We’ve all heard the expression “It takes a village to raise a child.” Neighborhoods are our modern-day villages, and all of us want them to become safe and comfortable. However, not all of our fellow villagers live using the exact same feeling of ease and security as the rest of us. The handicapped live amongst us. Sometimes they live so quietly that we can forget that they are there. But they're our neighbors too.
Disabilities come in several forms. Some individuals might be physically impaired to the extent that they've problems moving or performing physical tasks. Other people may have a situation that impacts their stamina. They might not seem physically impaired in an obvious way but they still have significant limitations in their activity level. The third type of disability is one of emotional or mental health. These are the individuals who are the least visible to us, and they might be one with the most ignored segments of the disabled population. But what is common to an individual with any kind of disability will be the desire to live as normal a existence as possible, and good neighbors can help. Here are brief explanations about main recommendations for assisting the disabled inside your community.
Mindfulness is the first suggestion for helping the disabled inside your community. Mindfulness doesn’t involve any new behaviors, it just indicates that you simply consciously think about your disabled neighbors.
Don’t park in handicapped spots.
Do not block entryways to apartment buildings or community areas. What may be easy to stroll around might be impossible for any walker or perhaps a wheelchair!
Do not be rude. Many of the disabled have problems sleeping or are overly sensitive to noise and activity. Attempt to curtail your activities to a reasonable extent.
The next suggestion is assistance. This doesn’t mean caretaking, it indicates making yourself available when possible.
Make a practice of vigilance. In the event you notice some thing wrong or different, verify it out right away. Don’t ignore the newspapers accumulating in your neighbor’s driveway or the lights that by no means get turned off.
Create a call. Check in daily or weekly to keep in touch. Give them your name and number. If you are running errands call to ask if there’s something they need.
Make a suggestion. You will find assistive devices to create life easier: reachers, telephones with large numbers or TTY capability (text for the deaf), bath benches and grab bars, emergency call buttons, etc. You can suggest these devices for your neighbor and maybe assist in obtaining them. (See resources below).
Make an effort. Find out if there is something that's difficult for them but easy for you: driving, buying, dusting or vacuuming, laundry, picking up medications from the pharmacy, washing dishes, and so on. It could be as big of a deal as picking up a family member from the airport or as small as watering a plant. Just like everybody else, the handicapped would prefer to have significant relationships using the people close to them. Remember, this person is a person and not a disability.
The third recommendations involves advocacy. If you would prefer to be more proactive in assisting the disabled in your community, you will find several sources of information. The internet is the simplest avenue to discover resources which are near to home, and here are some good websites to get started:
www.nih.gov – The website for the National Institute of Health. This is a great first stop for finding out more about numerous disabilities and the authorized obligations of communities, states, and our nation to help the handicapped. There is also a hyperlink here for MedLine, a resource for obtaining assistive devices for the disabled.
www.ncsl.org – The website for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which is a bipartisan advocate for our states, territories, and commonwealths. This is a great place to become informed about local problems affecting the disabled.
www.disabled-world.com – This is a resource for the United States, Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. It can supply a sense of neighborhood and a supply of info for and about the disabled.
Author Resource:
It takes a village to raise a child . . . and to be a good neighbor . Mindfulness, help, and advocacy – even small steps in the right direction can make a huge distinction on the path to Being A Good Neighbor To the Disabled . We are able to make the globe a much better place, one neighbor at a time.
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