“Disability is not just a health problem”

“Disability is not just a health problem”

On International Day of persons with Disabilities 3rd December, this is the only message I would like to convey to public and professionals alike.

Theme for IDPD 2017: “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient society for all”

Disability has extensive generic meaning. It may refer to any state of existence that limits an individual to perform effectively and efficiently in her/his routines. In India, approximately 10% of population suffers from disabilities related to locomotion, vision, hearing and intellect as per the NSSO 2010 report.

The Rights of persons with Disabilities Bill- 2016 replaced the Persons with Disability act 1995 (India). This new bill has defined disability based on an evolving and dynamic concept. The types of disabilities have been increased from 7 to 21. Speech and Language disability and specific learning disability have been added for the first time in the 2016 bill. Following link gives a nutshell information http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=155592

Speech and language delay lead to communication disability. 
Communication delays can be due to primary presenting symptom of other physical, sensory or mental disability, commonest example being sensorineural deafness. However, it can also be associated with other forms of disabilities like Autism. Now with Speech and Language included as a separate disability, an ENT specialist and the team of audiologists and speech therapist cater for almost 40 % of the disabilities.

Children who suffer from speech, language and communication disorders in early childhood may face difficulty with language learning, education, social interaction, employment and beyond.

Let’s pledge that we work towards the early diagnosis and habilitation of these children and be a supportive society.

And for the professionals, let’s have an approach of treating disability and not a disease.