CHALLENGES FACED BY DISABLED CONSUMERS

According to a report made by International Labor Organization, about 600 million

people worldwide have disabilities, and many of them are still struggling to adapt themselves in
this world. It shows that people with disabilities are present in all societies. Many of them are
hidden at home or in a particular institution due to social stigma, prejudice and environmental
barriers which prevent them from participating productively in society.
The Malaysian Disability Act (2008) defines persons with disabilities as those who have
long term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments; which in interaction with various
barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society.
One of the challenges faced by them is regarding the employability. They often feel
discriminated when it comes to matters pertaining employability. This is because, whenever they
come for an interview for a job, they would be viewed negatively and be judged blindly without
giving them any chances to show their skills and expertise that might be useful for the company.
Even if they do get accepted in that company, there would be more upcoming challenges
need to be faced by them. One of them is that the nondisabled co-workers or even superiors
might discriminate the disabled workers as a response to their fear of the unknown. This presents
a disadvantage for the disabled worker himself, as he must work in a space sullied by
discrimination. These problems might affect their effort in giving their best for the companies, as
they would not be comfortable working there and feel unappreciated by others, especially by the
superiors.
The next challenge need to be faced by those disabilities is regarding the accessibility to
some of the places. This includes the access to workplace, shopping mall, banks and hospitals.
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Nowadays, many of the buildings seem to provide a pathway specifically for disabled persons to
allow them to go back and forth easily .For example, the elevator and the slope for persons with
wheelchair which would really facilitate those who are in need of them. However, challenges
might appear whenever the evaluators available are not functioning due to some technical
problems. This would really cause a major problem for those disabled persons as it really
restricts their movement. For example, in AIKOL, there had been once when the only elevator
available was not functioning and a student who came to class by wheelchair had difficulties to
go to classes due to that problem. The same goes to the pathway for those with wheelchair
.Sometimes; the pathway was blocked by the irresponsible person who parked their care without
considering the right of these disabled persons.
Other challenge faced by them is in using the facilities available. For example, the
washrooms, spaces a public transport, parking lot and equipment provided in the workplace. In
some places, the facilities provided are not friendly to be used by the people with disabilities. For
example, in certain public buses, there is no pathway to allow to the person with wheelchair to
enter. Besides in some buildings, there is no wash room specially provided for disabled persons.
This really creates a gap between the normal person and the persons with disabilities due to their
disadvantages to adapt with the surroundings. Even if the facilities have been equipped in the
building and public transport, the sad thing is that sometimes those facilities provided had been
misused by the irresponsible person leaving those people in need to be in difficulties to compete
with those normal people which would cause them to be inferior.
In IIUM, there is some person who seems to care less about the rights of others and easily
take the parking lot which is specially provided for people with disabilities. It shows how
irresponsible the person is towards the person in need.
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All in all, we can say that due to the disadvantages faced by them, tolerant is highly
needed between the normal persons and those with disabilities. Only then, they would feel secure
and more confident to face this world full of challenges.

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