DISABILITY: See Me, Hear Me - quotes from children

Summary: Published by Save the Children UK and Sweden on behalf of the Alliance.

The children's quotes below are extracted from "See me, hear me: a guide to using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote the rights of children."

Download the full report here

"In my country what I think we need now to improve the situation is to set up a national policy for disabled people; not a different one from the other people but a national policy that recognises the rights of the disabled. As an individual, what I can do is stop the wrong that is going on in front of my eyes (ie, the mistreatment of disabled people, etc). Raise awareness, even if it is for one person.”
(Girl, 19, Somalia, quoted on UNICEF’s ‘Voices of Youth’ website)

“We need to believe in ourselves and challenge negative opinions by showing how able we are.”

“We need to be arguing for our own rights –not just rely on non-disabled adults to do this on our behalf.”

“Disability is in the eyes of society. It is not in our eyes. If provided with opportunities, we can prove our worth.”
(Quotes from children with disabilities in Nepal. Lansdown G, "Disabled Children in Nepal: Progress in Implementing the Convention on the Rights of the Child," Disability Awareness in
Action, London, 2003)

“One of things I think is important is to inform people about this. It's easier to make good decisions for these children if you've got all the facts. It can also help them in school and in life generally, because they then will get better treatment and be more accepted in society. As to Norway, we have the resources to make that work, but in other countries that don't have that, it's important to make the governments...follow child rights for disabled children. Let them know someone's fighting their cause.
(Girl, 17, Norway, Voices of Youth website)

"Well, in India, the major problem is that of awareness. Or rather, the lack of it... There’s also a kind of stigma associated with them, which is disgusting. There are laws that state that no school for ‘normal’ children can refuse admission to disabled ones, however, it is rarely followed; most schools do refuse admission to such children. All these factors lead to just one result: these children do not receive the education they deserve, the education that their peers receive.”
(Girl, 17, India, Voices of Youth website)

"Here in the USA the biggest problem is awareness, or, shall I say, lack of awareness of the children’s situation. A lot of people here consider disabled kids to be ‘weird, freaks,’ etc, and either ignore or mistreat them. Given, there are special schools for disabled children, but sometimes such establishments only serve to isolate the children from mainstream society.”
(Girl, 17, USA, Voices of Youth)

“Although a limited dial-a-ride service exists, it has to be booked in advance and is mostly used by older people. It means we have to organise our lives like a rota, whereas children without disabilities can act impulsively.”
(Voices of children in South Africa)

“Unless and until these children receive an equal education, they cannot be independent and self-reliant.”
(Girl, 17, India, from UNICEF’s ‘Voices of Youth’ website)