Mindset Matters

Christel Naomi Roberts 

Growing up, whenever I heard about persons with disabilities or saw somebody with disabilities my immediate response was one that was filled with sympathy and the notion of wanting to help. It could’ve been the result of my surroundings, the moral science classes at school that taught it as a “good deed”, the assumptions and the stigma surrounding disabilities, and perhaps many others. Fast-forwarding a couple of years, I did my Masters in Social Work (Clinical and Community Practice) and as a part of the course, I got many opportunities to intern in clinical and community sectors and received a lot of exposure to diverse kinds of people with different perspectives on life. But the stigma around Persons with Disabilities still stayed. I then got an opportunity to work at WinVinaya Foundation, which trains Persons with Disabilities in IT and Niche skills and does placement assistance.  

But little did I know that I’d be working alongside Persons with Disabilities. For a person who grew up with notions of sympathy towards them, I was slightly hesitant to start looking at them as peers. I had thoughts like, how do I interact with them, what if I said something inappropriate that might offend them or how I should be helping them, and so many other things (Phew!) But working alongside PwDs was a completely different experience in itself.  

My co-workers, Dhanraj, Ayyappa, Gayathri, and Vaishnavi who were PwDs were totally awesome to work with. They were extremely friendly in helping me come out of being hesitant, speaking about their disability, helping me at work: for instance, I would create bright and colorful ppts and posters for the foundation’s website but never knew anything about adding alternate texts for pictures and posters to make it accessible. But, Dhanraj took time to tell me about alternate text and sensitized about how adding an alternate text to images makes it accessible and enjoyable for persons with Visual impairment. For another instance, Vaishnavi, Gayathri and Ayyappa introduced me to Indian Sign Language and helped me learn it and communicate in the language of signs and expressions true to its emotions. Being great friends, working and learning so much from each other and having fun together, it did not just help me to get over the hesitation and move out of the sympathy mindset but also pushed me to train myself to start being inclusive in our conversations, games, fun times and in all that I did!  

We’re planning to go on a trip together soon and this will be my first time travelling with Persons with Disabilities and I can’t wait to see how it turns out! Stay tuned to know how it goes.