Disabled ‘better off in New Zealand

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 12

Disabled ‘better off in New Zealand

T w o Christchurch women who have returned from a world conference on disabled people in Canaoa are confident that the disabled in New Zealand are better off than those in lareer countries.

Miss Ann Ballin, chairman of the national committee for the International Year for Disabled Persons, and Mrs Robin Taylor, president of the Canterbury Arthritis Society, are both disabled. The joined 300 other disabled people and 3700 able bodied representatives at a conference in Winnipeg late last month of Rehabilitation International.

Among other New Zealanders there were the

Director-General of Social Welfare (Mr S. J. Callahan), a commissioner of the Accident Compensation Commission (Mr H. A. Walker) and the director of the Rehabilitation League (Mr W. Maddren). New Zealand's small size made it easier for the disabled to gain access to help than their counterparts in larger overseas cities, both women said. The elaborate systems set up in the late 1960 s and early 19/0s to help the disabled in Canada and the United States were breaking down because the economic recession made it impossible to sustain them. The disabled in New Zealand suffered from the general malaise of most of the population and were not assertive enough, but once they learnt to overcome this their voice would be heard. Miss Baliin said. It was vital for groups dealing directly with the disabled to learn how to get quickly to decisions makers and professionals in local bodies and Government circles, Mrs Taylor said. This had happened overseas. A charter agreed to by the conference emphasises rights and responsibilities of all disabled people and sets out ways in which these can be realised over the next decade. One important aspect of

the charter is the emphasis °iven to the fact that 25 oer cent of the world’s ponulation is affected bv the disability of a family member. . “Any societv which fails to respond effectively to these problems accepts not only a huge loss of human resources but a cruel waste of human talent,” the Charter said.