Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher ...

Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and Workplace

Role of ICT and Assistive Technologies

ENABLING ACCESS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKPLACE

ROLE OF ICT AND ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

co-organised by

Supported by

In association with

DIANA JOSEPH

Diana Joseph, Director Fourth Wave Foundation can be reached at diana@fourthwavefoundati

FOREWORD

The Indian Higher Education system is said to be the world's third largest, preceded by the ones in China and United States. However higher education in India, in itself stands for a great contradiction. On one side, the Indian Institute of Technology ranks among the best universities in the entire world, and on the other there are numerous schools which lack proper infrastructure for basic student needs. In the midst of all these problems is a nation that is working towards ensuring equal access and education for all.

If we were to look at efforts across the nation, we see struggles at various quarters to ensure inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs), as they lack many opportunities available to the mainstream populace. The rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, would be enough to protect everyone, ideally. However in practice, certain groups such as PWDs, specifically women and children with disabilities, fare far worse than others. International conventions are in place to protect and promote the human rights of these groups, with access to education being one of the basic rights.

Working on the theme of the conference "Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and Workplaces" we looked at various efforts made by individuals, institutions, companies and

public /civic organisations in trying to address these issues. This journal is a voice from across the nation and outside, in three broad areas:

Crucial difference between existing educational environments and inclusive/enabling ones

Understanding what it means to ensure equal access, be sensitive to student needs, and redefine how we build educational environments

How can Indian campuses become inclusive to be globally competent and competitive.

This is hopefully a beginning, of a movement across universities and colleges in the country, to analyze needs and create blueprints to enable inclusion.

Our sincere gratitude to friends and mentors who have helped us find direction in crystallizing our vision of working in this sector; IIMB and MphasiS for backing `neverthe-less' with the learnings and support of the Office of Disability Services, the team at Fourth Wave for standing by the commitment through good and difficult times, the design team at Jekob Designery, and editorial team of C J Chacko, Abey Jose, Jessy Akkara and Mohan K. Pillai. Most graciously we remember all partners, and our team of relentless volunteers.

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CONTENTS

05 IIM BANGALORE'S EXPERIENCE ON PROVIDING EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

RISHIKESHA T KRISHNAN

06 ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE ROLE OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

DR. MEENU BHAMBHANI

08 NEVER-THE-LESS TOGETHER IT GETS BETTER!

C C JOSEPH

10 ACCESSIBILITY IS NOT INCLUSION

SCOTT RAINS

12 TECHNOLOGY FOR ACCESSIBILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

NIRMITA NARASIMHAN

13 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION SECTOR FOR PEOPLE WITH VISION IMPAIRMENT

SRINIVASALU

15 BUILDING INCLUSIVE LIBRARIES IN INDIA FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

PRIYA R PILLAI

18 ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION AND WORKPLACES FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

RAJA SHANMUGAM

20 A DREAM COME TRUE

PADMINI RAMESH

21 IT JUST TAKE'S A BIG HEART! AND SOME COMMON SENSE

ELANGO R

23 A LEGACY TO UPHOLD

FREDRIK CHRISTENSSON

24 NANAGU SHAALE

DIANA JOSEPH & G THIRAVIYAM

25 EXPERIENCES OF BEING A WHEEL-CHAIR USER STRAIGHT FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH

SHAHANA NAAZ

27 OECD REPORT ON INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AT WORK 28 GOOD TO KNOW 29 BUILDING SOLUTIONS THORUGH HIGHER EDUCATION

INTERVENTION

SAM TARAPOREVALA

35 ACCESS BARRIER IN HIGHER EDUCATION

MOHAMMED IQBAL

37 TOWARDS A DISABILITY-FRIENDLY IIMB

SWATHI T P

38 ASSESSING DIFFERENTLY PROBLEM BASED LEARNING

CHETAN K S

39 SOCIAL AIMS FOR ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY

TONY KURIEN

40 INCLUSIVE METHODS IN DEUTSCHLAND

THILO ROTH

41 TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS TO AID INTEGRATION OF CHILDREN WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT

RADHIKA POOVAYYA

43 GOING UP THE LADDER HOW INSTITUTES OF LEARNING CAN WORK WITH CORPORATES

V ISAAC GEORGE

45 GIVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH THE ZERO RISK APPROACH

SEBI CHACKO

47 PURPOSE MAXIMIZERS

NIMISHA JASHNANI

49 LEVERAGING THE TALENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN ORGANIZATIONS

VASANTHI SRINIVASAN & MUKTA KULKARNI

51 WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY MY JOB WOULD HAVE BEEN PERHAPS IMPOSSIBLE TO HANDLE R.

DHARMARAJAN

52 A LETTER FROM AN IIM ALUMNI

MICHAEL SEQUEIRA

53 THE SEVEN STEPS TO INCLUSION

POORNIMA SARDANA

54 PWD'S IN J&K

RAMEEZ MUSHTAQ

56 STEPS TOWARDS INCLUSION

ANJLEE AGARWAL

57 WORDS FROM A TORCH BEARER

A. CHIDAMBARAM

58 DISABILITY THROUGH A HUMAN RIGHTS PARADIGM

AGNES S THOMAS

60 LEAD SCHOOL TRANSITION SERVICE FLEXIBLE PATHWAYS

COLIN GLADSTONE

62 INCLUSIVE PLANET CENTRE FOR DISABILITY LAW AND POLICY

RAHUL CHERIAN

63 ONLINE COURSE IN DISABILITY STUDIES AND PUBLIC POLICY

CLYDE WHITE JR

64 CHALLENGES MULTI FOLD

VISHNU MURTHY

65 MAKING THE DISABLED, DIFFERENTLY-ABLED ACCESS HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT

DR. ANANT KUMAR

67 LIFE OF SELF?EXPRESSION AND JOY

SUNIL JAIN

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PROF. PANKAJ CHANDRA DIRECTOR, IIMB

NOTE FROM

THE DIRECTOR

Welcome to the National Conference on "Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and the Workplace: Role of ICT and Assistive Technologies". It gives me great pleasure to host you at the IIM Bangalore campus for this conference which aims at increasing awareness about enabling technologies and solutions for people with disabilities at the workplace and educational institutions.

Over the last few years, educational institutes, especially those involved in higher education, have been taking steps to give equal access to people from diverse economic and social backgrounds. As a result we can see our campuses being more vibrant. But this equity has not yet reached persons with disability, partly because of lack of awareness and sensitivity, and also because of limited infrastructural support. With the intent of generating such awareness and creating an atmosphere of equal opportunity towards inclusivity at academic institutions and workplaces, this conference is an initiative in bringing the key stakeholders together. These stakeholders come from NGOs, corporate and

educational institutes and activists from across India.

We set up an Office of Disability Services (ODS) in January 2010. IIMB is perhaps the first institution of higher education in India to have a clearly articulated disability policy ( 0Policy%20revised%2013july09.pdf) and an ODS to ensure that all students with disabilities get as good an educational experience as other students. The office currently takes care of the special accommodations required by students with disabilities including access to course material, tutoring and placement advisory.

Over the next two days you would interact with people who are pioneers in the space of disability rights and have made significant contributions towards inclusivity. There are a series of panel discussions covering various facets of academia and workplace inclusivity such as sensitization, non-discrimination, employee engagement and training programs, amongst others. The conference also showcases enabling technologies, impactful cases and best practices. I believe you will have an enriching experience at the conference.

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