TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Parents maintain hope in their disabled children
Rossi worries about her nine-year-old son every time he goes outside to play with other children
Change Size
R
ossi worries about her nine-year-old son every time he goes outside to play with other children. Some parents, she said, treated him differently, or even asked him not to enter their houses.
'They call my son an 'idiot boy' and say he'll make a mess if he goes inside their houses,' she said, holding her son, Ahmad Diabi. However, Rossi does not prohibit Ahmad, who has Down syndrome, from playing outside, as he already has some friends who understand him.
Most of Rossi's neighbors, she said, judged Ahmad by his appearance. She added that she wished they knew her son was a very responsible person who picked up his toys every time he finished playing with them.
Rossi explained that from an early age, Ahmad had shown a strong interest in mechanical works, gazing at the car's engine and tinkering with electronics.
'Maybe he can work in a workshop someday, but I'd prefer to see him work as a makeup artist, because that's a good job that can be done by disabled people,' she said.
Hendry Rozali was equally optimistic that his intellectually disabled eight-year-old son, Rafaelfas Putraning Bagas, could provide for himself when he became an adult.
The teachers at his son's Swakarya Vocational School, Hendry said, were teaching the students various skills that could help them earn a living, such as making doormats or wicker baskets.
'I don't want my son to grow up as a disabled person who can't do anything,' Hendry said.
He added that it took an extraordinary amount of patience to be a parent of an intellectually disabled child. Nevertheless, he said, neither judging stares nor having to tidy his home four to five times a day could reduce his love for Rafaelfas.
'Recently he made me proud by winning silver in a running race in a Paralympic competition. Who knows, maybe he'll be a Paralympic athlete someday,' Hendry said.
Rafaelfas and Ahmad are two of millions of disabled people in Indonesia. In 2009, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) revealed that there were 2.1 million intellectually or physically disabled people in the country. The number increased to 3.84 million in 2012.
Wahyudiono, a teacher at the As-Syafiiyah special purpose school, said that with proper training and education, disabled children could grow up to become independent adults. 'Some people think disabled kids are hopeless. Well, they are wrong, [disabled children] can become independent people,' he said
As Syafiiyah school, which caters to children with various kinds of disability, has seen its graduates go on to work in factories or workshops.
'A lot of our blind and hearing impaired graduates work in places like that. Meanwhile, the intellectually disabled kids get jobs making handicrafts, because it's difficult for them to work in a company,' he said.
He deplored the fact that many companies still did not employ the minimum quota of disabled people.
Law No. 4/1997 on disabled people stipulates that disabled persons should account for 1 percent of staff in all companies in Indonesia.
'I hope this regulation will be enforced soon,' he said.
