The media and disability inclusion

Indeed, there is no limit to knowledge. Recently, a disability persons’ organisation called, Inclusive Friends Association, gathered a handful of journalists from the print and electronic media in Akwanga, Nasarawa State to build their capacity on how to properly report on issues of Persons with Disability. It turned out that many of the journalists in attendance were ignorant of so many things about this community of people who constitute 15 per cent of the world population and who are estimated to be over 27 million of Nigeria’s population. I heartily congratulate all the PWDs on the occasion of this year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

According to the United Nations, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is annually observed on December 3 to promote the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities and to take action for their inclusion in all aspects of society and development. This year, the Day is being commemorated throughout the week of November 30-December 4, in conjunction with the 13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  The theme this year is, “Building Back Better: Towards a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post COVID-19 World”.

The training for journalists on issues of persons with disabilities brought together seasoned resource persons comprising the award-winning ace broadcaster, Eugenia Abu; Executive Director of Inclusive Friends Association, also a musician, Grace Jerry; Social Inclusion Officer – CDGP, Save the Children, Esther Angulu; Programme Manager with IFA, Jesse John and myself.

Despite my decades of working in the civil society and media, the November 18 – 19, 2020 Disability Focused Media Reporting Training for Journalists was an eye-opener and learning curve for me despite being one of the resource persons. I did learn a lot and have decided to share some of the useful tips and information in this public space. Even though my primary audience today is the media, I am also reaching out to all of us out there to change our perception of people with disabilities. The PWDs in Nigeria nay Africa are stigmatised, marginalised and discriminated against.  They find it hard to get an education and learn new skills, have good healthcare, get a job and earn money, be treated with respect, access the technology they need and take part in their community life.

Starting from the basics, what does disability mean? The WHO defines disabilities as “an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions” of the human body. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its preamble, says, “disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”

There are different types of disabilities which loosely fall into four separate categories – intellectual, physical, sensory, and mental illness.  Physical disability may affect, either temporarily or permanently, a person’s physical capacity and/or mobility. Examples include amputation, arthritis, acquired spinal injury, and post-polio syndrome. On the other hand, sensory disability affects one or more senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste or spatial awareness.  Examples include, autism spectrum disorder, blindness and low vision, hearing loss and sensory processing disorder. Developmental disability encompasses a broad range of conditions that result from intellectual and/or physical impairments. Examples of this include, Down syndrome, Language and learning disorders and cerebral palsy.  Lastly, psychosocial disability is the experience of people with impairments and participation restrictions related to mental health conditions.  People who have post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety fall into this category.

Persons with disabilities face three major kinds of barriers namely, attitudinal, environmental and institutional:  attitudinal barriers resulting from negative perceptions and stereotypes about the PWDs; cultural beliefs, misinformation or lack of knowledge about disability. i.e. disability is a curse or the PWDs are not worthy of being elected into public office.   Environmental barriers resulting from conditions of the natural or built environment that make it difficult for all people to access or use places, instruments etc. For example, inaccessible polling units, inaccessible public buildings, inaccessible means of transportation, etc.  Institutional barriers include laws, policies, strategies or practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities. This could include lack of political support or enforcement of policies that promote accessibility and inclusion.

Three key things being demanded by the people living with disabilities, according to the UNCRPD principle, are participation and inclusion; non-discrimination and accessibility. For example, Article 29 of the UNCRPD said States Parties like Nigeria shall guarantee to persons with disabilities political rights and the opportunity to enjoy them on an equal basis with others by “ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use”.

As I noted in one of my two presentations titled, “Reframing disability in the news”, it is very important that both journalists and communications professionals connect disability issues with human dignity and rights. There is a need to embrace human rights approach to issues of the PWDs. In describing a person with a disability, focus should be on the individual and not on their particular functional or physical limitations. For example, say Bartimeaus the blind not the blind Bartimeaus. Emphasis should be on ability, not the disability (unless it is critical to the story).

Other tips are: journalists should avoid emotional words such as “unfortunate” or “pitiful”.  Also, they should avoid sad music or melodramatic introductions when reporting on disability.  Never refer to individuals with disabilities as the disabled. Portraying people with disabilities as active members of society and not as passive and dependent helps to break down barriers and opens up opportunities. It is important to allow persons with disabilities to speak for themselves rather than through their caregivers.

In my other presentation titled, “The Role of the Media in Disability Awareness”, I raised the following points: The need to raise awareness on the challenges persons with disabilities face like social protection and the issues surrounding disability; factors that contribute to the exclusion and the stigmatisation of persons with disabilities. The imperative of introducing discussions on disability in the public arena to challenge the idea of it as a taboo subject should stressed. For example, albinism as punishment from the gods; use of persons with albinism and hunchback for rituals. There is a need to feature examples of persons with disabilities as providers of expertise, services, assistance and as contributors of financial support to their families and communities. They have the same range of emotions, interests, talents, skills and behaviour as the rest of the population and should be portrayed as having the same complexity of personality and experience as other persons of similar age and situation.

It is vital for all journalists to be familiar with the internationally approved ways of addressing persons with disabilities. According to the UNCRPD, the appropriate way to address the PWDs should be as persons or people with disabilities, and not as disabled, handicap or people with special needs. It is appropriate to say someone has physical disability not a cripple; you can say they are deaf or hard of hearing not the deaf; it’s okay to say someone is blind or has a low vision and not the blind; say someone with autism or albinism not an autistic or albino; say, “He has brain injury” and not “he is brain damaged”. Say someone with psychiatric disability or mental illness not crazy, psycho or schizo.

As journalists, there are lots of things we can write on persons with disabilities in order to bring their issues to the fore. Take for instance the impact of COVID-19 on PWDs or that of the #EndSARS protests and its fallouts on the PWDs. Recall the invasion of the psychiatric hospitals in Calabar, Cross River  State and Abeokuta in Ogun State. It will also be good to tell inspiring stories about Nigerian PWDs who have overcome their challenges to impact their world. People like ace musicians and producers Cobham Asuquo and  Yinka Ayefele, academics like Prof. Chinua Achebe, Prophet T.O. Obadare and a host of Nigerian paralympians who have made us proud in sports and entertainment industries.