The Causes of Disability After Birth in Human Beings

 

 

What is disability?

According to Wikipedia,"  disability is any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or effectively interact with the world around them (socially or materially). These conditions, or impairments, may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, sensory, or a combination of multiple factors. Impairments causing disability may be present from birth or can be acquired during a person's lifetime. Often, disabled people are "unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society."

 The different types of disabilities are: vision Impairment, deaf or hard of hearing, mental health conditions,  intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, autism spectrum disorder, physical disability.

Disability can be as a result of impairment, disabled from birth or disabled during their lifetime.  According to World Health Organization (WHO), Over 1 billion people are estimated to experience disability. This corresponds to about 15% of the world's population, with up to 190 million (3.8%) people aged 15 years and older having significant difficulties in functioning, often requiring health care services. The number of people experiencing disability is increasing due to a rise in chronic health conditions and population ageing.

Causes of disability after birth in Human Being

There are several disabilities that occurs after birth and some causes of such disabilities are highlighted below:

1. Accidents

Many people get disabling injuries at home by burns from cooking fires, falls, road accidents, and breathing or drinking toxic chemicals. We can't also overrule work place accident. 

2. Medicines and Injections

When administered rightly, certain injected medicines,  are important to protect health and prevent disability. However, there is are some deadly injection.  Each year these unnecessary injections sicken, kill, or disable millions of persons. Also, some injected medicines can cause dangerous allergic reactions, and deafness.

3. War

In today's wars, more civilians than soldiers are killed or disabled, and most of them are women and children. Explosions cause people to become deaf, blind, and lose their limbs, as well as causing other injuries. Their mental health is also badly affected by the violence. The destruction of homes, schools, health centers, and means of livelihood that results from conflicts and wars leads to increased disability, poverty, and disease.

4. Poor access to health care

Good health care can prevent many disabilities. Difficult labor and birth can cause a baby to be born with a disability such as cerebral palsy. Trained birth attendants who can identify risks and handle emergencies can prevent babies from being born with many disabilities. Immunization can also prevent many disabilities. But many times vaccines are not available, or people who are poor or live far from cities cannot afford them, or there are not enough for everyone.       Women who work long hours without enough rest are likely to have accidents. Women who work in factories, mines or on agricultural plantations can be exposed to dangerous machinery, tools, or chemicals. Accidents, overwork and exposure to chemicals can all cause disability.

6)Poisons and pesticides

Poisons such as lead found in paints, pesticides such as rat poison, and other chemicals can cause disabilities in people and cause birth defects in babies growing in the womb. Smoking or chewing tobacco, breathing smoke, and drinking alcohol during pregnancy can also harm a child before she is born.                                    Workers often use chemicals on the job or in the fields without being taught how to use them safely, or without even knowing if they are dangerous. Accidents in factories can release poisons into the air, water, or ground, causing terrible health problems, including permanent disabilities.

7 Poverty and Malnutrition

Poverty is one of the biggest causes of disability. Poor people are most vulnerable to disability because they are forced to live and work in unsafe environments with poor sanitation, crowded living conditions, and with little access to education, clean water, or enough good food. This makes diseases such as tuberculosis and polio--and the severe disabilities they cause-- much more common because diseases get passed from one person to another more easily.

8. Nuclear Accidents

Many people have suffered after being exposed to massive amounts of radiation. According to an online report, "an accidents in nuclear power plants at Three Mile Island in the USA in 1979, and at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986. And it also happened when the USA dropped nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945. These incidents caused widespread destruction and death from exposure to radiation. The people who survived these accidents and bombing attacks have suffered mainly from cancers--either tumors in various parts of the body, especially in the thyroid gland—or leukemia (cancer of the blood), all of which bring an early death. In communities where these nuclear incidents happened, there has also been an increase in the number of children born with learning difficulties, such as Down syndrome."

A chat with some people we won't like to mention their names show that their disability started due to some of the point mentioned above. Some after an taking an injection resulted to one type of disabilities and the other.

The Art of Branding Disability

I still recall with vivid freshness the rather opinionated and combative stance with which I approached debates within the deaf community in those early days. I had come in with this dangerously prejudiced mindset that much of my unhappiness and dissatisfaction with life could be traced to my deafness and society’s seeming nonchalant attitude. I was damn wrong, and entering the deaf community was instrumental to transforming my perspectives on Disability and Persons living with Disability.

Now, I wouldn’t say I have been weaned off that tendency to having a mind of my own. After all, a man must do his own living and dying. Still, neither am I as unyielding as in those early days. It’s been learning, unlearning and relearning.

I remember too, with undimmed clarity, sublime piece of advices received from those who have gone before in the world of disabilities. “Attitude is everything”, “keep an open mind”, etc. Deep nuggets. However it took years before I began grasping the timelessness of the wisdom in those words. The truth bore home slowly and steadily.

SEEING THE LIGHT

The Federal College of Education, Oyo, (an institution for special needs education) was my baptism ground. There, I had first glimpse of the light which gradually expelled the darkness in me. At Oyo I slowly came to an understanding that life could be meaningful and interesting despite Disability. It came down to attitude. Again, Oyo opportuned me the privilege of a miracle called “sign language”. A miracle I had long despised until it graciously found and rescued me from my wilderness wanderings. As I gained intellection, latitude, and a certain degree of dexterity in this visual language used for communication by the deaf, my perception kept expanding. I began to see possibilities where before, I saw only obstacles. Oyo was where I encountered people, events, and circumstances which challenged my prejudices and myths about living with hearing loss. Suddenly, I realized what great disservice I had been doing myself and humanity by failing to keep an open mind.

Now, I’d be realistic, and not try to paint a romantic portrait of being deaf. Sure, the experience comes with more crosses than could be just wished away. The key to managing this disability (like any other disability) lies in learning to focus on the sunny side – a skill that requires enlightenment and positive attitudes.

Below, I narrate the beautiful experience which inspired this piece.

AN AFTERNOON WITH A BLESSING IN DISGUISE

Every adversity carries within it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit – Napoleon Hill

We sat on the cool, breezy verandah of one of the blocks of classrooms at her place of work on that hot Tuesday afternoon happily chatting away. Blessing was a lady friend from our days at College. I met her through another friend towards the tail end of her final year. The rapport was swift – thanks to her easy-going aura. She was dark-skinned and attractive in it. Slender, petite built, her rather small face bore large, oval eyes, attractively pointed nose and naïve, charming smiles which reveal a fine set of tiny dentition. Her facial and body features blended superbly. Needless to say, I was wowed by this winsome deaf lady.

But what impressed me most about Blessing was the amiable and easy going aura about her. Being deaf and without speech never seemed to bother nor crease her countenance! Cheerfulness and an easy-going personality were her brand.

The last we saw was some two or three years ago, so this reunion came with palpable excitement (the heart, they say grows fonder in absence). Old memories from college were rehashed. We threw hilarious jokes and laughed. Every bit of the moment was savoured. Then, it was time to part. The generous soul that she is, Blessing offered to walk me to the main road and get some light refreshments.

MARKETING THE DEAF BRAND

As we headed towards the gate, we drew curious gazes every now and then. A deaf pair, a beautiful, deaf lady and a young man (both decently attired), and chatting away in an odd, visual language certainly wasn’t a common sight in this community. “A cool pair of love birds”, these stereotypes must have concluded. Anyway, I was enjoying the special attention, give or take. Mulling it over, it still amazes me that just a few years back, I wouldn’t be caught napping identifying as deaf by signing in public. Quite a metamorphosis! Talk about branding Disability. 

At the kiosk where we got some snacks and drinks, we struck instant friendships – thanks to this beautiful deaf girl with a great aura that an inability to either speak or hear couldn’t conquer. We didn’t have to pay. A young man we were meeting for the first time insisted on picking our bill. He was bowled over. It was obvious from his reaction that this was his first encounter with a combination of deafness with good looks, polite behavior, and cheerful demeanor in a human being. Guy went on to improvise a way to say: “you are beautiful”. So much for branding.

As we bade each other goodbye that day, my contemplative mind went to work in a bid to make deeper sense of this experience of living with deafness in a predominantly hearing world. I came away with the belief that for PWDs, it hasn’t been all discrimination. My philosophical mindset began to ponder on the many possibilities to be discovered in maintaining a positive attitude, keeping an open mind, and carrying our disabilities with individual originality and confidence.

Yes, living with disability comes with more silver linings than are readily apparent. It’s up to Persons with Disabilities to discover and explore this often hidden truth – which will ultimately set free!

How to Vote as Persons with Disabilities in Nigeria

 

One of the most important rights of Nigerian citizens is the franchise—the right to vote. Originally under the constitution, citizens who are 18years old and above cannot be denied the right to vote on the basis of race, religion, sex, disability, or sexual orientation. In every state of the federation, citizens must register to vote, and laws regarding the registration process is the same all over Nigeria.

In 2018, following the immense impact of organisations in Nigeria such as the Disabled Persons Organisation (DPO) and Inclusive Friends Association (IFA) : Disability Votes Matter, a major feat was achieved with regards to inclusion in Nigerian democracy – for the first time ever, voters with visual impairments were allowed to vote unassisted, thanks to newly developed braille ballot guide.

However, despite the impact mentioned above, most people with disabilities in nigeria are still unable to cast their votes or stand for political elections at local and national elections. It has become imperative to dismantle roadblocks impeding the participation of people with disabilities, in nigerian politics.

Hindrance to political inclusion of persons with disabilities

Taking the recent nigerian general elections and other past elections into consideration, some of these barriers include but are not limited to:

1) Framework and Inability of Election Management Agencies

As part of security measures placed restrictions on vehicle movement on the day of elections. While this might have increased the chances of a safe election, it also posed a major problem to persons with disabilities who are not mobile enough, physically, to reach their polling units. Just like the case of inaccessible polling centres, several hindrances are recorded during the main elections process. for one, most poll workers are not efficiently trained on administering the vote to persons with disabilities. It is oftentimes a struggle to find agents/poll workers with the right training and patience to ensure a seamless voting process for this minority group. As a result of these factors, most persons with disabilities either sit out the election process or leave the polls without casting their votes.

2. Enervating Registration Processes

Registration processes in nigeria are never easy thing to do, this also applies to the voter’s card registration and collection process. it is not news that the less than conducive procedure has deterred several members of the voting community from participating in the elections on a general level. From long and poorly managed queues to technical issues and lack of adequate manpower, the first stage of the nigerian electoral process is difficult for voters – disabled or abled.

3. Lack of Reachable Information

Voter education, providing details on how to vote, when to vote, options available in the form of political candidates, the importance of voting as a civic duty of every nigerian, what is expected from public office holders, and the rights of voters across the board, is vital in helping the electorate make sensible decisions in their choice of leadership. However, there seems to be a lack of diversity in this educational process and the general dissemination of election information. Outside breaking information down through a variety of languages that cater to different ethnic groups, it is also important to cater to the need of persons with disabilities who aren’t able to easily access or comprehend the information being spread. This inadvertently leaves them out of the electoral process and increases political exclusion.

Moving forward, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and political parties need to reach out to the disabled communities through the adoption of various means such as sign language, easy-to-read pictures, tactile, etc.

 In recent time, the independent national electoral commission (INEC) and other civil society, like disabled persons organisation (DPO) and inclusive friends association (IFA) are making a tremendous effort to alleviate the problem person with disabilities go through in electoral process. inec as a reform-minded institution undergirded by the overall objective of engendering an all-inclusive political process, took upon itself the task of institutionalizing the framework for a more inclusive electoral process.

The Paradox of Exclusionary Inclusion for PWDs

As the crusade for better social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities  (PWDs) into the mainstream society continues to gain ground, there’s a need to guard against the green snakes in green grass phenomenon that might ultimately sabotage this laudable cause. To fail to do this is to settle for what may be called a “pseudo-inclusion” instead of the “full-inclusion” originally set out to achieve.

What Exactly is Pseudo-inclusion in this case?

Pseudo simply means something fake. Therefore Pseudo-inclusion is fake inclusion. This type of inclusion subtly cheats Persons with Disabilities by appointing people outside it to decide for PWDs matters.Again, pseudo-inclusion is the direct and indirect barring of Persons with Disabilities (because of their disabilities) from specific leadership positions in the larger society. It’s an irony of the Inclusion crusade that insults the sensibilities and human intelligence of Persons with Disabilities.

For the avoidance of doubt, I will say it again with emphasis: “the claim to Inclusion is false when we have abled persons wanting to have deciding says in disability issues. And these same people would turn around to stop persons with disabilities from exercising leadership in mainstream matters.

These veiled opponents of full inclusion always have deceptive arguments to defend their hidden motives.

In this piece, we look at one side of the exclusionary-inclusion theory otherwise referred to as fake-inclusion.

It’s high time we become increasingly concerned about this ridiculous occurrence in its various hidden appearances.

In defiance to the age-long adage that it is the person wearing the shoe that knows where it pinches, PWDs are being treated to a shameful spectacle where a barefooted people either take it upon, or have it unjustly entrusted on them to tell the shoe-wearers where the shoe pinches. In other words, to determine their fate.

The discerning mind will readily see this contradictory situation whereby supposed beneficiaries of inclusion end up excluded where it matters most – namely, the decision/policy making process. I have been there.

As a person with disability, you can probably relate to instances when your complaints of discrimination, stigmatization, etc, were replied with typical: “we will look into it”, “we will see the pastor”, “we will talk to leadership and find a solution“ comments? The odd thing is that neither leadership or whoever is mandated to resolve the problem has any real disability experience.

And sure enough, they go ahead as promised, and without your active contribution find a solution to the complaint.

Now, you are happy that the matter is resolved.

But wait.

Did you consider that the solution could have been better had your opinions and those of others in same shoes been considered in the resolution process?

Did you realize that without your active involvement, a basic rule of thumb has been violated in the solution finding process? You may or may not realize it. The point is, time and again, we see this kind of unjust thing happen. It’s called Pseudo-inclusion – fake inclusion.

The concept of Pseudo-Inclusion reminds me of my campus experience. I remember advocating for, and offering possible solutions for better inclusion of the Deaf section on campus fellowship.

It was good that leadership saw reason and there were improvements. The unfortunate side was that I wasn’t properly involved in the decision making process. I still remember the indignant feelings then. I was like: “what were they thinking”? By the way, I am not alone in this experience.

Meanwhile, similar scenarios replay at secular level – this time on an even worse scale.

We find this thing in government, we see it in politics, we encounter it in the academia – it is present everywhere. 

I love this slogan of the deaf cluster: “Nothing about us without us”.

 The same holds true for all the disability clusters.

Now here’s the challenge before us – the very ones wearing the shoe. The challenge is in walking the tough talk – nothing about us without us. We need to ask ourselves how effectively we have been doing that – walking the talk.

There are two ways to go about this:

First, leadership and stakeholders of the various disability clusters must wake up to the necessity of standing up for this sacred task.

Secondly, a customized training/mentoring system must be conscientiously put in place to revive and perpetuate the leadership succession sequence by equipping upcoming talents among members for the task of carrying on the full inclusion crusade.

We need to devise a functional system for identifying, nurturing and bringing together a new breed of “justice-minded” PWDs to sustain the fight against pseudo-inclusion.

Agreed, this battle will not be conceded by opponents on a platter. Therefore, we must be ready to go all out using every legitimate means at our disposal to ensure there’s really nothing about us apart from us.

It begins with ourselves. Are we ready? We ought to be.

How to Search for Jobs as a Person with Disabilities

 

 

A job can be a source of great fulfillment in every person’s life, but finding a job is often a problem for many Persons with Disability. There are many programs available and resources to help you, and even if you have a disability, there are opportunities out there to help you find a fulfilling job.

For one thing, the following tips allows person with disability who struggle to find and maintain employment to get employed and stay employed. Here are some of the tips.

1. Keep the Focus on What You Can Do -- Not What You Can't.

If there’s one thing we could all probably use a lot more of, it’s the ability to focus. But telling yourself to stay focused on your job search especially a mundane one, is often a lot easier said than done. First things first: You need to eliminate distractions. While you can’t do away with everything, you can make an effort to reduce or get rid of as many distractions as possible.

2. Discuss Only What's Necessary About Your Disability

With this, person with disability need to be truthful about his or her condition.One of the reasons you may decide to disclose your disability is that it lets you request a reasonable accommodation during the application process, to perform the job duties, or to access benefits. By Law, we do not need to disclose our disability. We are not legally required to mention our disability while we're being considered for a job. You do not need to disclose your disability on your resume, cover letter, or other application materials, or during an interview. Most private enterprises do not stick to this law.

3. Be Confident.

The first hurdle in finding a job is finding the right fit and making employers aware of your interest or availability. This is the perfect opportunity to reach out to friends, family and former work colleagues to let them know you’re ready or approaching readiness to return to work. Your personal and professional network is a good place to start your search, as these contacts may have leads or suggestions of companies or industries that would make reaching out worthwhile. Even if your immediate circle can’t point you in the direction of a job right now, they can probably suggest someone else in their circle of acquaintances for networking. Remember that you don’t have to tackle this challenge alone, especially if you can expand your network.

4) Educate Yourself.

We all strive towards greatness. It is the plight of the individual to reach his or her full potential and achieve the goals set by themselves as a result of the influence of society and our culture.  We work tirelessly for most of our lives, but often struggle to accomplish the things we truly want out of our own experiences. While some of us are content to make ends meet or even thrive within a small set of parameters, others like you desire a lot more. All this can be achieved by educating oneself. The rapid pace at which the world is moving could easily see you left behind. Constant learning and professional improvements will keep you current and thus relevant to the happenings in the guest of looking for job. You will be able to take the business you are a part of, as well as your position forward. Let the world recognize you as a top performer and the industry’s leading expert.