The Plight of Young People With Disabilities

Thabiso Makhurane

By Thabiso Makhurane

‘The only disability in the world is a bad attitude’ – Scott Hamilton

In an ‘ideal’ world, the only disability would indeed be a bad attitude. In the real world, however, disability continues to impact negatively on the opportunities and prospects that an individual has. According to the National Census Survey of 2012, people with disabilities constitute 15% of the Zimbabwean population, the majority of which being the youth. People with disabilities particularly, the youth, are constantly faced with limitations that emanate from attitudinal barriers. Young people with disabilities are viewed as objects of pity and shame. They are generally looked down upon, compared to their able-bodied counterparts. Society generally has a negative attitude towards young people with disability. This negative attitude has perpetuated stigma and discrimination of young people with disabilities. Young people with disabilities are also faced with structural barriers which manifest in the form of inaccessible buildings and facilities. For Deaf youths, barriers manifest in the different communication used by the Deaf and hearing community. Though sign language is a constitutionally recognized language, sign language awareness and training is still inadequate. Disability barriers also manifest in society’s written forms of communication which exclude young people with visual impairments who rely on braille.

The implications of all these various barriers is that young people have challenges in accessing information and services which range from sexual and reproductive health, to tertiary education. Barriers also translate to young people with disabilities being socially excluded in terms of participation in their communities and national development programs. Young people with disabilities are confronted with participatory challenges in economic and political arenas, further perpetuating their marginalization and exclusion.

Young people should realize the enormous power they have due to their demographic superiority. Young people should take center stage in advancing disability issues because they are not only leaders of tomorrow, but they are the leaders of the now. As we are approaching the Sustainable Development Goals target year 2030, young people should ensure that in all their programs, disability mainstreaming is done. This entails assessing the needs and deliberate inclusion of people with disabilities in various development programs. Young people should also create an inclusive society through acquiring information and educating themselves about disability issues. This will help them become effective disability rights advocates in their families, communities, and Zimbabwe as a whole.

Disability is a human rights issue which is recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals. It therefore calls upon the active participation of all young people in Zimbabwe (with or without disability) to curb the inequalities and disadvantages. Disability is a social construct which views young people with disabilities as different from the ‘norm.’ This indicates a failure on the part of society to accommodate a significant chunk of its own population. Since this ‘norm’ is defined by society, it now calls upon young people to redefine the ‘norm.’ It now calls upon young people to create a society which celebrates and appreciates diversity. A society which does not put stigmatizing labels on people because they are different. A society where inequality, oppression and discrimination based on one’s visible or silent disability is long gone. A society which does not view disability as inability. That society is possible if young people take a lead role in advancing disabilities issues. Young people owe it to the disability community, they owe it to themselves, above all, they owe it to the next generation, with regards to the creation of an inclusive society. Indeed the sentiments echoed by Scott Hamilton, ‘the only disability in the world is a bad attitude,’ can be a reality if young people take it upon themselves the creation of an inclusive, non-discriminatory society.