Disabled folks are not nobodies, says frustrated mom
New law spurs optimism after daughter faces years of jeers
Published:Tuesday | February 15, 2022 | 12:08 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
Marlene Myers, mother of a 38-year-old intellectually disabled woman, was elated on Tuesday as the Disabilities Act came into effect, offering hope for the full protection of the rights of many who have lived on the fringes of society.
Myers represents one of thousands of Jamaican parents who are heartbroken at the neglect, stigma, and public scorn disabled children often face.
For three decades, she has witnessed the treatment suffered by her eldest child, Nickesha Henry. Her daughter has a speech impediment.
“People with disability, [other] people look down on dem as dem a nobody, honestly, because discrimination nuh easy. Mi get a lot with her. Whole heap!” Myers, an attendant at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, said in a Gleaner interview on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston on Monday.
Watching as disabled persons handed out flyers to commuters to raise awareness about the legislation, the 57-year-old recalled how she was brought to tears as her daughter battled the sneers and snarky remarks as they took the bus to a Windward Road, Kingston, school. It was her faith in God, said Myers, why she did not physically attack the mocking onlookers.
The new Disabilities Act seeks to ensure that people with disabilities are treated equitably, and that infrastructural and other modifications are made to facilitate their free movement.
But for families like Myers’, the war against discrimination will not only be won with ratification of the law.
She is hopeful that the incidence of discrimination will be reduced as more educational campaigns are rolled out, engendering behaviour change and a culture shift across Jamaican society.
“People with disability need to be treated better,” she said.
Karl Samuda, minister of labour and social security, had announced during a sitting of the House of Representatives last October that the act, which was passed in 2014, would become effective on February 14, 2022.
Back then, Samuda said it was unfortunate that implementation of the law had taken such a long time, noting that “a lot of work has been done, especially by the legal team, to bring it to this stage”.
Colette Roberts Risden, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, who was out on the streets of downtown Kingston issuing flyers on Monday, hinted that Samuda may have deliberately designated Valentine’s Day as the date for the launch of the law.
“I believe the day was picked because it’s a day of love, a day for us to show each and everyone among us, whether they be disabled, abled, old, young, that they’re loved, no matter who they are or their ability,” the permanent secretary told The Gleaner.
Roberts Risden called for Jamaicans to treat persons with disabilities as equals.
“We need to treat all Jamaicans the way we would want to be treated, whether they have a disability or not,” she stressed.