guide to lifetime disabilities. This kind of injury generally happens because of serious accidents. The injury can be also complete or partial. In a partial injury, the messages conveyed by the spinal cord are not completely lost. On the other hand because of complete injury sensory organs are becoming totally out of function. In exceptional of cases spinal cord disability can be a birth fault.

80U (Deduction in respect of permanent disability (including blindness):

In computing the total income of an individual, being a resident, who, at the end of the previous year is suffering from a permanent physical disability or mental retardation specified in the rules made in this behalf by the board, which is certified by a physician, a surgeon, an oculist or a psychiatrist, as the case may be, working in a Government hospital, and which has the effect of reducing considerably such individual’s capacity for normal work or engaging in a gainful employment or occupation, they shall be allowed a deduction of a sum of forty thousand rupees (Rs.40,000).

Provided that such individual produces the aforesaid certificate before the Assessing Officer in respect of the first assessment year for which he claims deduction under this section.

The famous and living entity is Ramdev Baba, he had many physical defects including paralysis attack in the childhood, but after adopting Yoga he has overcome it.

Mr.Satish Gujral: famous artist and brother of ex prime minister IK Gujral, he was born hearing impaired and got a cochlear implant only a few years back but is a very successful painter and led a normal family life.

Mr.Ravindra Jain: famous music director and singer (visually impaired).

There is a badminton champion too who has hearing impairment.

And if we talk about the people with learning disability then many famous personalities have that though its not a visible disability and most don’t admit it but one person who does is….

Mr.Prahlad Kakkar- ad film maker/ scuba diver / restaurateur

If the young person is registered, “as a special educational needed person”, they automatically have yearly meetings, but if not what happens, what is the funding called and what is the process of transition for young disabled people in UK? Most of the young disabled persons in UK have these questions in their minds.

The process of transition should begin when the child is 14 years old at their annual reviews in their school. At these reviews there should be a social worker from the children with disabilities team and a representative from adult disabilities team (both from local authority). The adult service social worker may be a transition coordinator; someone from Connexios should also be there as they primarily give advice about further education.

Transition should be a planned event, whether the child is pursuing further education or other day placements.

Get in touch with your local authority and ask to speak to the children with disabilities social work team and ask for advice. When the young person is 18, they will need an assessment from the adult team under FACS (Fair Access To Care Services) and this will determine their eligibility for social care input and level of funding. If not eligible then funding would be private arranged.

There is a long list that shows the ways disabled people are treated positively and negatively. But here are some examples.

The ways disabled people should be treated Positively:

Treat them with respect.

See them as people first. The disability does not define who they are.

Talk directly to them instead of to the person accompanying them like: “Alice, what would you like to drink?” instead of “Mona, what does Alice drink?”

Don’t stare at them, but also don’t completely ignore them.

Acknowledge them like we would acknowledge other people.

Let them make their own decisions. Don’t decide what they can or cannot do (like: ask a person who uses a wheelchair if they want to go swimming with us instead of just assuming that they can’t.

Don’t help without asking first. Disabled People are able to do many things by themselves and don’t always need or want help. Constantly helping them when it’s not really needed and it can be annoy them, as this gives the impression you don’t think they are able to do anything without help.

The ways disabled people are treated Negatively:

Pretty much the opposite of the listed above. Like:

Treating a physically disabled person as if they were mentally challenged or dumb too. Treating a mentally ill person as dumb (mental illnesses have nothing to do with one’s IQ).

Treating disabled people like children.

Deciding things for the disabled person instead of letting them have a say in their own life.

Treating them as incapable or useless.
Pitying them. That is patronizing and gives the impression you think they are incapable of anything since they’re disabled.

Not giving them opportunities, assuming they can’t succeed.