Disabilities such as deafness can give rise to mental health problems such as depression.
Prime Minister Sibusiso Barnabas Dlamini said in the real world disabled people were more prone to mental challenges such as frustration stress through communication and physical access barriers.
He made these remarks when opening the 3rd Africa Contact Group of Mental Health and Deafness. The theme of the conference is ‘working together for a better future for deaf people.’
Dlamini said if everyone could support the ancient maxim that a problem shared was a problem halved, everyone could understand how essential it was to be able to communicate the cause or symptoms of depression and how much of a challenge that represented to a deaf person.
“Arrangements need to be in place for the deaf people in our respective countries so that they are able to communicate, have equitable experiences of, and outcomes from health and other services, “he said.
The PM said the gift of hearing was one such facility which was often not fully appreciated until it was lost. He said whether through age or some medical complaint, hearing impairment was a challenging deficiency with which to deal. “Deafness is not an immediately visible disability and this frequently leaves the deaf misunderstood and lacking the necessary sympathy and support, “he added.
Disability has historically been regarded
predominantly as a health and welfare issue and state
intervention has, therefore, been channeled through
welfare institutions.
The responsibility for 'caring' for people with
disabilities has thus generally fallen on civil society.
There has been little or no commitment to addressing
disability in other areas of government
responsibility.
Mobilise
People with disabilities in Swaziland came together in
the early 90s mobilise and organise themselves. Their
aims was to build a strong movement of organisations
controlled by people with disabilities themselves moving
away from the medical model of disability where
organisations for people with disabilities are controlled
by people with no disability who provide services to
people with disabilities creating dependence and focus on
the nature of impairment. Thus the dependency created by
the medical model disempowers people with disabilities
and isolates them from the mainstream of society,
preventing them from accessing fundamental social,
political and economic rights.
With the social model, an understanding of disability
as a human rights and development issue leads to a
recognitions and acknowledgement that people with
disabilities are equal citizens and should therefore
enjoy equal rights and responsibilities. This implies
that the needs for every individual are of equal
importance, and that needs must be made the basis for
planning. It further implies that resources must be
employed in such a way as to ensure that every individual
has equal opportunities for participation in society.
In addition to rights, people with disabilities should
have equal obligations within society and should be given
the support necessary to enable them to exercise their
responsibilities. This means that society must raise its
expectations of people with disabilities.
A human rights and development approach to disability
focuses on the removal of barriers to equal participation
and the elimination of discrimination based on
disability.
Disadvantages
The social model of disability suggests that the
collective disadvantage of people with disabilities is
due to a complex form of institutional discrimination.
This discrimination is fundamental to the way society
thinks and operates.
The social model is based on the belief that the
circumstances of people with disabilities and the
discrimination they face are socially created phenomena
and have little to do with impairments of people with
disabilities.
The disability movement right believes, therefore,
that the "cure" to the "problem" of disability lies in
restructuring society. The social model of disability
implies a paradigm shift in how we construct disability,
thus:
It is the stairs leading into a building that disable
the wheelchair user rather than the wheelchair.
It is defects in the design of everyday equipment that
cause difficulties, not the abilities of people using
it.
It is the society's lack of skill in using and
accepting alternative ways to communicate that excludes
people with communication disabilities
It is the inability of the ordinary schools to deal
with diversity in the classroom that forces children with
disabilities into special schools.
Shortcomings
The social model therefore emphasises two things: the
shortcomings of society in respect of disability, and the
abilities and capabilities of people with disabilities
themselves.
This results in an approach that requires that
resources be made available to transform so-called
"ordinary" amenities and services to cater for a more
diverse environment.
The social model, therefore, implies that the
reconstruction and development of our society involves a
recognition of and intention to address the development
needs of people with disabilities within a framework of
inclusive development. Nation building, where all
citizens participate in a single economy, can only take
place if people with disabilities are included in the
process.
Source: www.observer.org.sz
