The Potential of the people with disabilities.
People with Disabilities are like any human being deserving of the rights enjoyed by all human beings. So there should be no nothing which can discriminate against any sphere of their life. Needless to say, the government made some noteworthy commitments in the last GDS and ratified UNCRPD as a part of its vision to build a welfare state considering the PWDs as a community with priority.
The government has taken initiatives such as Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh which if implemented well has the potential to garner significant output and enormously contribute to the development of economy. The government needs to inspire Bangladeshi people with disabilities that they can live a fulfilling life and live creatively like the Chinese man in the video above who made helicopters despite being a PWD.
In Bangladesh there are over 1 crore 60 lakh people with disabilities. Most of them are seen as a burden to society and live in a sorry state. They struggle to fulfill their basic needs and their caretakers who are mostly guardians seem hopeless with their condition. However this doesn’t need not be the case. Like many digital workers, for PWDs there’s reasonably good potential in online works such as graphic design, online marketing and data entry in which we see in the news stories of people with disabilities being able to be the breadwinner at home.
Then there’s more advanced skilled people with disabilities such those with proven drone making skills and running research and development organizations. These are the people with more skills than the average person and they deserve a platform and accessibility so that they can prove their worth.
Like many of us with great ideas, PWDs suffer due to lack of network, audience and the resources to implement them. They need to be given a platform where their ideas can be vetted, tweaked according to the market needs and trained with the skills as well as given the networking opportunities so that their ideas can be implemented.
A need exists for self help groups regularly organized by local social care to enable people with disabilities to form a network where they can help themselves by sharing their challenges and how to tackle them then exchange ideas and solutions.
Some children with disabilities could be hyper active. Parents and guardians need not worry about them if they can’t go to class and sit without moving. Let them play and improve their motor skills. They learn better through play and experimentation not through forceful sitting in class and following the instruction of the teachers and conform to the rest of the class.
Those suffering from Attention Deficiency and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be directed towards excellence in sports and establishing businesses in which they succeed. Those with amputated legs and hands can be directed towards excellence in singing, poem recitation or reading.
These days several apps and computer programs exist to allow amputated people to work in data entry through dictation. There’s also opportunity in arts such as in drawing and pantomime for those with hearing impairment and the mute community as well as storytelling and singing for the blind.
It’s noteworthy that in certain jobs with high noise pollution needing menial labor, the PWDs with hearing impairment have proved to be loyal and the most suitable option for employment as they can work tirelessly and not get affected by the high noise level. There are several scenarios like this where PWDs can shine and reach excellence.
Decentralizing health care so that the rural people can benefit and access it from their community is also important as it will diagnose and deal with problems early. This will save time, energy and money which will be better allocated for improving their standard of living and creating solutions for the problems and challenges faced by people with disabilities.
Mobility is a great challenge as almost all buses, trains and ships don’t have facilities for accommodating the large PWD community. Developing accessibility for them would not only result in job creation but also lead to international opportunities such as participating in industrial design and development competitions as well as research in this field.
Gaining a job which is preferably meaningful and offering a living wage is a priority as it gives a purpose in life along with the chance to look forward to a constructive day and the opportunity to perform chores that would be beneficial.
Time management skills of the PWD will be sharpened and they will less likely feel depressed and useless in the community. Moreover the community will benefit from not only gainful employment but also feel gratitude for having a productive person who enables people around them to be grateful for the blessings bestowed upon them.
The market in which the people with disabilities worldwide consume is worth over a trillion dollars. In Bangladesh there’s potential to serve the local market for people with disabilities and we need to train PWD with the skills necessary to serve each other's needs as much as possible and create a self-sufficient economy by themselves.
The government as well as NGOs and social businesses should invest in smart students from the PWDs community who have the potential to contribute significantly in the economy. They should be given resources to reach their potential and gain skills and knowledge even from abroad as part of the nation's development target to become a knowledge based economy. Their know-how will help the country either through remittances or establishment of tech transfers in critically important industries which will generate employment and income as well as develop a competitive edge for the country.
Why not have PWDs as members of parliament or ministerial level? It shouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to see PWDs as president and/ or Prime Minister as they have already proved successful being world class business people, innovators and change makers. If a Chinese person with disability can make helicopters then surely in countries like ours we can have PWD achieve their full potential in our country too.
The government has taken initiatives such as Digital Bangladesh and Smart Bangladesh which if implemented well has the potential to garner significant output and enormously contribute to the development of economy. The government needs to inspire Bangladeshi people with disabilities that they can live a fulfilling life and live creatively like the Chinese man in the video above who made helicopters despite being a PWD.
In Bangladesh there are over 1 crore 60 lakh people with disabilities. Most of them are seen as a burden to society and live in a sorry state. They struggle to fulfill their basic needs and their caretakers who are mostly guardians seem hopeless with their condition. However this doesn’t need not be the case. Like many digital workers, for PWDs there’s reasonably good potential in online works such as graphic design, online marketing and data entry in which we see in the news stories of people with disabilities being able to be the breadwinner at home.
Then there’s more advanced skilled people with disabilities such those with proven drone making skills and running research and development organizations. These are the people with more skills than the average person and they deserve a platform and accessibility so that they can prove their worth.
Like many of us with great ideas, PWDs suffer due to lack of network, audience and the resources to implement them. They need to be given a platform where their ideas can be vetted, tweaked according to the market needs and trained with the skills as well as given the networking opportunities so that their ideas can be implemented.
A need exists for self help groups regularly organized by local social care to enable people with disabilities to form a network where they can help themselves by sharing their challenges and how to tackle them then exchange ideas and solutions.
Some children with disabilities could be hyper active. Parents and guardians need not worry about them if they can’t go to class and sit without moving. Let them play and improve their motor skills. They learn better through play and experimentation not through forceful sitting in class and following the instruction of the teachers and conform to the rest of the class.
Those suffering from Attention Deficiency and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can be directed towards excellence in sports and establishing businesses in which they succeed. Those with amputated legs and hands can be directed towards excellence in singing, poem recitation or reading.
These days several apps and computer programs exist to allow amputated people to work in data entry through dictation. There’s also opportunity in arts such as in drawing and pantomime for those with hearing impairment and the mute community as well as storytelling and singing for the blind.
It’s noteworthy that in certain jobs with high noise pollution needing menial labor, the PWDs with hearing impairment have proved to be loyal and the most suitable option for employment as they can work tirelessly and not get affected by the high noise level. There are several scenarios like this where PWDs can shine and reach excellence.
Decentralizing health care so that the rural people can benefit and access it from their community is also important as it will diagnose and deal with problems early. This will save time, energy and money which will be better allocated for improving their standard of living and creating solutions for the problems and challenges faced by people with disabilities.
Mobility is a great challenge as almost all buses, trains and ships don’t have facilities for accommodating the large PWD community. Developing accessibility for them would not only result in job creation but also lead to international opportunities such as participating in industrial design and development competitions as well as research in this field.
Gaining a job which is preferably meaningful and offering a living wage is a priority as it gives a purpose in life along with the chance to look forward to a constructive day and the opportunity to perform chores that would be beneficial.
Time management skills of the PWD will be sharpened and they will less likely feel depressed and useless in the community. Moreover the community will benefit from not only gainful employment but also feel gratitude for having a productive person who enables people around them to be grateful for the blessings bestowed upon them.
The market in which the people with disabilities worldwide consume is worth over a trillion dollars. In Bangladesh there’s potential to serve the local market for people with disabilities and we need to train PWD with the skills necessary to serve each other's needs as much as possible and create a self-sufficient economy by themselves.
The government as well as NGOs and social businesses should invest in smart students from the PWDs community who have the potential to contribute significantly in the economy. They should be given resources to reach their potential and gain skills and knowledge even from abroad as part of the nation's development target to become a knowledge based economy. Their know-how will help the country either through remittances or establishment of tech transfers in critically important industries which will generate employment and income as well as develop a competitive edge for the country.
Why not have PWDs as members of parliament or ministerial level? It shouldn’t be a far-fetched idea to see PWDs as president and/ or Prime Minister as they have already proved successful being world class business people, innovators and change makers. If a Chinese person with disability can make helicopters then surely in countries like ours we can have PWD achieve their full potential in our country too.
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