City’s #ThisAbility campaign reaches West African shores

BENGALURU: City parents of an eight-year-old has launched two campaigns for World Disability Day, one of which has been adopted by a school in Sierra Leone. Geetha VM and Ratheesh PS, whose child Om has a condition that falls under the Autism Spectrum Disorder, wanted people to celebrate various abilities that disabled people have with #ThisAbility campaign.

They invited people to share photos of their loved ones’ achievements, to submit paintings or sketches that recognise the disabled’s talents and even scripted an animation film that was then made by Vivi5 Animation Studio in the same spirit. From EducAid’s centre in West Africa, students have sent in art work with the caption ‘I :)(: ThisAbility’, which translates to I Support ThisAbility. More than a hundred works of art have been submitted from various cities expressing support.

The campaign is also changing mindsets. “Parents are happy that this exercise has exposed their children to disability, a subject they would never have talked to them about,” says Geetha. “Children are showing more empathy, with one even wanting to build a water park that is accessible for wheelchairs.”
Geetha and Ratheesh had earlier this year, around March, launched the Supporticon campaign that made their ‘:)(:’ symbol viral. People were invited to bake for special children. This campaign went global with the #baketosupport tag.  Geetha says that the success of Supporticon spurred them on to do more.

For this campaign, photos of loved ones must carry the caption ‘I Own ThisAbility’. “Usually, families with a special-needs child will shy away from the public eye. But we are asking our special-needs clan to come and shout out loud their abilities. We want to show that everyone has an ability and everyone is equal,” she says, adding that people can upload their #ThisAbility stories on Supporticon’s Facebook page. For example, Geetha and Ratheesh have shared a photo of their son Om swimming with a caption “My strokes of genius happen in the deep end. I own #ThisAbility.”

The couple wants International Day of People with Disability (on December 3) celebrated with joy, and be less sombre centering around discussions on shortcomings. Geetha says, “Most special days are celebrated with happiness, whether it is Children’s Day or Teacher’s Day. So why not celebrate the day for People with Disability?”

Meanwhile #Supporticon campaign, through which the couple introduced the ‘:)(:’ icon, still gets calls, messages and emails every week. Geetha says, “People tell us that they want to do something for special needs children but they don’t know what. We assess their interests and help them reach out to the children.”