The visually challenged need your support, not sympathy

One of the tendencies of human heart is to sympathize with someone who is differently-abled and I would be wrong to say that I never did. But a recent field trip to Smart Center at NITTTR, Chandigarh, changed that perspective of mine for real!

I have seen visually challenged people, read about them and spoken to a few over the telephone. But I had never gotten the chance to sit down with one and speak to them at length, getting to know them in person.

Ask someone who is visually challenged if they really need your sympathy and their answer would be ‘no’. All they want from the people around them is not to treat them differently, but to treat them equally. They want to share their experiences with you, tell you how they overcame the hurdles and how they want to overcome the remaining challenges through your support rather than by your sympathy.

They are very much like us. An open mind and close observation reveals that they are the rarest of the few who can visualize the world from a totally different perspective than the rest of us. Each of them have a vast expanse of imagination and unlimited potential. They are gifted with strength in their remaining senses and make the utmost use of this gift. They know how to make their weaknesses their strengths and transform their strengths into power!

This superpower is what makes them different amidst their challenges. And this is why they are the differently-abled: Much like any of us, abled, but in a different way. And this is why they want you to understand them and not sympathize with them.

During my conversation with one of the differently-abled individuals, Chandra Bhushan, a 33-year old visually challenged man who travels 120 km to and from his hometown everyday to visit this center, I asked him what challenges he finds in his commute. He mentioned that he uses local transport and since he leaves early in the morning during the peak rush hour, people are always in a hurry to catch the bus to their jobs. This often leads to him getting pushed and stamped upon in the hustle and bustle. I asked him how he feels about that and what he does when he faces such a situation. He replied by saying that he does not react to such a situation in order to avoid quarrels and gain sympathy. He added that, even though he is visually challenged, he does not consider himself limited in any way because he can still walk, move around and do all other chores, making use of his other senses which are his strengths.

Hearing his story and the stories of many other amazing differently-abled people like him, I felt that if they don’t feel any different about themselves then why should we treat them any different? When they don’t feel sorry about their challenges why should we? At 33 years old, Chandra Bhushan still yearns to pursue the best jobs and is motivated to do so!

What these individuals require from us is support, equal opportunities and access to assistive technologies. They want to find jobs that are not limited by their challenges but jobs that are earned by their own hard work, merit and their zeal.

These individuals rely on us to provide and to create accessibility in infrastructure, information and services, keeping their challenges in mind. Accessibility and universal designs such as a ramp at a workplace and other surroundings to help an individual who is orthopaedically challenged and uses a wheelchair to commute or audio content to assist in the education of visually challenged individuals are some of the things that they need help with. They require improvements in accessibility so that their aspirations and day to day activities are not limited by their challenges and they can focus on achieving their goals and becoming whoever they want to be.