Story by Amanda Khong
SOME 130 participants turned up for a three-day seminar and workshop titled “Education and Management of the Deafblind” from Jan 29 till 31.
The seminar and workshop were organised by Malaysian Federation of the Deaf (MFD), National Council for the Blind Malaysia (NCBM) and the Penang Deaf Association (PDA) with distinguished speakers from the Japan Deaf-Blind Association (JDBA).
Deafblind is a situation where there is little or no functional vision combined with little or no hearing.
This situation of hearing and sight impairment will severely impact the person’s communication thus affecting their education, employment and social lives.
The objective of this seminar was to provide knowledge and awareness on deafblind persons, to learn the correct way to assist such a person and to develop guidelines in managing a deafblind person in Malaysia.
Pulau Tikus assemblymember Yap Soo Huey was present at the opening ceremony of the seminar on Jan 29.
Since 2014, the state government has started two sub-committees under the state exco and Yap chairs both the sub-committee on Universal Accessibility and the sub-committee on Children with Special Needs.
“I strongly believe that the only way people with disabilities can champion for themselves, be noticed, be listened to, be respected, be taken seriously, the only way is for everyone to work together. None of us belongs in categories! I sincerely hope that one day we will have an environment that is inclusive for everyone,” said Yap
Yap added that chairing both the sub-committees actually gives her a great opportunity to further understand better the different types of abilities and disabilities faced in our society.
Present with Yap was Mohamad Sazali Shaari, president of MFD, Moses Choo, executive director of NCBM, Chung Kim Cheong, president of PDA, Akiko Fukuda, facilitator from JDBA and Daniel Soon, executive director of St. Nicholas’ Home for the Blind.
}