General

Delhi govt schools to open resource rooms for kids with special needs

In a first, the government schools in Delhi will soon have “resource rooms” dedicated to providing special education training to children with disabilities (CwD), individually or in a small group. The rooms will be used to provide supplementary education for these children along with regular inclusive classes.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) has asked all the government schools to provide at least one session a day in these resource rooms to children with mild and moderate educational needs and at least two sessions to those having several special needs.

Funding cuts take toll on support for visually impaired pupils

Thousands of children and young people with vision impairment (VI) are being failed because of a shortage of funds for specialist education services, research by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has found.

Less than half (44%) of councils in England have either cut or frozen funding for educational support for VI children, putting specialist provision under significant pressure, according to the RNIB report.

Some makeup tips for blind people to look great this Diwali

Everybody loves to look beautiful and attractive. With the festive season round the corner, we have family and friends coming over to celebrate. This is the time when we must wear the best clothes and look great.

We have a lot of makeup brands available in the market today. Makeup is an art and every skin type is different. Hence, knowing your skin type and choosing makeup accordingly is important.

We have a lot of national and internally acclaimed blind fashion bloggers and YouTube video experts who talk about how blind people can apply makeup with ease.

Disability activists’ harassment at Kolkata Airport continues to evoke outrage

The harassment faced by three leading disability rights activists at Kolkata Airport highlights just how far behind we are when it comes to making travel accessible and hassle free for people with disabilities in India. Despite sensitisation campaigns, the fact that such incidents continue to be reported across major airports is disheartening.

Article 15 of Indian Constitution Needs Amendment: UN Committee Experts

INDIA: The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is composed of 18 international independent experts, who monitor implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the findings or Concluding Observations. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has published its findings on India which it adopted during the 22^nd Session of the Working Group of the Committee in September 2019.

Apple Watch & Disability: Accessibility Reviews from Users with Disabilities

This is about the Apple Watch and Disability. There are accessibility reviews and opinions by users with disabilities. You will also find a table that compares the Apple Watch Series 5 with the Series 3.

Across constituencies, no friendly booths for differently abled voters

Many differently-abled voters said they found it tough to cast their vote at different polling stations in the district on Monday. Some didn’t find a Braille electronic voting machine (EVM) or voter identity slip, others found doors of polling booths locked and some had to walk inside the booth with their crutches due to the absence of wheelchairs.

My experience with TOEFL: differential treatment, outright discrimination

Double or differential standards is perhaps a common thing in India so far as discriminating on the basis of disability is concerned. Persons with disabilities are often classified separately from their non-disabled counterparts, to deny them equal rights; or to strangulate a person by placing so many additional requirements, it becomes impossible to fulfill all of them even with all the Divyang powers one has.

Making a difference by lighting up Diwali for the less fortunate

With Diwali approaching, we all are gearing up to celebrate the festival of lights with our loved ones. While we have plenty of options to choose from, there are a few among us who may not have everything easy. Yet, they are putting in their best to enjoy festivities and are also working towards helping others have a good time too. Here’s what these Pune-based organisations are doing to help the less fortunate celebrate a memorable Diwali.

A chocolate affair: Niwant Andh Mukt Vasanalay

No data on disability

THE 2017 census shows that only 0.48 per cent of Pakistanis are persons with disability. Assuming a population of 210 million, this comes to about 1m Pakistanis. Sample-based surveys show that the percentage of Pakistanis with disability is around 12pc or slightly more. This comes to about 25m Pakistanis. There is a massive difference between 1m and 25m people. Planning for a million people is very different from planning for 25m. Numbers matter. Getting accurate numbers matters.