Raising Awareness on People with Disabilities

Historically, people with disabilities were given a side position in the society. In fact, it is not rare to hear close to hellish stories of how people with disabilities had to live in different societies in the world. Some societies had a belief that people with disabilities were a bad omen that would bring the downfall of the whole community. With that kind of setup, a disabled child or person faced a premature death organized by the community or side lined from the society. Sadly, this is due to lack of awareness of what disabled people really are.

People ought to have understood that disabled people are normal human beings who unlike every other person have to live with one or more inabilities. With their disability, the last thing they need is mistreatment from the society. Although the medieval societies were adamant at looking at disabled people differently, the stereotype against people with disabilities gradually changed into the world we have now. The only explanation is a group of people discovered that disabled people are nothing less than normal human being just like how the rest of humanity is. Apart from this discovery, they spread the message to the rest of the world.

Nevertheless, a little stereotype about people with disabilities still exists in the world. Article eight of the United Nations convention on people with disabilities aims at banishing any remaining form of stereotype. According to the stipulations of the article, countries must relentlessly raise awareness on the rights about people with disabilities, their capabilities and contributions to the society. Through education, campaigning, awareness raising programs and media, countries have to challenge prejudices and stereotypes levelled at people with disabilities.