Accessibility

Bondi Hipsters’ Nick Boshier stars as a man living ‘without specialty’ in a world where disability is the norm

Physical disability will no longer be grounds to prevent a person from becoming a doctor, bringing the curtain down on a two-decade-long battle between specially-abled students and India’s medical studies regulator.

Sunday will be the sixth time in the last eight years that I’ve run the marathon in New York as a guide runner for runners with disabilities, always under the auspices of Achilles International. The mission of the organization is “to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream running events in order to promote personal achievement.”

Matt Berry is 23, a talented drummer, singer and aspiring DJ who has just landed his first residency at a new club night. He also happens to have a learning disability – but at this particular club night, any differences are left at the door.

When I got a cochlear implant seven years ago, after being profoundly deaf for my entire life, hearing friends and acquaintances started asking me the same few questions: Had I heard music yet? Did I like it? What did it sound like?

The lovely smell of freshly baked goodies greets visitors to Bake With Dignity’s shop in Bandar Sunway. The brainchild of NGO Dignity and Services which focuses on persons with learning disability, Bake With Dignity aims to help create opportunities for such young adults to be self-sufficient.

Riding a bicycle from the city of Xishuangbanna in southwest China’s Yunnan province on the border with Laos, to Beijing 5,800km away, would be quite a challenge for most people. Even more so when doing it without the use of your legs.

Job Coaches will often prepare a pictorial album for Persons With Disability (PWD) as part of their work training programmes. They will also guide the disabled on which public transport to take and where to alight. These are among the tasks of a Job Coach programme which was launched in 2012 by the Social Welfare Department for PWD.

It was a perfect Deepavali gift for 12-year-old Munisha Ragawan, who has suffered from hearing problems since birth. The girl from Tampin, Negri Sembilan, can now hear clearly thanks to a hearing aid donated by Persatuan Kebajikan Bestari Tampin.

PEOPLE with disabilities would have better mobility and job opportunities if they could receive a tax waiver or subsidy on a new vehicle. The suggestion was made by Ahmad Faresh Ahmad Zahid, 47, a person with disabilities who operates the country’s first disabled-friendly Perodua car showroom which opened in 2012 at Taman Wahyu, Batu Caves.