Ability Forum

[Vic]

Speakers at a national workshop on “Media and Disability Communication” on Friday said that there is need to remove the barriers confronted by persons with disabilities.
Referring to different “barriers” faced by them, a speaker urged the media to play a positive role in overcoming these barriers.
“Information, environmental and access barriers faced by the disabled persons need to be removed,” said K.Kannan, the Media Advisor to Plan International Asian Region, a non-governmental organization. “Media can play an important role in highlighting the need to overcome these barriers,” he said in his presentation entitled “Role of Print Media in Disability Communication.”
Kanan said that these “special persons” have a right to education and information. “Disability should not be treated like a disease,” Kanan said at the seminar, organised jointly by the Kashmir Universitys Media Education Research Centre and Ali Yawar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai. “Media can act as a mirror and reflect the need of having a sophisticated and quality infrastructure for the disabled persons,” Kanan added.
In a lively discussion with the students of MERC, Kanan urged the budding journalists to “come forward and highlight the potential problems faced by the disabled persons.”
In another presentation entitled “A style guide for media communication professionals,” a speaker emphasized on the importance of language while communicating with the disabled persons. “Language is essential for communication,” said Martin Mathew, the Media Officer to Ali Yawar Jung Institue. “It should empower persons with disability and eliminate discrimination,” he added.
Matthew urged the media not to sensationalize stories about disabled persons. “The media professionals must adhere to standard norms of news writing with stories on disabled persons,” Matthew said. “They need to follow a style book based on professional standards in journalism,” he added.
Referring to the shortage of necessary infrastructure for disabled persons in the valley, some students from the MERC said the state government “has failed” to come up with a comprehensive policy for them.
“We dont have many schools for disabled here even though they are badly needed,” said a student. “The schools should be provided with quality infrastructure and technical expertise,” he added.
In his remarks, the Head of the MERC, Nasir Mirza urged the participants to “take a cue from the workshop and play a positive role in highlighting the problems of persons with disabilities.”
“Media can contribute a lot toward removing the access and information barriers faced by the disabled persons,” Mirza said.
Speaking to Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of the function, a participant from Ali Yawar Jung Institute said, “If the valley is facing shortage of infrastructure for disabled persons, people need to come together and form pressure groups to solve the problem. We ask government to solve the problem, and if such groups fail we file Public Interest Litigation in a court and get the matters solved legally,” he added.
A visually impaired person also shared his experiences at the workshop. He said, “Journalists should know what we are lacking; they should update themselves about the way disabled persons are treated outside. Only after knowing the difference, they can help in highlighting the problems of disabled persons.”

Source: Greater Kashmir

_________________
Vikas

AccessAbility

Speakers at a national workshop on “Media and Disability Communication” on Friday said that there is need to remove the barriers confronted by persons with disabilities.
Referring to different “barriers” faced by them, a speaker urged the media to play a positive role in overcoming these barriers.
“Information, environmental and access barriers faced by the disabled persons need to be removed,” said K.Kannan, the Media Advisor to Plan International Asian Region, a non-governmental organization. “Media can play an important role in highlighting the need to overcome these barriers,” he said in his presentation entitled “Role of Print Media in Disability Communication.”
Kanan said that these “special persons” have a right to education and information. “Disability should not be treated like a disease,” Kanan said at the seminar, organised jointly by the Kashmir Universitys Media Education Research Centre and Ali Yawar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped, Mumbai. “Media can act as a mirror and reflect the need of having a sophisticated and quality infrastructure for the disabled persons,” Kanan added.
In a lively discussion with the students of MERC, Kanan urged the budding journalists to “come forward and highlight the potential problems faced by the disabled persons.”
In another presentation entitled “A style guide for media communication professionals,” a speaker emphasized on the importance of language while communicating with the disabled persons. “Language is essential for communication,” said Martin Mathew, the Media Officer to Ali Yawar Jung Institue. “It should empower persons with disability and eliminate discrimination,” he added.
Matthew urged the media not to sensationalize stories about disabled persons. “The media professionals must adhere to standard norms of news writing with stories on disabled persons,” Matthew said. “They need to follow a style book based on professional standards in journalism,” he added.
Referring to the shortage of necessary infrastructure for disabled persons in the valley, some students from the MERC said the state government “has failed” to come up with a comprehensive policy for them.
“We dont have many schools for disabled here even though they are badly needed,” said a student. “The schools should be provided with quality infrastructure and technical expertise,” he added.
In his remarks, the Head of the MERC, Nasir Mirza urged the participants to “take a cue from the workshop and play a positive role in highlighting the problems of persons with disabilities.”
“Media can contribute a lot toward removing the access and information barriers faced by the disabled persons,” Mirza said.
Speaking to Greater Kashmir on the sidelines of the function, a participant from Ali Yawar Jung Institute said, “If the valley is facing shortage of infrastructure for disabled persons, people need to come together and form pressure groups to solve the problem. We ask government to solve the problem, and if such groups fail we file Public Interest Litigation in a court and get the matters solved legally,” he added.
A visually impaired person also shared his experiences at the workshop. He said, “Journalists should know what we are lacking; they should update themselves about the way disabled persons are treated outside. Only after knowing the difference, they can help in highlighting the problems of disabled persons.”

Source: Greater Kashmir

_________________
Vikas

AccessAbility

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