The major growing concern in India and around the world is addressing issues of disparity and inequality. One of the major such areas is the rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. We have to recognise that the sheer magnitude of the problem requires the Government and the voluntary sector to work together hand in hand.
When Clinics reject seriously disturbed Children �in treatable' and normal Schools turn them out as �uneducable� most parents have little choice or no choice but to send their child to a mental hospital, which is a heart breaking decision or bring them up in isolation at home, where they are an exhausting burden of sorrow and worry for the entire family.The sense of burden grows out of a life long dependence of that Child on others. A child who cannot look after itself becomes a cause of concern for the parents as well as the community. It is usually the parents who suffer from a sense of guilt or depression. Sometimes, the society around looks with sense of pity or indifference or ridicule. At that time, it is construed to be some divine justice from the family and the community in which he or she is born. Sometimes out of ignorance, the family members and the community treat the child with utter apathy. We do not think of the immense potential in them, which could be harnessed for their betterment and that of the society at large. It should be appreciated that disability is not inability. We must know that the disabled are differently able. We usually forget that the disabled, who have different abilities can be gathered together to become a powerful work force and an asset to the nation. This would ensure that those with disabilities can live, work and enrich the quality of their lives. Denial of adequate attention would not only hamper the growth of the child, it would also become a source of anxiety to the society in future.
More over, in a developing country like ours, in addition to service centers for people with Mental Retardation, Cerebral Palsy, Blind, Deal, the family serves as the basic unit of social security. In a rapidly changing society, families have some under stress and strains of modern life. In order to preserve the family with its extended support system, the ties between close relatives, neighbors and friends need to be indispensably strengthed.
This Colossal problem needs a connected and integrated effort to provide at least minimal facilities and in this context not only must the central and state governments be much more responsive than they have been so far, but NGOs will have to play a major role.more Details...
