Living with deafness for over 25 years, I experienced changes in my country and, because my communications needs were not included in major information campaigns, I was left out. While I have learned to adapt by using speech, lip-reading (which is not as easy—only 30-40 per cent is properly interpreted), writing and using plain old “Trini body language” to navigate my environment, I was excluded from a lot of information. Thankfully, within the last few years, we now have Sign Language interpretation on the evening news and for broadcasts of most major public events.
Within the last six years we pushed towards more inclusion for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), with the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights for Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) (2015), the Human Rights Shadow Report Training (2016), the National Policy on Persons with Disabilities (2018) and the hosting of multiple stakeholder meetings. In March 2020, a Special Committee was set up to monitor and oversee the implementation of the National Policy and the Convention. During these events, the community of PWDs was consulted on the way forward.
Then, Covid-19 happened, and the gaps in the promise of “service delivery for all” became glaring.
When schools suddenly closed, families were forced to adapt their home environment to accommodate online education. For children with disabilities who stayed in dorms and those who use routines to regulate emotions and navigate situations, this sudden change brought additional anxieties with which their families now had to cope. With all the discussion on reopening of schools, no public statement is being made about schools that cater to children with disabilities.
While the public health measures were put in place to reduce the risk of infection, some of the measures did not accommodate PWDs. Within days of measures being enforced, persons living with blindness spoke about the complications this posed for their community. The mandatory use of masks also further marginalised persons who rely on lip-reading. While the Public Health Ordinance made allowances for lip readers, my experience taught me that law enforcement generally is not aware of this exemption. Asking the general public to remove masks or even to hold and read a piece of paper results in panic.
There are seemingly no measures put in place to respond to a person with severe disability, who requires 24-hour support from a trusted individual, contracting Covid-19. The Covid-19 hotline was a good idea, but did not take into consideration that there are people who are deaf and live independently. Imagine going to a relative’s home because you’re coughing and have a fever, and you need them to call the hotline for you.
To ensure State parties continue to address the barriers faced by PWDs, the United Nations team in Trinidad and Tobago, led by PAHO/WHO and funded by the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) Multi-Partner Trust Fund, convened local organisations of persons with disabilities in a nine-day workshop about our situation and our rights under the convention.
We discussed strategies to remove obstacles that prevent full enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. PWDs and advocates raised the issues of reasonable accommodation, monitoring and evaluation, systemic discrimination, the intersectionality between gender and disability, and budgeting and accountability.
One belief we must dismantle is the notion that accommodating PWDs is a costly endeavour that only benefits a small group of people. Our discussions with the UN showed that most of the required changes would not only benefit PWDs, but would actually be used by all. Functional elevators, automatic doors, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms (there is nothing like too much space in a bathroom), larger prints for emergency exit signage, a floor plan of the space, a cubicle that could accommodate a chair of any size, an adjustable counter to accommodate persons of various heights would accommodate all users of a space. Curb ramps and sidewalk transitions can be used by everyone, not just persons in wheelchairs and the blind.
For us to really be “in this together”, we need to revisit a few things:
• Mapping in Local Government regions to identify PWDs who live independently and those who require 24-hour care. The pandemic reminds us that should a member of the household contract Covid-19 or any highly contagious disease, there is a need to ensure that care and support are not compromised.
• A multi-ministerial approach to disability. Disability-related issues are not just the business of the ministries of Health and Social Development. We need to engage the ministries of Housing, Education, Legal Affairs, Communication, Community Development and Sport in this discussion.
• The need for persons with disabilities to be part of the discussions about the required changes.
Every citizen has encountered at least one person with a disability, which means everyone can participate in making full inclusion a reality. The use of terminologies like “normal” sets a negative tone for the discussions around disabilities. What exactly is normal, and who decides what a normal life is? The reality that disability is part of the human experience is still a discussion we are not having.
The Covid-19 pandemic reinforced that until we truly understand the commitment we must make to serving and including all, we will just be moving in quicksand.
