Persons with disability want trained workers to deal with

Morobe Paralympic team manager Anne Itu says line agencies need understanding to work well with people who have disability.
Persons with disability in the Mamose region raised this concern, which they believed was a major barrier to all categories of PWDs.
They want this to be included in the draft Disability Authority Bill that is currently undergoing consultations nationwide. Health workers, police, law and justice and private sector officers needed to be trained to deal with different persons with disability, Itu said.
PWDs from the region said their greatest barrier was communicating with officers from line agencies.
Itu said public consultation heard that it should be compulsory for all community health workers, nurses, doctors, police, lawyers, Correctional Services officers, commercial banks and private organisations to be trained on sign language and other methods of communication.
The regional public consultation was held at 2-Mile Seventh Day Adventist hall in Lae yesterday and attended by more than 50 people from the Department of Community Development, Religion and Youth, Constitutional and Law Reform Commission, national board of PWD disability, assembly of disable persons, and representatives from disability person’s organisations in Vanimo, Madang, Wewak and within Morobe.
The participants also wanted people to use appropriate language on PWDs that it should not be discriminatory. They also wanted faith-based organisations or churches to employ speech therapist, physiotherapists, and occupational therapist in their organisation.