Speaking at a seminar on the sexual and reproductive health of women with disabilities on Wednesday, Social Development Minister Donna Cox announced that a bill to improve the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities is nearing completion.

It is a simple fact that TT has failed, often embarrassingly so, to honour its commitments as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

But the Government chose to listen to its stakeholders in drafting this bill through consultations, and it should be clear that not only must better be done, it must be done promptly, decisively and with a serious commitment to ongoing support for disability rights.

Changing state attitudes to disabilities is likely to be a slow and arduous process. As recently as 2008, paediatrician Dr Bratt, serving as head of the Advisory Committee on Special Education, was astonished to discover that there were still senior people at the Education Ministry who did not believe that there was such a thing as learning disabilities.

Entrenched attitudes and presumptions regarding people with disabilities have been a source of frustration and annoyance to caregivers, parents and medical professionals for decades. Facts have continuously failed to change notions, impressions and feelings in the management of the disabilities sector for entirely too long. Advocates for people with disabilities estimate that TT is as much as 60 years behind the US in its handling of disability issues.

It's critical then, that the bill respond to the lived reality of stakeholders who live with disabilities and the deficient phalanx of families and professionals who support, coach, educate and treat them.

People with disabilities are capable of contributing more to this country but opportunities are few and limited in scope. One notable and particularly glaring example was the staggering irony evident in the denial of opportunity for Veera Bhajan born without arms who was blocked from working at the Equal Opportunity Tribunal in a job she was qualified for.

Some people with disabilities will need supportive care for life and managing that reality will be a measure of this State’s commitment to providing an equal place for all our citizens. It will take more than a bill to change this country's failure to support people with disabilities, but it's a start, but it must be one that's accompanied by action.

The real test will come in the State's commitment to post-legislation implementation.

Physical spaces will need to be restructured. Meaningful support for special education schools and special education in mainstream schools must become a priority.

There is no single person with disabilities. The spectrum of challenge is broad and nuanced and the State's response must acknowledge this in responding to the very specific needs of its citizens with disabilities.

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