Woman beats disability to spread awareness Sunday, December 3, 2006 (New Delhi):
The University of Reading, the only British university to have a course on Inclusive Environments changed its rules for an Indian woman. The course was a part time one, for which student visas are not issued, but when the university saw Shivani Gupta's resume, they changed their course to a full time one. She got her visa and has just come back to India. On World Disability day NDTV presents her life's story. Shivani's story really begins in 1992. The front office executive at the Maurya Sheraton, had a car accident and found herself in a wheelchair and out of a job. Hard work With that doggedness, she worked for the next 14 years to change her and India's mindset towards the disabled. Working hand in hand with the Chief Commissioner of Disabilities, she also made presentations to all the District Collectors of India on a barrier free India. If there was a dearth of material she created training programmes and manuals for architects, NGOs, hospitals and the CPWD. Representing India in UN workshops and conferences abroad, exposed her to what all is possible. Can you move beyond your disability and actually turn it into your ability. Shivani Gupta's life clearly says yes. Hospitality sector Armed with a degree in Architecture and Inclusive Environments, she is now involved in doing an access audit, in seeing just how customer friendly the hospitality sector is towards the disabled. "We actually audit a lot of places in terms of accessibility. We did one for Qutab Minar which has been taken up as a pilot project for ASI, to make a historical site more user and disabled friendly," said Shivani. With the job, a guardian pet and a loyal household help, she happily lives alone in a house she recently bought. With many awards to her credit, her longtime colleagues cum friends are inspired by her. "All of us must understand that an inclusive accessible environment is not only for disabled people. It is for each one of us. It is for pregnant women, people with temporary disabilities, children, elderly http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Womanbeatsdisabilitytospreadawareness&id=97323&category=National Vikas Kapoor, MSN ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Skype ID: dl_vikas Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
