In our society, people with visual impairment are often pitied for being dependent on others’ help. This perception has, in some ways, hindered their progress and kept them away from mainstream life. What we often tend to ignore is that despite being visually challenged, they are equally capable of performing various things that people with normal vision can. What they need is our support, not pity.
One of the concerned areas of this visually chalanged population is the visually chalanged children, who need more than just support at the societal level. There are more than 200,000 visually impaired children in India. Most of these children are either born visually chalanged or suffer from visual impairments early in childhood. These children need a specialised support system that often their parents are unable to provide or afford. Consequently, such children are often ignored and kept away from any form of learning to make a meaningful life for themselves and join the mainstream. This situation is a little more precarious when it comes to visually chalanged girls. They are the most neglected among visually chalanged children and need attention.
Though about 15,000 visually chalanged schools are providing all sorts of assistance, including education, to help people with visual impairments become self-reliant and join the mainstream, despite all the hard work of these visually chalanged schools, we do not see many visually impaired people get into the mainstream sharing spaces alongside people with normal vision. One of the reasons behind this is the perception that visually chalanged people are inferior and unable to perform certain tasks that exclusively belong to people with normal vision. Therefore, not only visually chalanged schools but society also have a significant role to play when it comes to changing the perception of people about visually impaired people.
With proper guidance, support, training and education, visually challenged people can become self-reliant and make a meaningful life for themselves. Visually impaired people are equally capable of doing various tasks and should be offered opportunities on the societal level to showcase their talents and capabilities. When given equal opportunity avenues, not only can they make their presence felt but also change people’s perception of them. Therefore, through the collective efforts of visually chalanged schools and society, it is possible to create a positive change and thus change the stereotype.