March 24-2013
The Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation (MCADF) is gearing up for its observation of global Autism Month; commemorated globally each April…is starting just weeks before that month is set to begin - by augmenting the resources at its Autism Kiosk, located at the Tom Redcam Library in Kingston Jamaica.
The latest resource to be added to that Kiosk as at Monday March 25-2013 is the World Report on Disability, which takes a comprehensive look at the state of the world’s disabled populace and the issues they face as a part of the world community.
The report was commissioned by the World Bank in tandem with the World Health Organization (WHO) and presented to the MCADF organization by World Bank communication’s consultant Gerrard McDaniel Communications Consultant, working with the local arm of the World Bank in Jamaica.
The report takes a comprehensive look at the many issues facing the world’s disabled including: disability and poverty in developed and developing countries, needs for services and assistance, costs of disability…direct costs as well as indirect costs, understanding the health of people with disabilities, addressing barriers to health care - as well as reforming policies, laws and delivery systems.
According to the Managing Director of the MCADF Maia Chung, this report will go a far way in building on the work we are trying do with the Kiosk…which is to have a cache of usable, credible and relevant information for persons who have to live with a disability – so they can use what they glean there and improve their lives.
The use of the Kiosk is free to members of the public and its operation and use, is facilitated by the Jamaica Library Service; and its staff at its Kingston based Tom Redcam branch.
The Kiosk is open during business hours each day the library is open to the public.
Resourced with materials by the MCADF… which is both produced by the Foundation and solicited from the organization’s partners, the Kiosk was equipped by COURTS Jamaica limited with a television and DVD player to enable the use of the audio and visual material; which comprises part of the resources available at the Kiosk.
The Kiosk contains information in video and audio form, for persons who are visually and hearing impaired.
Chung says, “this facility is for persons in the community, but also is for students, teachers, parents and researchers who need information on the issues that face the disabled, in order that those individuals can use what they learn, to improve the lives of the disabled Jamaican community.
She added, “I am particularly pleased with this report as it is extremely comprehensive and very well put together and should provide even more well needed insight into the plights and needs of the disabled as more and more moves are being planned, to make the lives of the challenged more productive, fulfilling and relevant to the progress of the world - of which they are a valid part”.
The report has a foreword by Professor Stephen Hawking he prominent astrophysicist, who has been afflicted with motor neurone disease for most of his adult life.
According to Hawking, “the report makes recommendations for action at the local, national and international levels. It will thus be an invaluable tool for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, advocates, and volunteers involved in disability. It is my hope that, beginning with the Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities, and now with the publication of the World Report on Disability, this century will mark the turning point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their societies”.
mcautismfoundation@gmail.com
