Make It Happen – 5 jobs you thought people with disability couldn’t do

Varnavi is an Intern from Christ University Bangalore, and has been interning with Enable India since April 2014. Coming from a Media and Communication background Varnavi is working on communicating the message of EnAble India to a wider audience. Input for this article from Priyanka Garg, a current EnAble India trainee.

Make It Happen – 5 jobs you thought people with disabilities couldn’t do

Often people with disabilities are considered special, different from others and are hence thought of as not sufficient for certain core jobs. But with the right technological support, daily practice of required skills we can achieve targets and realise dreams. Some examples of jobs being completed by disabled people:

1. Medicine. Many assume that a person with disability cannot possibly handle a very attentive, accurate and complex job like that of a Doctor. Saving lives, serving the society can be done if you have strong will and determination, it is not limited to any faction of the society, and this fact was proven by many like Dr. Y G Parameshwara, the first Visually Impaired Indian to become a doctor and practice medicine. Dr. Satendra Singh, who was infected with polio at the age of nine but went on to complete his MBBS degree, then completing his MD in physiology and is noted for his efforts in accessibility of public places for the disabled.

2. Banking and Finance.The banking and money related jobs are often considered tricky for the Visually Impaired and Hearing impaired people, as there is a perception that they can’t identify or comprehend the complex math behind money management. This misconception was cleared to us by Ashish Goyal, the winner of India’s National Award for the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities in 2010. Ashish was also the first Visually Impaired student at Wharton Business School, Philadelphia, he now works as a trader and a Risk Manager at JP Morgan’s Chief Investment Office. Ashish makes use of screen reader software to check his e-mails, read research reports and look at presentations, also the two computer screens on his desk, show flashing messages and spreadsheets of constantly changing financial figures linked to headphones, which read out to him in rapid speed. Another area where visually impaired may have faced a problem is in handling cash transactions. They can overcome this effectively by using new technological innovations like Cash Counting Machine, this machine helps the visually impaired not only count cash but also to check whether the currency is real or fake. EnAble India has placed more than 50 physically impaired, hearing impaired, visually impaired people in world renowned banks like State Bank of India, Goldman Sachs, ANZ and Deutsche Bank.

3. Sports is a field where the people with disability are often not considered, but people like Marla Runyan, an American prolific runner who was the first competitor of Olympic as blind and has been a three time national champion in the women’s 5000 meters is changing perception. Devendra Jhajharia, a physically impaired with an amputated hand, a gold medal winner for Javelin throw in the 2004 summer Paralympics, has shown to the world that his disabilities don’t hinder his enthusiasm and passion for preferred sport.

4. Hospitality.People often think that Visually Impaired can’t be good managers due to inability to “see” particular issues. Therefore visually impaired persons can’t open any restaurant. But to open any restaurant you need to know the following things like, where to open it, what to cook, what is the current trend, what is the food culture of the place, who is the target customer and how to gather effective man power to do that work. If you are able to achieve these, then no one can stop you from starting your restaurant. One such attempt is the ‘Dark Dine Invisible’ restaurant in Bengaluru which is managed by the visually impaired, the restaurant tries to make the costumers experience dining in the darkness.

Check the link below to know more about the ‘Dark Dine Invisible’ :   http://www.timeoutbengaluru.net/restaurants-caf%C3%A9s/features/see-change

5. Dance. For a person with physical disability dancing is a big challenge, but with her strong will and passion for dance, Sudha Chandran who lost her leg in an accident accomplished to become a notable Indian classical dancer. She also has been actively involved in acting on television and in movies.

These are just a few stories which prove that disability cannot stop anyone from achieving his/her dreams. Whatever society thinks is impossible for the disabled person is possible, because impossible itself means “I M Possible”.

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