Lesson from stakeholders forum for people with disabilities

Do you know any disabled people or rather have you seen any?
I see a lot of them and I usually feel pity for them. But my perspective has changed.
I attended a stakeholders forum organised by the national Resource Centre for the Disabled themed "Sustaining quality and equitable special needs education through stakeholders collaboration ".

The forum was really an eye opener.
First, I learned it's not too cool to called them disabled people because every human is disabled in one forum or the other. It's more dignifying to call them people with "special needs"
Secondly, I learnt that children and adults with special needs have rights. Although this rights are always trampled upon but it shouldn't be so. They have right to live, right to quality education amongst others.

Thirdly, everyone is a stakeholder. A stakeholder was defined by the keynote speaker as "an individual or group with interest in developing and contributing his or her quota to the development of a cause or community".
Fourthly, there is a need for collaboration. All hand must be on deck. The media can collaborate by information dissemination and enlightenment. Teachers can also collaborate by effective and efficient teaching. Policy makers can also collaborate by making and importantly implementing policies that will favour people with special needs. Parents too have their role to play. Lastly the individual that is people with special needs have a role to people. They need to Look beyond their disabilities. I even heard of a visually impaired person who graduated with that first class degree in mathematics.

To be honest, it was my first time in the community of people with special needs, and it was humbling as well as amazing to see the relate and interact.
I hope you will show some love and not necessarily pity when next you see a person with special needs.

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