As the Month of the Disabled wraps up, President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled (BCD) Kerryann Ifill is reminding society that all persons with disabilities are not the same.
She said that it is necessary for this message to be loud and clear especially ahead of the upcoming hurricane season, which is already being forecast to be a more intense and active one.
We’re just like everybody else. We’re individuals and our needs vary and differ
Speaking on a radio programme today, Thursday, March 28, Ifill stressed, “People with disabilities have the right to be part of society.”
As a proud product of The Combermere School, she said, “Everybody knows I’m a proud, unrepentant Combermerian. So last week, I celebrated when they won. Not as the blind student, but as a Combermerian. Right? Every Combermerian with or without a disability celebrated.”
Moreover, she explained:
“All Barbados feels it when something tragic happens, not just people with disabilities. But what people forget is when we have disasters, persons with disabilities often feel it more because we are a lot more vulnerable to things, but we are not all vulnerable in the same way.
“So, unfortunately too often people have, they look at people with disabilities and they think of all of us at the same place. No we’re not! We’re just like everybody else. We’re individuals and our needs vary and differ and our interests vary and differ.”
Therefore, building on this point, she also challenged members of society especially business owners to “give us an opportunity to participate.”
