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Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training
2. Understanding disability

2
Understanding disability

A. Who are persons with disabilities?

Persons with disabilities are men and women, boys and girls. Roughly ten per cent of the total population is estimated to have a disability, meaning that some 300 million people are disabled in the Asia Pacific region alone. We are mostly unaware of the significant number of disabled people because they are rarely seen in public. They keep away because of embarrassment and others’ unease in their presence. They may be kept out of sight by their families due to their fear of disgrace or because of overprotectiveness. People with disabilities are also sidelined due to lack of access to public transport and buildings.

Like those without disabilities, people with disabilities are not a homogeneous group. They differ in their individual personalities, abilities, aspirations, cultural affiliations, employment opportunities, and types of disabilities. These disabilities may be physical, sensory, intellectual, or psychological. The degree of the disability may also differ.

B. Terms commonly used

Disabled people, people with disabilities	People with all types of disabilities.

Physical disability	Any lack of ability to perform an activity within the range considered normal for a human being, resulting from the inability to move or use certain parts of the body.

Intellectual disability	This disability is defined by a person’s capacity to learn and by what they can or cannot do for themselves. People with intellectual disabilities are identified by low scores in intelligence tests and by their poor social competence. They usually need people to look after their basic needs and protect them from common dangers. Intellectual disability is sometimes referred to as mental handicap, mental retardation, or learning disability.

Sensory disability	Any lack of ability to perform an activity within the range considered normal for a human being resulting from hearing impairment or visual impairment.

Mental Illness	Mental illness refers to disturbed thought, feelings, perceptions and/ or behaviour. Unlike intellectual disability, people can recover from mental illness, sometimes by themselves, sometimes through medication and psychotherapy. Mental illness is sometimes referred to as psychiatric disability or mental health difficulty.

Hidden disabilities	Disabilities which are not obvious at all times, e.g. epilepsy, diabetes.

C. Causes of disability

Ignorant of the causes of disability, some communities believe that disability is punishment for past wrongdoing either by the disabled person or by the family or ancestors. Both the disabled person and the family face rejection by their communities. It is no wonder then that in such cultures families hide their disabled members from the public.

There are many causes of disability. People can be born disabled; disability can also be acquired at any later stage of life. The leading causes of disability in the developing countries of the Asia Pacific region are:

malnutrition
disease
poor perinatal care
accidents
violence.

These are responsible for about 70 per cent of all disabilities in those countries. However, many common disabilities can be prevented – and are being prevented – through effective development efforts. Improved general economic conditions, increased access to basic education, better health care, and greater awareness have all helped to prevent disability.

D. Impairment, disability, and handicap

Three words are important in understanding and working with disabled people.

The word impairment means a limitation in a function, such as seeing, hearing, thinking, or moving. For example, a person with a visual impairment has limited ability to see and we say that person is visually impaired. The limitation may range from not being able to see at all to not being able to read normal print. Another cannot hear and we say that person is hearing-impaired. Again the loss of hearing may be partial or total.
The word disability is a general term which refers to any restriction, or lack of ability to perform an activity in the range considered normal for a human being. It summarizes a great number of functional limitations occurring in any population, in any country. People may be disabled by physical, intellectual, or sensory impairment, medical conditions or mental illness. Such impairments may be temporary or permanent, reversible or irreversible, and progressive or regressive.
The word handicap means the loss or limitation of opportunities to take part in the life of the community as others do. It can arise for example from the way in which the built environment is designed, information is provided, or services are organized. For example, a woman who has lost the use of her legs cannot use the squat toilets that are so common in Asia: she has a handicap when it comes to using that type of toilet.

Understanding the use of these words is important because it helps you to see whether a problem is related to the impairment of the disabled person or to problems created by the environment or by society.

E. Some misconceptions about people with disabilities

*Myth*	People with disabilities are ill.

*Fact*	The general health of people with disabilities is as good as anyone else’s. Illness can cause people to become disabled, for example, chronic asthma or heart disease. However, people with disabilities are limited only by their particular impairment. And even so, with the right assistive devices disabled people are able to overcome or reduce their limitations. For example, a physically disabled person may be unable to walk. But with crutches, braces, or a wheelchair she can regain some or most of her ability to move about.

*Myth*	People with disabilities are also intellectually disabled.

*Fact*	This is true only for those who have intellectual disabilities – for example, a person who has Down’s syndrome. Other disabled people, those with physical and sensory (sight, hearing, speech) disabilities, are as intellectually able as people who are not disabled.

*Myth*	People with disabilities are lazy.

*Fact*	People with disabilities are no lazier than anyone else. In fact, they generally have to work harder than others. For example, when materials are not in Braille, a visually impaired student needs to have them read and reprinted in Braille. A hearingimpaired student needs to check the notes of lectures from others when no written materials are provided. A physically disabled student spends more energy getting to school or the training centre. So, not only must disabled people work harder, they in fact do work harder.

*Myth*	Nature compensates people who are disabled with special abilities.

*Fact*	People with disabilities are not automatically compensated with better abilities in other functions. For example, people with visual impairment do not develop sharper hearing, a more sensitive sense of touch, or a better memory merely as a result of a loss of sight. Nevertheless, they are often skilful listeners, have a keen sense of touch, and are good at memorizing. This is because they have trained themselves in these skills.

2. Understanding disability
Integrating Women and Girls with Disabilities into Mainstream Vocational Training

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2 Understanding disability

2
Understanding disability