For and by the disabled

Columnists

Wheel Power

Published: Thursday July 4, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday July 5, 2013 MYT 12:30:33 PM

For and by the disabled

WHEEL POWER BY ANTHONY THANASAYAN

The Independent Living and Training Centre helps the handicapped feel good about themselves.

THE Independent Living and Training Centre (ILTC) in Taman Garing, Rawang, Selangor, is unique in that it is run by the disabled, for the disabled.

It was set up 13 years ago by a team consisting of tetraplegics (persons paralysed from the neck down) and paraplegics (paralysed from the waist down).

ILTC was formed primarily out of the frustration of the disabled who find that many centres for the disabled are run by able-bodied people who know very little about the needs of the handicapped. Unless one is disabled, it is virtually impossible for someone to understand what a handicapped person’s life is like.

Since its inception, the centre has reached out to more than 200 people. Most of them have walking difficulties or are wheelchair-users.

Many of them came from very poor backgrounds. Most of them were uneducated, neglected by their families and abused.

At the centre, new arrivals are taught to feel good about themselves and their condition.

By meeting and observing other persons with disabilities, they are inspired to take control of their lives, and learn more about their disability and how to deal with it effectively.

ILTC has run a number of self-help programmes which range from acquiring independent living skills to cooking, washing and sewing.

Therapy sessions include peer counselling and animal-assisted therapy.

Recently, some members from ILTC had the opportunity to attend a full-day training session at the Maxis Academy in Subang Jaya, Selangor. The programme was part of a series of sponsored events organised by Maxis when it decided to adopt ILTC under its Maxis Home Adoption Programme a year ago.

More than a dozen wheelchair-users had a delightful time learning how to transfer data, download music and back up their phones.

The participants came from all over the Klang Valley. Maxis provided meals for the eager learners. There was even a portable disabled-friendly toilet.

Maxis also donated two laptops to ILTC.

ILTC is also actively involved in championing the rights of the disabled. In March, disabled persons who had been getting a monthly allowance of RM300 from the Welfare Department, received a rude shock when they went to the bank and discovered that their allowance had been stopped.

Apparently the Welfare Department had stopped all payments as it was in the midst of upgrading the records of all disabled workers.

“I found this out when I met with the director involved last month,” said Francis Siva, president of ILTC.

“The Welfare Department’s latest exercise raised some important issues. It was most unprofessional of the department to keep recipients of aid in the dark. Many of them thought that the payments were delayed. They only heard the news when they called the department and learnt that their allowances had been stopped.

“They were told that they had to fill up a form – JKM Borang 20 – to qualify for financial aid.”

Francis said RM300 may not seem much to people without disabilities but for the handicapped, it makes a world of difference.

“The money goes towards paying for food, medication and wheelchair repairs, among others.”

Francis expressed regret that the Welfare Department had not consulted disabled groups before going ahead with its decision to get the disabled to fill up Borang 20. He said the need to fill up the said form annually from now on, would make the lives of the disabled more difficult.

“At the department’s Kuala Kubu and Gombak offices, for instance, we had to struggle with dangerously steep ramps and there were no disabled-friendly toilets even though we had complained about this three years ago. The department personnel should visit the homes of every welfare recipient to help them fill up the forms. If a record upgrade is necessary, it should be done every five years or so, and not every year,” said Francis, who is a tetraplegic.