NO LIMITS

DJ Rollstoel and advocates make their stemme dik for mense with disabilities in the Western Cape

- BY MARSHA DEAN

DURING this November's Disability Rights Awareness Month, local celebrity DJ Rollstoel and disability advocates are turning up the volume for their call for access and inclusion.

For many differently-abled Kapenaars, life is made all the more challenging by stigmas and how society excludes individuals from basic rights that the average person enjoys.

There are many different kinds of disabilities, often grouped into broad categories.

These include physical disabilities (affecting mobility or motor function), sensory disabilities (such as visual and hearing impairments), intellectual and developmental disabilities, psychosocial or mental health conditions, and neurological or chronic healthrelated disabilities.

Uniting

On the frontline of the fight to gain access to education, employment and services just navigating life is the Western Cape Network on Disability (WCND).

Lilley Berrington, WCND Head of Stakeholder Engagement, says the group is a member-driven provincial network uniting organisations in the disability sector to identify and address gaps in services for persons with disabilities, promote their rights and equal opportunities, and facilitate information-sharing and collaboration among service providers and advocacy organisations.

Berrington explained: "People with disabilities face persistent stigma rooted in outdated beliefs about dependence, pity, or incapacity.