International Wheelchair Day

First March each year the world commemorates international wheelchair day and this years theme is 'My Wheelchair my Right to Inclusion'. 

Wheelchair is a basic assistive device that supports inclusion and independence of persons with disabilities in their communities as it enables them to participate in activities of daily living. However, in most nations people with disabilities face a number of issues in accessing them, These factors include; the devices being unavailable locally, very high cost that leaves most people to crawl (hence lowering their dignity) and the little that are available locally are of poor quality that aren't fit for the terrain or specifically tailored for individual need and environment hence making persons with disabilities to develop secondary disabilities from the poorly manufactured ones.

Secondly, the infrastructural sector does not embrace the universal design (inclusive design) which is supposed to provide means of embracing everyone in our society in accessing environments and building that are inherently accessible.

This blog advocates for a society that respects persons with disabilities through:

1. Development of policies (Government) that promote persons with disabilities accessing wheelchairs and other assistive devices that are available locally, affordable, acceptable and of good quality.
2. Professionals in the architectural field to embrace universal design in order to facilitate inclusion and independence of persons with disabilities.
3. And wheelchair manufacturers to produce quality wheelchairs that are tailored for individual persons with disabilities and their environment.

Cheers!!!