Changing the Way We Think About Disability_Medical? or Social View???

I came across Analou Suan’s article about the general attitude of the people in our society towards PWDs. Analou is the Director of GPRehab in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, someone I first met in Silliman University when ALYANA was shown in the city in December 2008. Three months later in March 2009, ALYANA was back there under the sponsorship of GPRehab and Silliman U. It was discussed by the two immediately after Alyana’s first showing that it would be reshown in the 1st Autism Awareness Day that they will hold in the city sparked by the interest in autism that the film generated in the viewers. I returned there with the president of Autism Society Philippines Dang Koe, OT Prof. and owner of Independent Living Learning Center Archie David and ASP E.O. Ranil Sorongon. The following year, GPRehab next sponsored the showing of SILENT ODYSSEY, my next advocacy docu after Alyana, a film on Deaf Filipinos.

Analou writes:

“A friend came to me one time and asked: Why do you expose children with disabilities in public during parades and other activities? Are you just not inviting criticisms and worse, discrimination, when you do that?

She retorted by saying that:

… They are there because they want to raise awareness about the rights of children with disabilities. They are there because they want society to know that the existence of these children cannot be ignored anymore. More importantly, they want society to understand that, although the national government itself has already, supposedly, undertaken legislative measures to ensure the inclusion of disabled children in society, there has to be moves to facilitate local implementation of these laws, with the local government and its concerned agencies working together with parents and families with mutual respect, to create an environment that will nurture the children and promote their development.

To better understand that, she explained the medical and social views that the society have towards the PWDs. To read the full article, click changing-the-way-we-think-about-disability

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