Taking a strong view against the off-loading of a differently-abled 42-year-old female passenger from a Spicejet flight at Kolkata airport this past Sunday, disability rights organisations have criticised the action and demanded an apology from the airline.

Can you empower a person with disability by giving him a calliper and teaching him physiotherapy exercises? It is not props, but the creation of an inclusive society that can essentially empower differently abled persons.

The Asian Blind Union is hosting a three-day event at Hotel City Park in Pitampura here beginning this Monday to discuss problems faced by visually impaired women in the Asian region.

“Blind Women Meet” will be inaugurated by World Blind Union president Maryanne Diamond from Australia. The second day will see “Conference of Asian Blind Union”.

On the last day, general assembly of blind representatives from the Asian region will discuss organisational matters and election of the new team.

Until a few days ago, Arjun and Althaf, Std X students of SMV School were at the mercy of their teachers to learn their daily lessons. Unlike other students of their class who had no problem following the new textbooks with changed syllabus, visually-impaired Arjun and Althaf who have not yet received the Braille texts had been struggling to keep up with their friends. “Not any more,” said the boys showing their audio CD packs which had recordings of all the lessons for their coming exams.

Aiding learning

A total of 109 differently abled children attended the medical camp organised by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Vellore at the Block Resource Centre of Madhanur on Wednesday. This was part of the second phase of medical camps to be organised by SSA.

According to officials, 109 differently abled children in the age group of 1 to 18 years attended the camp. The camp covered physically challenged children, those with speech and hearing impairment and mentally challenged children from Madhanur and surrounding blocks.

ANDREW Follows is often seen holding on to his guide dog with one hand and his camera with the other.

‘‘People can often see me [and must be] thinking that doesn’t look right,’’ he laughs.

Born with a condition known as retinitis pigmentosa, Follows has no sight in his left eye and tunnel vision and cataracts in his right eye. He has just a metre of clear sight compared to the 70 metres a person with normal vision has.

Despite being legally blind, Follows is proving that those without sight can still have vision.

For those who grew up in the age before cable television when programmes aired on Doordarshan were the stuff that Sunday afternoons were made of, news broadcast in sign language would always remain etched in their minds.

Fast forward two decades later, the communication intended for the benefit of the hearing impaired is hard to come by on our television channels. Yet another sign of a society that excludes the concept of ‘inclusion', activists would concur.

Lack of awareness

Rekha Goyal, 23, lost her sight due to chickenpox when she was just three. But the fighter that she is, she educated herself at one of the best institutions and found employment in a bank.

With the help of her post-graduate education, and computer and English language skills learnt at the Venu Institute of Universal Education (VIUE), many visually impaired people like Goyal as well as those with other physical handicaps are successfully defying the stereotype that the physically challenged cannot be employed in regular jobs.