When you see someone who is disabled, what comes to your mind? Do you think differently of people who have disabilities? What do you think those with disabilities are thinking? These questions always play on our minds when we see disabled people. It’s hard not to judge people when you know they can’t do the things most people can do. For example, you see a blind man, can you say right then and there that he has no future because of his vision impairment? Of course not! For all you know, that blind man has more skills, knowledge, and talents than you do.
Is it natural for people to be judgmental toward individuals with disabilities? People may tend to be judgmental, but if they knew what it must be like to have impairments, I bet they will have new perspectives in life. And this is what disability awareness programs are all about.
Disability awareness programs are designed and delivered with the purpose of reducing the barriers and increasing the understanding, acceptance, and inclusion for those with disabilities within our community. Disability awareness programs aim to: Challenge some of our general assumptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs regarding disability and diversity. Educating the public by providing a more realistic, practical, and positive picture of people with disabilities. Providing sensible suggestions on how to interact more comfortably and confidently to those with impairments
Disability awareness programs are as important to children as it is to adults. Why? Look back in your childhood years when you were still studying. It is the time where your confidence and understanding to things were shaped. There is no better way or place to start learning about disability awareness programs than your early years. If kids started to realize and appreciate the feelings, difficulties and hardships of disabled person while they were still young, the world will be a better place for who are more like us than different.
There are good activities in disability awareness programs that can make you realize that such programs have a lot of things to be learned and brought to light. Life as kid can be hard, especially when you can’t participate in the most basic of activities, or obtain the things you want, yes, the life of a kid is hard and being a kid with a disability makes it even harder.
Try to imagine for a second what a child with disabilities has to go through during school days. Or even imagine for a moment an adult, dealing with the daily struggles of bills to pay, a love life or lack thereof and even self image and self-esteem. With constant thoughts of how can I be beautiful in this situation? How can I pay bills when no one would give me a job?
For persons living with a disability, being disabled is a part of their everyday life, but its something another individual may be experiencing for the first time during a disability awareness event or activity. The initiative to disability awareness programs are to help individuals understand the daily life of someone with an impairment such as how hard it is to draw when you cannot see or even have functionality of your hands. There are so many things you can learn and discover when you participate in disability awareness programs.
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