Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Mr. Agboola Dabiri on Tuesday disclosed that the Ministry will in the next few days compile some basic sign language pamphlets for use in the police station, hospitals, banks and other major places where services are rendered to the general public.
According to him, the idea of the sign language booklet was aimed at addressing the difficulty often faced by persons living with the challenge of speech impairment to communicate their intentions when seeking for services from some government and private institutions.
Dabiri, who spoke at the Year 2018 Sign Language Training Workshop organized by the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs, LASODA, with the theme: “Towards An Inclusive Lagos”, said that the trio of hospitals, police stations and banks would be used as pilot scheme while the initiative would also be extended to other areas including the mass media to educate the populace on some basic communication signs for speech impaired persons and the general public.
While decrying the difficulty often faced by these physically challenged persons in accessing quality healthcare, security and in transacting businesses, Dabiri stated that the state government was more determined to bridge the long communication gap that had hither though made these persons feel isolated and excluded from enjoying same privileges with other members of the society.
“The government of inclusion promised by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is not just a political statement. The Government of Lagos State is for everybody and this is why we deemed it necessary to involve participants from different professions all in a bid to make life more meaningful to every resident of the State”, the Commissioner restated.
He said in view of the fact every member of the society has at least one person living with a disability either as a family, colleague or friend, makes it instructive for everyone to join hands with government to show concern for the day-to-day challenges faced by persons living with disabilities and work towards eradicating the challenges.
He added that the workshop was informed by the various feedbacks gotten from persons living with speech impairment and expressed the hope that the workshop would go a long way in restoring confidence in physically challenged persons.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of LASODA Governing Board, Dr. Waheed Oki said that since the creation of the Office in 2013, over 2,000 persons have been trained to attend to persons with hearing impairment challenges and also communicate with them whenever they come in contact with them in the course of official duties.
He stated that as at today, there is no Ministry, Department or Agency of the State government that cannot boast of at least two staff members who can communicate with speech impaired persons.The General Manager, LASODA, Dr. Babatunde Awelenje was hopeful that participants at the end of the three-day workshop would be better informed about the challenges of people living with hearing impairment.One more photo below.
Comments
Post a Comment