“To go about your daily routine, whether going to work, the shops or to watch your child’s school play, it is easy to overlook the barriers and ways in which persons with disabilities are commonly excluded. While persons with disabilities are excluded in many situations physically, in many cases the inaccessibility of information and communication is put on the back burner and not consciously included in everyday communications,” says Therina Wentzel, director of National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa (NCPPDSA).

Imagine what it must be like to not be able to hear the Christmas tunes playing in the stores, or to not fully hear a family chat and laugh around the table. Beyond these situations, imagine a world where a general marketing campaign or basic communication has very little regard or concern for creating materials that are accessible to those with sensory disabilities, especially the hearing impaired.

From October through to Monday, 3 December, the NCPPDSA focused on children with disabilities during the Nappy Run campaign, raising awareness for this often neglected sector of society. Even more isolated are those children with hearing disabilities. In South Africa alone, about 7.5% of school children are challenged everyday with hearing loss.

According to the South African Hearing Institute (SAHI), in many African nations the general awareness of hearing impairment is low and thus a lack of resources has resulted in a lack of screening programmes. The continent also has a predominantly young population and many are at risk of getting diseases which cause hearing loss.

It is also estimated that in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 1.2 million children aged between five and 14 years experience moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears. General prevalence studies show higher rates of severe to profound hearing loss in this part of Africa than in other developing countries.

“People who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments may be hindered in their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others due to the many barriers that exist because people with disabilities are not adequately considered and provided for,” explains Fanie du Toit, a member of the NCPPDSA who recently received a successful cochlear implant operation. “Information intended for the general public must be provided to persons with hearing loss in accessible formats and technologies.”

This is a daily challenge for many people, yet according to the UN Convention on the rights of persons with physical disabilities, as well as being covered in South African legislation, all persons with hearing loss must be able to exercise their right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with all others through Sign language, or augmentative or alternative communication and accessible means of their choice.

Various technical assistance guidelines exist, especially on the employment of persons with disabilities, both for those who are Deaf and for persons who are hearing impaired, ranging from mild to severe.

For those who are Deaf from birth, or pre-lingual, assistance consists of Sign language interpreters, transcribing services and assistive devices such as flashing alarms and vibrating devices. For those who are deaf, post-lingual, additional assistance from what a pre-lingual Deaf person would need would include lip speaker practitioners to facilitate communication and where necessary, possibly even cochlear implants.

For those who are hearing impaired, there are a variety of additional guidelines on top of the lip reading and transcribing practitioners and flashing devices, such as hearing aid listening devices and assistive devices like the loop system and FM system.

In recent communications shared by the Department of Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, it is stated that it has been proven that when barriers to inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in society, their entire community benefits. A barrier free society would therefore result in the advancement of the community as a whole.

Wentzel reminds citizens that we have no excuse for excluding persons with disabilities as it has been five years since the government ratified the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, “The UN convention states our responsibility towards persons with disabilities in aspects such as access to education and health services. Yet even though it has been five years, a lot of ground is still to be covered.”

To find out more, go to www.ncppdsa.org.za.