What is really needed for mitigating the trauma of physical, neurological or psychological disability is noble human values which make life easier for the differently-abled while also teaching us 'normal' people the value and joy of sacrifice, compassion and giving of ourselves.
These views were expressed by Dr Murad Moosa Khan, Professor of Psychiatry at the Aga Khan University and Hospital, while delivering a talk, titled, “Celebrating the diversity of disability”, at The Circle: Caring for Children, on Saturday afternoon.
He highlighted the indispensable need for compassion in society at large and said that disability may result from neurological or physical dysfunction, trauma, accidents and, nowadays, bomb blasts.
Dr Murad cited the case of a neurologist in the UK who had three children. The youngest child suffered from cerebral palsy. She was bedridden and had to be looked after for even her most basic functions. Despite best possible care, the child died of pneumonia when she reached 16. After she was gone, people tried to lessen their sorrow by saying things like, “Well, it is a tragedy but now you’ll be rid of a crippling responsibility and you’ll have more time for yourselves and be able to go on holidays etc.”
The neurologist replied, “True, but now we shall not be able to practice the beautiful human values of compassion, love, and caring, things that were taught us by our tragedy.”
He was stressing the value of the noble human instincts. “It was touching indeed to see the values like caring and compassion,” Dr Murad said, adding, “Looking after the child at home taught the family the values of caring, compassion and sacrifice.”
Revealing that there were one billion disabled people across the globe, he listed some of the physical disabilities or mental impairment that inhibited one or more major activities of life. In this context, he cited deafness, blindness, loss of a limb and loss of speech and other disabilities.
“The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect, recognising that each individual is unique, recognising and tolerating differences.”
In this context, Dr Murad cited the case of refugees fleeing the civil strife in Syria and praised Angela Merkel and David Cameron for having agreed to accept hardship cases from among the refugees and let them into Germany and the UK.
He regretted that even though the refugees were from a Muslim country, no Muslim country volunteered to give shelter to them except for Turkey. This, he said, was a real example of compassion.
“Difference is the one thing we all have in common. See the person as a person, not in the light of his disability. The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”
Dwelling in depth on the meaning of compassion, he said compassion implied recognizing the suffering of others and taking steps to relieve it. He quoted Russel Simmons, who says, “Compassion is the ultimate expression of your highest self.”
He said it was the moral duty of society to remove the pangs of suffering that resulted from any form of disability, and for this, the key word was compassion. Highlighting the need for education and awareness, he said that at present 27 million children of school-going age were out of school in Pakistan.
In his eloquent and moving presentation Dr Murad spoke of the various forms of mental, neurological and physical disabilities, the many obstacles the disabled face and how society must not only accept, but indeed celebrate these disabilities by looking at them as differences rather than insurmountable obstacles. A caring and considerate society is a strong, well knit community where the weak and disabled are not just accommodated, but mainstreamed.
He gave the example of some countries in the west which had taken the best values from religion and incorporated them into policy and law; even though their churches may be empty, people were happy and cared for. As against that we had mosques full of worshippers and yet people were bereft of the basic values of care and compassion; the result was all too evident for us to see.
Earlier, Ms Sadaf Shahid, CEO & Chief Therapist of The Circle, in her welcome remarks mentioned how starting from humble beginnings of just 2 therapists and a case load of just 15, The Circle: Caring for Children had grown to a team of 20 competent and committed therapists providing treatment to over 80 children suffering from disorders ranging from autism, speech and language impairment and learning disorders.
The presentation was followed by a lively interaction between Dr Murad and a large audience of parents, teachers and care givers.