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Activists Around the World: Shrutilata Singh · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha. I'm welcome to Stephane
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: never told your production of I Heart Radio, and welcome
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: to activists around the world. Yeah, I've changed it again.
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  Speaker 1: This is what we're gonna keep doing. We'ch is gonna
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  Speaker 1: make it so. We are celebrating people who have or
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  Speaker 1: continue to do things that impact their community, our community,
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  Speaker 1: and therefore the world. And today we're celebrating the beautiful
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  Speaker 1: works of disability activists. Shooti Lata Sing and Sing is
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  Speaker 1: a deaf blind activist who is making history in India
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  Speaker 1: and around the world. In just in case you don't know,
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  Speaker 1: deaf blindness is quote a rare condition in which an
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  Speaker 1: individual has combined hearing and vision loss, thus limiting access
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  Speaker 1: to both auditory and visual information. And this is according
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  Speaker 1: to the National Center of Deaf Blindness and specifically for seeing.
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  Speaker 1: Hers is a progressive death blindness, which means she loses
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  Speaker 1: her sight and hearing bit by dip bit through her lifetime.
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  Speaker 1: So it has gotten progressively the wars and it is
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  Speaker 1: getting progressively wars. But she is actively able to still
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  Speaker 1: communicate and still see sign language um and so she
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  Speaker 1: has some accessibility, but it is getting more and more
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  Speaker 1: difficult for sure. Yes, And when it comes to education opportunities,
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  Speaker 1: the Center reports educational resources and accommodation are more difficult
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  Speaker 1: to access due to the multiple diagnoses and due to
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  Speaker 1: the systems that are not set up to provide the
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  Speaker 1: full services that they deserve in the educational systems um quote.
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  Speaker 1: Because death blindness significantly impacts a child our use ability
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  Speaker 1: to access information, communicate, and interact with other people, it
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  Speaker 1: has profound implications for educational services. The limited sensory channels
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  Speaker 1: available for learning necessitate developing a highly individualized program for
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  Speaker 1: each child that addresses their interests and unique ways of learning.
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  Speaker 1: Sensory deficits can easily mislead even experienced educators into underestimating
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  Speaker 1: are occasionally overestimate eating intelligence and constructing inappropriate programs. Assessment
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  Speaker 1: is crucial every step of the way, right. And I
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  Speaker 1: know we've talked about the system, especially when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to individualized education plans UM and active helping for those
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  Speaker 1: who are in the disabled community who may need a
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  Speaker 1: little more assistance. Uh. And it's hard to get and
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  Speaker 1: a lot of the times there's no funding in the schools. Uh.
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  Speaker 1: If you really want something to be done, it's probably
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  Speaker 1: privately funded, and I think that needs to be said. Overall,
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  Speaker 1: this is a worldwide problem. The United States is probably
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  Speaker 1: I haven't looked at the statistics, not that great when
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  Speaker 1: it comes to working with children with special needs um And.
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  Speaker 1: I say this as in like school level and UM
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  Speaker 1: I have seen the testing system in order to get
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  Speaker 1: any type of assistance for that, and it's difficult, and
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  Speaker 1: if you don't know what you're doing, you can be
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  Speaker 1: relroaded by the system that does minimal to keep kids
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  Speaker 1: out of the way instead of actually educating them. So
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  Speaker 1: this is a worldwide and we wouldn't make sure we
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  Speaker 1: had dressed this even though what we who we're talking
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  Speaker 1: about is based in India. Unfortunately, these experiences are again international.
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  Speaker 1: But for Seeing, being born girl was an added difficulty
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  Speaker 1: for her to access her independence. Seeing it recalled her
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  Speaker 1: own experiences of being isolated in her home, and she
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  Speaker 1: spoke about her fears of being out in the world
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  Speaker 1: as she and many of the women didn't feel safe
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  Speaker 1: due to the violence against women in her area. And
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  Speaker 1: oftentimes we're limited to just getting married and then stayed
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  Speaker 1: at home and that was their future. Um And. Though
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  Speaker 1: her brother who also was diagnosed with deaf blindness. He's
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  Speaker 1: been able to have more opportunities to do more, such
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  Speaker 1: as independently traveling and just being able to communicate freely
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  Speaker 1: because it was a little less taboo for people to
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  Speaker 1: be closer, standing closer, being able to access touch people
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  Speaker 1: kind of if you know what I mean, Like women
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  Speaker 1: are definitely all about you need to uh stay a
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  Speaker 1: certain distance and this is how she explained that you
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  Speaker 1: need to say a certain distance away and therefore this
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  Speaker 1: level of respect that really limited her ability to see
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  Speaker 1: and talk to people and meaning that she needed to
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  Speaker 1: be in close proximity. One of the pictures shows her
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  Speaker 1: with her interpreter and very close because that's how she
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  Speaker 1: sees UM. So if you need that type of interaction
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  Speaker 1: and you're not allowed to do that because of social taboos,
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  Speaker 1: that definitely limits who you're able to talk to and
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  Speaker 1: what you're able to do. UM. But she was able
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  Speaker 1: to finish and complete schooling with some help from her
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  Speaker 1: family who are educated and was able to assist her.
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  Speaker 1: But she was doing this without the school's assistance or support.
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  Speaker 1: So that says a lot and we know that can
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  Speaker 1: make a break a lot of students and her educational
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  Speaker 1: experience again was not a positive one, with her teachers
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  Speaker 1: unable or unwilling to meet her knees. She left Filly
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  Speaker 1: discouraged and depressed, but she persevered and was able to
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  Speaker 1: continue her studies at the Indira Gandhi National Open University,
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  Speaker 1: graduating with a BA in Biology UM. But it was
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  Speaker 1: still challenging task to do as she had to do
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  Speaker 1: most things by self teaching right UM. But she didn't
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  Speaker 1: stop there. She can need on in her education, eventually
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  Speaker 1: becoming the first person in India to qualify as a
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  Speaker 1: physiotherapist or physical therapist. And she has been an advocate
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  Speaker 1: for others in the deafblind community too. UM. She has
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  Speaker 1: taken her own experiences within her community to have a
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  Speaker 1: larger conversation UM for the rights and fair opportunities for
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  Speaker 1: all women with death blindness, she said in an interview
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  Speaker 1: about her work with Since International, which is the quote
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  Speaker 1: only national level organization supporting needs based services which enables
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  Speaker 1: children and adults with death blindness to overcome the challenges
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  Speaker 1: caused due to deaf blindness UM and that's according to
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  Speaker 1: their site. But in the interview she said, my vision
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  Speaker 1: is a world where deafbline people will be courageous enough
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  Speaker 1: to challenge others. I want a world where women with
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  Speaker 1: deaf blindness can go out without any fear in a
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  Speaker 1: country like ours. I want a world that is fully accessible, inclusive,
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  Speaker 1: and encouraging. I want to make everyone aware that there
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  Speaker 1: is a condition called deaf blindness and it can limit
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  Speaker 1: a person's performance considerably. Right, And she's been a vocal
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  Speaker 1: about limited access to better education due to mislabeling of
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  Speaker 1: those with disabilities like a death blindness, talking about how
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  Speaker 1: she was frustrated during school and would act out due
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  Speaker 1: to that and was labels as such or even labeled
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  Speaker 1: as quote dull uh and the impact of such a
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  Speaker 1: negative influence, she continued in her interview, quote low self
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  Speaker 1: esteem among persons with disabilities is common, and this is
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  Speaker 1: largely because of the negativity of society. I want to
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  Speaker 1: change this. I do not want deaf blind youth to
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  Speaker 1: remain dependent on others for employment. Instead, they all should
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  Speaker 1: have something of their own for which they need guidance,
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  Speaker 1: and I hope to be able to provide this guidance.
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  Speaker 1: They should be aware of their rights and how to
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  Speaker 1: use it. And within the issues of education, she's become
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  Speaker 1: a fish advocate and fostering supports groups for the younger generation.
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  Speaker 1: In our conversations about her work with SINCE International India,
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  Speaker 1: she states, many people with deaf blindness are not so
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  Speaker 1: fortunate to receive support, whether emotional or financial. So what
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  Speaker 1: we ask from our government bodies is to build an
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  Speaker 1: ecosystem of support that fosters and nurtures our skills and
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  Speaker 1: with that um she has emphasized the importance of accessing tech.
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  Speaker 1: In an interview with the Norwegian Human Rights Fund, she
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  Speaker 1: stressed the need for tech companies to be inclusive for
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  Speaker 1: people in the disabled community, as it can be a
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  Speaker 1: way to open up doors for communication and independence for
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  Speaker 1: so many. She said in her interview, technology is the
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  Speaker 1: key and accessibility is not a checkbox. It must be mainstreamed.
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  Speaker 1: When tech companies introduce new products, they need to consider
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  Speaker 1: us no matter what. Having a phone that magnifies text
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  Speaker 1: now means I can order a cab, pay for things
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  Speaker 1: in shops, send voice messages, use Google transferab and go
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  Speaker 1: out into the world and flourish. And she has worked
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  Speaker 1: closely with SINCE International, has both an advocacy officer with
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  Speaker 1: SINCE International India and public speaker as an advocate for
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  Speaker 1: those with death blindness. She participated at their roundtable in
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  Speaker 1: c OSP the Conference of State Parties and in the
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  Speaker 1: thirteenth session of the Convention on the Rights of Persons
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  Speaker 1: with Disabilities are crp D at the United Nations and
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  Speaker 1: has recently joined the Executive Committee as a Regional Representative
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  Speaker 1: from India with the Commonwealth Network of Children and Youth
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  Speaker 1: with Disabilities to work globally for the well being of
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  Speaker 1: disabled children and youth during this pandemic. Right she has
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  Speaker 1: done a lot, she continues to do a lot. She's
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  Speaker 1: actually mentored several activists as well, including one young lady
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  Speaker 1: who wanna essay contest with the UN and about how
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  Speaker 1: deaf blindness has affected her, but how she is continuing
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  Speaker 1: on who has become a big voice, especially for the
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  Speaker 1: youth of the deaf blind community. And that's something that
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  Speaker 1: she obviously really really values, is just being able to
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  Speaker 1: mentor and push younger activists and younger people in this
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  Speaker 1: disabled community to advocate for themselves and to be able
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  Speaker 1: to be heard. Yes, but we love to see I
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  Speaker 1: love it and see these threads of mentoring and activists
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  Speaker 1: being inspired by other activists. And sometimes we'll talk about
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  Speaker 1: somebody in one of these and then a couple episodes later. Well, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: so we'll talk about someone else who was inspired by
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  Speaker 1: the first we just talked about. That's so cool. I
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  Speaker 1: love that, which I love. Yes us well as always,
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  Speaker 1: if you have suggestions for people we should shout out
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  Speaker 1: in this segment, whatever it is, whatever we call it, uh,
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  Speaker 1: please let us know. You can email U at stuff
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  Speaker 1: at your mom Stuff at i heeart media dot com.
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• 9:15
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• 9:17
  Speaker 1: to our super producer Christina. Thank you Christina, and thanks
• 9:20
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• 9:22
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