Aber Club organized a lecture "How can we improve the quality of daily life for people with disabilities" in Al-Hayatiya

Written by: Nora Mohammed Bugaith

Aber Club, affiliated with the Department of Communication Disorders Sciences in the College of Life Sciences, headed by student Sarah Al-Azmi, under the supervision of the academic staff member in the department, Dr. Ruba Al-Mulaifi, organized a lecture entitled "How can we improve the quality of daily life for people with disabilities" presented by members of the non-profit Global Training Gateway - Harak Association for Independent Living for People with Motor Disabilities, Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Mutairi and Ms. Jouri Al-Azmi, at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at the Roman Theater in the college.

 Mr. Abdul Aziz Al-Mutairi explained the meaning of the Building Code Law, which was approved in Kuwait in September 2024, as a law that obliges establishments to allocate places and harness the facility’s facilities as a whole to suit the needs of people with disabilities, whether motor, visual or hearing, noting that some establishments may not use sufficient door width for wheelchairs, or that some theaters may contain only stairs without allocating a place for wheelchair users, noting that the building code will contribute to reducing this, especially since licensing and approval of construction will not be done if the establishment is not prepared to serve all segments of society, including the elderly and people with disabilities, stressing that people with disabilities want to be active people in their communities by attending seminars and participating in events and others, and such disregard in construction for their needs is a negative message that deprives them of this right. 

Ms. Jouri Al-Azmi, who suffers from a visual impairment, explained the suffering of the visually impaired or blind in shopping malls and educational facilities that care more for those with motor disabilities than those with visual disabilities, indicating that most shopping malls do not provide passageways with signs engraved on the ground that help the blind to find their way with the help of sticks designated for reading ground passageway signs, and that most elevators, including hospital elevators, lack the speaking elevator service that pronounces the floor numbers, which facilitates access for those suffering from visual impairment or loss. During the lecture, a video was shown depicting the streets prepared for wheelchair users, which were applied in an aesthetic and comfortable manner in both London and Qatar, and comparing it with one of the areas in Kuwait, which showed how the sidewalks are used by the residents of these areas as parking spaces or places for containers, which forces the wheelchair user to use the asphalt street, which is dangerous due to the passage of cars. 

In conclusion, the floor was opened for questions and discussion, and the participants and the founder of the non-profit Global Training Portal - Harak Association for Independent Living for the Physically Disabled, Ms. Kifaya Al-Alban, were honored and thanked for what was presented in the lecture.