Small details make all the difference for the disabled
Community project explores their world and 'trains the trainers' to help alter mindsets
By Jessica Cheam May 07, 2007
RAMPS that take the disabled three times longer to get around, stainless steel flooring at MRT stations that gets slippery when it rains.
These might seem like insignificant details, but to people with disabilities, they make all the difference.
The point was made by Disabled People's Association (DPA) president Leo Chen Ian yesterday at a new community project called Explorations In Disability (EiD).
'People don't realise that wheelchair-users feel useless when trying to negotiate these spaces. They feel lost, not because of themselves, but because of the limitations of the environment,' said the 33-year-old.
But Dr Teo Ho Pin, coordinating chairman of the People's Action Party (PAP) town councils, said yesterday that 'there are many factors at play when deciding how and where to build barrier-free access features such as ramps'.
'We do consider the time taken by users, but a variety of factors such as lack of land, underground cables, cost and the existing built environment also have to be taken into consideration,' Dr Teo told The Straits Times separately.
This issue was one of many raised at the four-day EiD programme, being held over two weekends starting last Saturday.
This 'train the trainers' project is the first of its kind for organiser Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC), whose partners are the National Institute of Education and DPA.
Nineteen volunteers, from voluntary welfare organisations to grassroots groups, are in training now to deepen their understanding of people with disabilities, and become 'messengers' for the public in the future.
Come July, they will become trainers and conduct public workshops to help change public mindsets about disability.
This is in line with the vision outlined by the recent 'Enabling Masterplan' unveiled by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports in February: for Singapore to be an inclusive society where persons with disabilities are viewed as equal and contributing members of society.
The 14 PAP town councils plan to retrofit public housing estates with elderly- and disabled-friendly facilities like ramps and railings by 2011.
To gain a deeper understanding, volunteers experienced what it was like to be wheelchair-bound for a day, while carrying out daily tasks such as buying a meal or getting to an MRT station.
One of the volunteers, security officer Lim Say Joon, 51, said that for the first time, he truly understood what they felt on a daily basis.
DPA's Mr Chen added that he hoped the programme would create a 'chain effect' and garner more support from the public to help the disabled feel more included.
No comments:
Post a Comment