Posted by Satendra Singh on Friday, November 16, 2012,
Still no disability policy in the capital of India
Posted by Dr Satendra Singh on Tuesday, August 7, 2012,
In the wake of India ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (UNCRPD) in October, 2007, it has become incumbent on India’s part, under the established and recognized international human right norms, to harmonise all its relevant domestic
laws and policies with this international treaty.
Even 17 years after
enactment of ‘PwD’ Act 1995, only a very few States/UTs do have some kind of a
policy on disability in place, most others have none. Secon...
Continue reading ...
Chapter in PHDCC book - Research study on employing persons with disabilities
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, July 26, 2012,
Dr
Satendra Singh’s chapter ‘Disability: A Doctor’s Perspective’ was included in
the book “Research study on employing persons with disabilities” published by
PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, New Delhi. The book was released by Hon’able
Minister of Labour and Employment, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge on 27th
April 2012.
Continue reading ...
Discrimination of PwD's in getting assistive devices
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, July 26, 2012,
"Infinite
Ability IMPACT"- We earlier reported discrimination of PwD's in getting
assistive devices. The report was published in Dainik Jagran and you can read
it here. We followed it up with Red Cross Society headquarters and they have
replied back with a hint of concern.
Continue reading ...
Infertility: Why can’t we classify this inability as disability?
Here’s a paper jointly written by Abha Khetarpal
(Non-institutional expert, Enabling Unit) and myself (Founder, Infinite
Ability; Enabling Unit) on infertility as disability.
Khetarpal A, Singh S. Infertility: Why can’t we
classify this inability as disability? Australasian Medical Journal.
2012;5(6):316-321
Disability is a complex phenomenon. It reflects
an interaction between
features
of a person’s
body
and features of
the society in
which he or she lives. International
Classifica...
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Comfort Care as Denial of Personhood
Here's
an essay just published by Bill Peace, a disability studies scholar who has
been working on bioethics. This is about his own experience while hospitalized,
and he has published it in a prominent bioethics journal. The full
article is available here.
Comfort Care as Denial of Personhood
William J. Peace Hastings Center Report 42(4): 14-17.
It is 2 a.m. I am very sick. I am not sure how long I have been hospitalized.
The last two or three days have been a blur, a parade of procedu...
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Disability Studies in Medical Education-IJUDH
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, June 28, 2012,
A paper written by Abha
Khetarpal and myself on “Disability Studies in Medical Education” has been
published in International Journal of User-Driven Health Care. Read the paper
here. Here’s the abstract:
Uncompassionate
attitudes of doctors can have adverse impact on the already shattered emotional
health of a person with disability. The medical conditions or disabilities are
seen in isolation from their daily lives. The quality health care is thus
compromised. Disability Studies can i...
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Prove your disability time and again to get assistive device
Posted by Dr Satendra Singh on Thursday, June 28, 2012,
Physical, occupational, social rehabilitation and financial
assistance for purchase of Aids & Appliances are provided under Indian Red
Cross Society (IRCS) with the basic objective to bring the target groups (which
includes PwD) into the main stream of development by making them self reliant.
District RCS are preferred as implementing agencies for the
Grant-in-aid under the “Assistance to Disabled Persons for Purchase/Fitting of Aids/Appliances
(ADIP)” Scheme, with the objective of assis...
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2013-2022: Asia-Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities
Posted by Satendra Singh on Monday, June 18, 2012,
In what
could prove to be a golden opportunity for the global travel & tourism
industry to enhance its contribution to society, the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has officially declared 2013-2022
as the "Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities" and
invited all stakeholders to help make it a success.
Sponsored
by Korea, the resolution was adopted unanimously at UNESCAP’s 68th ministerial
session held in Bangkok between 17-23 May 2012. The...
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Scheme for implementation of persons with Disabilities, 1995 (SIDPA)
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, April 12, 2012,
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (D.O. No.16-04/2011-D.D.III dated 19.12.2011) and
University Grants Commission (D.O. No.F.6-1/2012(SCT) has requested
institutions to send self-contained proposals for financial assistance under Scheme
for implementation of persons with Disabilities, 1995 (SIDPA) for making (a)
buildings barrier-free, and (b) making websites accessible. The detailed
proposal is available here.
...
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April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day
Posted by Satendra Singh on Saturday, March 31, 2012,
In :
Autism
The month of
April is Autism Awareness month and April 2, 2012 is the fifth World Autism
Awareness Day. Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the
day with awareness-raising events. Infinite Ability is joining ‘Autism
Speaks’ initiative of ‘Light It Up Blue’ to help shine a light on autism. Light It Up Blue, in its
third year, is a unique global initiative to help raise awareness about the
growing public health concern that is autism. Iconic landmarks around the w...
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‘INITATIVE’ by EOC of Kamala Nehru College
Posted by Satendra Singh on Wednesday, March 21, 2012,
The
Equal Opportunity Cell of Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi, is
organizing ‘INITATIVE’ one day event to inspire and sensitize stakeholders by
sharing experience and knowledge with eminent speakers. The event is on 22nd
March from 9.30 am to 4 pm and being convened by Dr Jyoti Dhawan. Here is the
program schedule.
Continue reading ...
21 March is World Down Syndrome Day
Posted by Satendra Singh on Tuesday, March 20, 2012,
In :
Down Syndrome
World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) was
established by Down Syndrome International in 2006 and has been observed in
over 60 countries worldwide to date. It is held on 21 March (21/3) to signify
the uniqueness of the triplication (trisomy) of chromosome 21 which causes the
genetic condition.
The aim of the day is
to raise awareness and understanding about Down syndrome, and to promote the
inherent rights of persons with Down syndrome to enjoy full and dignified lives
and be active and valuable pa...
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Show cause notice to Spice Jet & DGCA on Miss Ghosh's matter
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, February 23, 2012,
In :
Cerebral Palsy
I earlier appealed on Feburary 20 to
Hon’able Chief Commissioner of Disabilities to take suo-moto cognisance of Miss
Jeeja Ghosh’s matter. Today I got a favourable response from CCPD:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: O/o CCPD ccpd@nic.in via nic.in
To: Dr Satendra Singh <dr.satendra@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 11:30 AM
Subject: Appeal to take suo motice notice of offloading of person... Continue reading ...
Appeal to take suo motu notice of offloading of person with Cerebral Palsy from Spice Jet flight
Posted by Satendra Singh on Monday, February 20, 2012,
In :
Cerebral Palsy
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dr Satendra Singh <dr.satendra@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 9:30 AM
Subject: Appeal to take suo motice notice of offloading of person with Cerebral
Palsy from Spice Jet flight
To: ccpd@nic.in, min-sje@sb.nic.in, cvo.dgca@nic.in
Cc: AppellateAuthority@spicejet.com,
ssei@vsnl.com
To
Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities
O/o CCPD, Min. of Social Justice
& Empowerment
6
Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi-01
(Kind attention: Sh.
Pras...
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India marks a year since last polio case
Posted by Satendra Singh on Friday, January 20, 2012,
The top US health
official administered polio vaccination drops to children in New Delhi on
Friday as India marked one year since its last case of the crippling disease.
The
milestone is a major victory in the global effort to eradicate polio. If no
previously undisclosed cases are uncovered in the coming weeks, India will be
removed from the list of endemic countries, leaving only Pakistan, Afghanistan
and Nigeria.
US
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius marked the day by
...
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Perspectives 2 submissions now open!
Posted by Satendra Singh on Friday, December 16, 2011,
In :
Autism
Perspectives 2 submissions
now open!
The editors of Perspectives: Poetry Concerning
Autism and Other Disabilities have announced their latest project. Perspectives
2 will be the second anthology of the Perspectives series.
Released late in 2010, Perspectives is an anthology of poetry about various neurological, psychological,
social, and communicative disabilities, with a strong focus on the autism
spectrum. It included poetry written by the disabled, their friends, their loved
ones, servi...
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UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Posted by Satendra Singh on Monday, December 5, 2011,
The UN Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13
December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened
for signature on 30 March 2007. There were 82 signatories to the Convention, 44
signatories to the Optional Protocol, and 1 ratification of the Convention.
The Convention is
intended as a human rights instrument with an explicit, social development
dimension. It adopts a broad categorization of persons with disa...
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13th Helen Keller Awards
Posted by Satendra Singh on Monday, December 5, 2011,
The 13th Helen Keller awards were given by National Centre
for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP) and Shell,
felicitating the work of role model persons with disabilities and individual
supporters and organizations that created opportunities for people with disabilities. The
ceremony was held at IIC New Delhi on 02 Dec 2011 where Union Minister for Sports
and Youth Affairs, Mr Ajay Maken gave away the awards. The list of
awardees is here.
Photo courtesy: Mr S.C.Vashishth.
...
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Disability Myths
Posted by Dr Satendra Singh, Enabling Unit on Monday, December 5, 2011,
In :
Autism
Disability Myths
In my opinion the biggest discrimination against Persons with
Disabilities (PwD) is attitudinal. There assumptions may take the form of myths
as well as stereotypes. On International Day of PwD’s, I am sharing with you
ten myths people encountered
regarding disabilities and the truths behind them.
Myth: People with Learning Disability
and Attention Deficient Disorder are not very smart.
Fact: Intelligence has nothing to
do with Learning Disability and Attention Deficien...
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I am more than you think you see
Posted by Dr Upreet Dhaliwal on Saturday, December 3, 2011,
I may not see as well as you do
And I may stumble a time or two
But I find delight in refrain
Feel sunshine, hear rain
As well, nay better, than you do.
I may not be formed in a way that you are used to
And my clumsiness may slow down our games too
But you should see what I do
With a paintbrush or two
I could teach you about beauty. And poetry too
I may not be the
brightest in my batch
And my speech may not be up to scratch
Though my thoughts are confined
I am loving and k...
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World Disabled Day: Dr Neeraja Kumar writes
Posted by Dr Neeraja Kumar on Thursday, December 1, 2011,
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
is annually observed on 3rd Dec ,with
following objectives:
1-To promote an awareness of disability issues.
2-The fundamental rights of persons with disabilities.
3-Integration of such people in
the main stream of society like social, political,
cultural etc.
As able persons, we must support
the voluntary organisations who are doing a
lot to raise awareness on this theme
and help disabled persons in ...
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National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, 2011
Posted by Satendra Singh on Wednesday, November 30, 2011,
Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment announced awardees for the National Award for the Empowerment of
Persons with Disabilities, 2011. The awards shall be conferred by H.E. the
President of India at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 3rd December, 2011. In 1969, the Government of India approved a Scheme for giving
National Awards to the outstanding employers of persons with disabilities.
Empowerment of persons with disabilities is an
inter-disciplinary process, covering various aspects nam...
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People First Language
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, November 24, 2011,
Kathie Snow is a mother, public speaker, trainer, and author of Disability is Natural:
Revolutionary Common Sense for Raising Successful Children with Disabilities
and other books. She hosts the website Disability is Natural where the emphasis
is on people with disabilities as real people who can and should live real
lives, included in every aspect of their communities, living the lives of their
dreams!Kathie
was troubled by the descriptions used about his son and others with
developmental di... Continue reading ...
The only disability in this world is that of not being able to see infinite ability.
Posted by Dr Kaity Cama on Thursday, November 24, 2011,
In my world, in my
dictionary, there is no such word as impossible. People so very
often say that there are certain circumstances we cannot do anything about, and
i would honestly like to challenge that statement. No matter what
the circumstances be, if we want to find a practical solution and we intend to,
then the seeds of the solution can be found within the problematic situation
itself.
There are, i feel two
types of people in the world. One who see problems, and the other
type is the...
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45 PwD who made a difference
Posted by World of Inclusion, London on Monday, November 14, 2011,
We are thankful to World of Inclusion and Disability
Equality in Education for providing this handbook on 45 A4 posters of
historical and current persons with disabilities whose lives have made a
difference to the world and to society.
Click here to
see Continue reading ...
Confluence-VI report
Posted by Satendra Singh on Saturday, November 12, 2011,
Medical Humanities Group of UCMS & GTB Hospital, Delhi and
its special interest group on disability (Infinite Ability) organized Confluence-VI
on 8th November 2011. Confluence is the medical humanities
lecture series of UCMS which is the first medical college in India to introduce
Medical Humanities to medical students.
In the sixth edition of Confluence Mrs Madhu
Bala Sharma spoke on ‘Broadening
Horizons: Looking beyond disability’. 100% Visually impaired Madhubala is also a recipient
... Continue reading ...
A Second Career
Posted by V.S.Sunder on Friday, November 11, 2011,
Mathematician
V.S.Sunder writes:
“I have been
increasingly mobility challenged of late due to the onset of a neurological
condition known as multiple sclerosis; and perforce, I have had to notice the
different ways that society excludes people like me, not deliberately, but for
want of consciously thinking of the need for a more inclusive and accessible
society. What started as irritation and unproductive annoyance changed to a
decision to do something about it. For a start, I thought I mi...
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Infinite Ability is now contributing to the Global Disability Rights Library
Posted by Satendra Singh on Wednesday, November 9, 2011,
Infinite Ability is now
associated with the Global Disability Rights Library (GDRL) . GDRL seeks to
build a bridge between global information sources and millions of people with
disabilities, advocates, and policymakers around the world by making it easier
for them to access hundreds of thousands of educational and organizational
resources on disability rights, whether or not they have access to the
Internet.
The
Global Disability Rights Library, supported by the U.S. Agency for Interna...
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Breaking Barriers, Creating Opportunities: Seminar on Career Opportunity
Posted by Namita Bhutani on Saturday, November 5, 2011,
A question most often faced by graduating
students of any university is what to do next in life. In today’s world, there
are several options available for people. However, for people with
disabilities, these options may not be as widely available. This is not because
there is a lack of ability but often because there is lack of information about
what opportunities exist and how one can gather the required knowledge and
skills to pursue a particular career path.
To address the need we are o...
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The Exclusionary Politics of Right to Education Act
Posted by Sambhavana on Saturday, November 5, 2011,
Sambhavana organization cordially invites you for a lecture
on ‘The Exclusionary Politics of Right to Education Act’ by Vikas Gupta on
Saturday, 5th Nov, 2011 at 10.30 am in room no.22, Arts Faculty,
University of Delhi (North Campus).
Image Credit:
Jay Purandare, Flickr Commons Continue reading ...
The Autism Enigma
Posted by Nature Special on Friday, November 4, 2011,
Autism spectrum disorder has attracted intense
interest from the public and scientists over recent years. Nature sorts fact from fiction in this hot,
but sometimes contentious, field: from the debate about soaring diagnoses, to
the idea that scientists and engineers are at high risk of having a child with
autism. The special includes news and comment from Nature,
and articles from Nature Medicine, Nature Neuroscience and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. Image Credit: Loannes Baptista, Wikimedia ...
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Srijan: Cultural Fest for students with disabilities
Posted by EOC, DU on Thursday, November 3, 2011,
Equal
Opportunity Cell, Delhi University is organizing a two-day CulturalFest: Srijan
for students with disabilities on November 12, 13 at Shri Guru Gobind Singh
College of Commerce, Pitampura. Most of the competitions this year are
inclusive. The non disabled students of the College would also be able to
participate in the competitions.
Continue reading ...
Celebrate and blog on 'International Day for Persons with Disabilities'
Welcome to the IDPwD Blog Party.
Infinite Ability and Enabling Unit, UCMS & GTB Hospital,
Delhi, India is proud to host the first blog party devoted to International Day
of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD), December 3, 2011. PwD’s, care givers and family
members from around the world are invited to share their stories and educate
others about how they overcome their disabilities.
The list of disabilities include autism spectrum disorders,
blindness, cerebral palsy, chronic neurological ...
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Mental Health Empowerment symposium on 10th Oct
Posted by Satendra Singh on Saturday, October 8, 2011,
Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences(IHBAS) is organizing
Mental Health Awareness Week from 10th to 16th October
2011, to promote awareness in the community about various mental health issues.
The events will kickstart on World Mental Health Day (Oct 10) at Indian Medical
Association House, near ITO, New Delhi with a public symposium on the theme of ‘Mental
Health Empowerment’.
The symposia will begin at 3 pm with two sessions followed
by press meet at 7 pm. Topic for sessio...
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An 'Apple' a day keeps the disability away
Posted by Satendra Singh on Saturday, October 8, 2011,
The media image of the disability is almost distorted perpetuating
wrong beliefs among both abled and disabled as very well portrayed by Abha
Khetarpal. The commercial for the new Apple iPhone Siri is different in this sense. It embraces
Steve Jobs vision of embracing universal design both technology wise as well as
promotion wise. The commercial ends with a visually impaired using the device.
This is not the end. The soundtrack also is given by a visually impaired
person- Ray Charles. As Job... Continue reading ...
Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies
Posted by Satendra Singh on Monday, September 19, 2011,
Transfers:
Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies is a new
peer-reviewed journal publishing cutting-edge
research on the
processes, structures and consequences of the
movement of people,
resources, and commodities. Intellectually
rigorous, broadly ranging,
and conceptually innovative, the journal combines
the empiricism of
traditional mobility history with more recent
methodological
approaches from the social sciences and the
humanities.
The journal's scholarly essays, book and exhibi...
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'Theatre of the Oppressed' (T.O) Workshop Report
Posted by Satendra Singh on Wednesday, August 31, 2011,
Breaking Patterns,
Creating Change
First ‘ The first ever 'Theater of the Oppressed' (TO) workshop for medical students in India was held on 23- 24 August 2011 at UCMS, Delhi.
Organizers and FacilitatorsPatron: Prof OP Kalra, Principal, UCMSChief Guest: Prof NG
Desai, Director IHBAS (Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences)Facilitators: Dr Radha
Ramaswamy (TO-trained
from Mandala Center for Change, Seattle,
USA & Founder Centre for Community Di... Continue reading ...
“Give me accessibility and I will give you productivity”
Posted by Abha Khetarpal on Sunday, August 21, 2011,
Abha Khetarpal gives a new slogan on Independence day:
Stairs without lifts, books without Braille prints, communication devoid
of sign language…there still pervades a reign of inaccessibility. More than 50
million disabled people in our country till this date, live like slaves..
People with impairments still remain oppressed…Oppressed by negative social
attitudes, oppressed by insensitivities, and oppressed by apathy and what not.
Where is the freedom in actual sense of the term!
The...
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The Importance of 4 "A's"
Posted by Abha Khetarpal on Thursday, August 11, 2011,
Whenever
I talk about the acceptance of a disability, pain or any kind of loss, which I
think is a pre-requisite in the process of adjustment to the changed situations
or capabilities, people usually and immediately reply me back saying, “It is
easy to talk about acceptance but it is difficult to put into practice.” I do
very well understand them and their difficulties in coping up with their
disabilities on one hand and their facing the reactions and attitudes of the
society on the other...
Continue reading ...
Call for Submissions for a special Mosaic issue on Blindness
Posted by Satendra Singh on Thursday, July 28, 2011,
Mosaic, a journal for the interdisciplinary study of literature is
bringing out a special issue on Blindness. This issue will bring together critical
and disability theories to address historical and contemporary studies and
interpretations of blindness across various genres, as well as studies of, to
use Samuel Weber’s title words (in Institution and Interpretation),
“the blindness of the seeing eye.” We seek submissions relating to any of the
following: blindness as disability; blindn...
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Lack of energy not spirits!
Posted by Lalit Kumar on Saturday, July 16, 2011,
It’s night time. And sleep is nowhere near me. I need a
paracetamol for I am in pain. I had gone to bed but all I could do is to turn
over and over again. My back, wrists, elbows, shoulders and legs –all parts of
screaming of pain.
And, at this moment, I am feeling a wee bit disheartened. I
don’t know why. So, I thought of writing it all down in hope to be able to
straighten my thoughts.
It was a good day today. I did a lot of work and met a new
friend in the evening for a coffee. I am... Continue reading ...
Physically Challenged; Sexually Challenging..!
Posted by Abha Khetarpal on Monday, July 11, 2011,
Cultural,
political legal and philosophical aspects are intrinsically involved when ever
there is a discussion about human sexuality. Morality, ethics, spirituality and
even religion also do get involved in it.
But if we
see from the psychological point of view, there are four basic drives which
throw human beings to perform any kind of action. These are hunger, thirst,
avoidance of pain and sexual urges.
Sex being
a form of energy, plays a primal role in expressions of emotions and feeling...
Continue reading ...
Utopia
Posted by Satendra Singh on Friday, June 24, 2011,
Many of you might have heard of the term “Utopia”…it is an
imaginary place, a world which is a perfect one…And what is a perfect
world…where there is complete harmony…But who has seen it…who has ever
experienced a Utopia like situation? I think for everyone perfection has a
different meaning…So there is also a no exact description of the word Utopia…no
such place really exists…we all interpret it differently…
But we can strive towards establishing a
society which at lea...
Continue reading ...
Welcome to Infinite Ability
Posted by Satendra Singh on Tuesday, June 14, 2011,
Living with a disability is not easy. Life does go on once you
have sustained a disability, but in no way it stops the creativity inside to
bloom to its full potential. The sharing of this experience is about inspiring and
uniting each other. Infinite Ability is an attempt to provide
an insight into the experience of living and coping with impairment.
It is about exploring disability through creativity.
Infinite Ability is a special-interest-group within the Medical
Humanities Group of UCMS ...
Continue reading ...