In March 2003 the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) opened its new high-tech headquarters building in Port-of-Spain. This opening represented a major milestone in the history of persons with disabilities in Latin America and the Caribbean region. This was the first time that a public library or any public facility was adapted with a substantial number of technology solutions to accommodate persons with disabilities in this part of the world. In terms of the high-level of assistive technology public accommodations, NALIS has no equal in the Caribbean or South and Central America. The system design and implementation were completed by the Torres Foundation.
In 2004 NALIS adopted BITT, and later on that year NALIS received the Prime Minister's Innovating for Service Excellence Award for that program.
In August 2004 the Foundation received the Humming Bird Medal Gold for loyal and devoted service to Trinidad and Tobago. Both awards were significant because it was the first time that assistive technology received national recognition from a Caribbean government.
Since the NALIS project several other islands in the Caribbean have introduced assistive technology in their schools and libraries. In September 2006 the Barbados National Library began a pilot project to adapt two computers with assistive technology systems to accommodate persons with several different disabilities.
In March 2007 Jamaica was the first country to sign the United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities. This August, the Jamaica Library Service will have a screen reader for the blind installed on at least two computers at 19 of their public libraries.
The University of the Virgin Islands is currently developing and implementing policies and hosting workshops to increase awareness and explore new avenues for integrating persons with disabilities in the classroom and workplace.
There are two assistive technology projects currently being developed to facilitate students with disabilities at public and special schools in Trinidad and Tobago. In addition, NALIS is in the final stages of establishing a high-tech music studio designed and configured with assistive technology for people who are blind.
In February 2005 the Torres Foundation hosted “CariATech”, the first assistive technology conference ever to be held in the Caribbean. Representatives from several government ministries, business entities, educational institutions, NGOs, and libraries attended the conference.
As a direct result of increased awareness and successful deployment of assistive technology in Trinidad and Tobago, there have been positive developments. Persons with disabilities, especially in the blind community, are gradually reentering the classroom; retaining mainstream competitive employment despite vision loss; and exploring new careers. Within the past 5 years there have been at least 4 disabled individuals who have been appointed as senators around the Caribbean. The current Deputy President of the Barbados upper house is blind. The honorable senator has attributed assistive technology as being a major factor in making it possible to successfully pursue her educational and career goals.
Over the past year the Torres Foundation has been actively lobbying the banking industry to make ATMs accessible for persons with disabilities. The Foundation has written articles, run commercials, and submitted a white paper on the topic, but there has been a reasonable amount of resistance and foot dragging by the industry. Thus far, only Republic Bank appears to be seriously looking into the matter. However, the Foundation believes that it is only a matter of time before ATMs will be widely accessible to the disabled in Trinidad and Tobago.
In closing, after several decades of neglect of the special needs and rights of persons with disabilities by government and private institutions in the Caribbean, people in the disabled community are cautiously optimistic. There is a major paradigm shift taking place in effectively dealing with disability issues. For the first time disabled persons are not simply seen as hapless individuals who are only deserving of pity and handouts, but citizens with equal rights to education, transportation, employment, and full integration in the society and national economy.
Assistive technology is arguably the central component in this process of integration that will allow us to chart a new course for growth, prosperity, and independence for the differently able in the Caribbean.]]>Generalhttp://torresfoundation.org/ttblog/index.php?itemid=18Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:01:08 -0400Legislation and the Disabled, a Road not Traveled in T&T
http://torresfoundation.org/ttblog/index.php?itemid=7
The Problem as it Exists Today August 31, 2007
The laws of Trinidad and Tobago are devoid of any recognition of persons with disabilities. The constitution, perhaps the nation’s most sacred document that enshrines the rights, privileges, and the legitimacy of the citizen, in its 12 chapters and 143 sections, does not make any reference to the differently able.
In addition, there are no statutes either prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability or mandating equal access for the disabled to the political process, employment, education, transportation, housing, health care, and other citizen services.
In Trinidad and Tobago we have a Dogs Act and there is even a Mongoose Act but there is as yet no Disability Act. The only significant mention of the disabled in law has to do with the distribution of welfare.
On December 13, 2006 United Nations resolution A/RES/61/106the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted. It was the fastest negotiated human rights instrument in history. On March 30, 2007, the convention was released for signatures. A record 81 countries and the European Union signed on to the convention. Our regional neighbor Jamaica, not only signed the treaty on that day, but was the first country in the world to ratify the convention and adopt it as law.
To date 102 countries have signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities including Barbados, Cuba, and Guyana. However, the United Nations has recorded Trinidad and Tobago as taking no action.
Over the past 4 years the government has made some important progress in treating with the issues of the differently able. There is a government policy on persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Education has started to adopt new attitudes and policies regarding inclusive education. In 2003 the government made a heavy investment in assistive technology to accommodate persons with disabilities at the nation’s libraries. The Ministry of Labor is experimenting with approaches to provide on the job training to the disabled. The ministry of Transportation has purchased busses to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities. These are all important steps that have to be taken along the way to providing the disabled with full rights and services, but laws recognizing the rights of the disabled in Trinidad and Tobago are woefully lacking and so very far behind those of developed countries and even under developed countries as well.
Legislative Recommendations
The Torres Foundation hereby would like to submit the following 5 legislative recommendations for consideration:
1. The Rights Enshrined paragraph of the constitution, Chapter 1 Part (I), needs to be modified to include the disabled. It currently says,
“It is hereby recognised and declared that in Trinidad and Tobago there have existed and shall continue to exist, without discrimination by reason of
race, origin, colour, religion or sex, the following fundamental human rights and freedoms…”
It should be modified to say…
“It is hereby recognised and declared that in Trinidad and Tobago there have existed and shall continue to exist, without discrimination by reason of
Disability, race, origin, colour, religion or sex, the following fundamental human rights and freedoms…”
This modification would be a small but very powerful and historic act that would immediately recognize and enfranchise tens of thousands of disabled citizens.
2. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago should sign and ratify both the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Protocols to the Convention. This treaty will provide an international framework for developing national policies, regulations, and legislation for the differently able. The Protocol to the Convention provides individuals and organizations recourse to an international body of disability experts when all national options have been exhausted.
3. The Parliament needs to pass a Trinidad and Tobago Disabilities Act. The Act will provide a powerful legal mechanism for regulating inter alia education, employment, rehabilitation, transportation, as well as physical and electronic accessibility for persons with disabilities.
4. All Existing legislation must be carefully reviewed to make a determination as to whether they discriminate against persons with disabilities or impact the disabled in any negative way.
5. The various acts of law that govern Trinidad and Tobago should be modified to insure that the needs of the disabled are adequately recognized and accommodated. For example, the Customs Act should be amended to remove all taxes and duties for assistive technology products purchased by the disabled locally or imported into the country in the same way that computers are exempted. All the various acts that regulate telecommunications and information communication technology should include sections that regulate electronic accessibility for the differently able.
A commission made up of business, government and NGO stakeholders should be established in order to drive these various initiatives.]]>Speak Outhttp://torresfoundation.org/ttblog/index.php?itemid=7Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:15:02 -0500Blinded Dentist Transformed by Assistive Technology
http://torresfoundation.org/ttblog/index.php?itemid=3
In 1998, the government of Trinidad and Tobago presented me with a national award, the Humming Bird Medal (Silver) for my contribution in the field of horticulture.
In 2002, my life changed abruptly when I fell from a height of ten feet, and received severe trauma to my head. This resulted in bilateral subdural hematomas and paralysis. After emergency surgery and months of physiotherapy, I recovered, but my vision was impaired. I thought my future was bleak, and resigned myself to a life of inactivity, darkness and boredom. I did not think I would ever be able to lead a productive life again. Little did I know that there were ways and means by which I could resume an active role in society and regain an interest in life.
In 2005, my wife saw a notice in the newspaper advertising a seminar organized by the Torres foundation for the Blind. We went to it, and I was ecstatic when I learned about the amazing assistive technology that was available for the visually impaired. I decided then and there that I would learn to use whatever technology would help me cope with my blindness.
I approached Ancil Torres, the founder and president of the foundation, who was very encouraging and helpful to me. He answered all my questions and arranged for me to learn how to use the technology. My teacher was Alicia Lalite, a brilliant young woman, blind since young, who is now a fulltime student working towards a Bachelor’s degree at Monroe College in New York. She has been an inspiration to me. She taught me how to use the JAWS and Open Book programmes, how to touch type and how to use the computer using keyboard commands.
And what’s my life like now? I am no longer a busy dentist, nor a bored, frustrated recluse. I am now a busy freelance garden writer, who visits gardens, interviews interesting persons, even going on photo shoots, and keeps busy researching and writing on the computer. Since 2006, I have been writing a biweekly column in the Trinidad Guardian, and this year, started doing feature stories for MACO magazine and other publications.
Because of assistive technology, I am once more able to read the newspapers, keep in touch with the world through the internet, communicate with my friends via e-mail, and very importantly do my writing.
I am very grateful to the Torres Foundation, my teacher Alicia Lalite, and to my friends and family, especially my loving wife Carole, without whose support and encouragement, I would not now be enjoying a productive, intellectually stimulating, meaningful life.
Dr. Johnny Lee, HBM
Port of Spain, Trinidad
November 12, 2007]]>Testimonialshttp://torresfoundation.org/ttblog/index.php?itemid=3Fri, 22 Feb 2008 13:51:36 -0500