The UN's International Day of People with Disability (IDPWD) is celebrated every year on December 3, since 1992. This day is celebrated with a different theme each year with the aim of benefiting and empowering the differently abled.
Every theme focuses on a specific issue that the differently abled are dealing with. The main goal of celebrating this day is to establish a better understanding towards the issue of differently abled and impaired and provide them with all the support for their rights, well-being and dignity.
The theme for IDPWD 2016 is 'Achieving 17 Goals for the Future We Want'. There are various forms of disabilities ranging from physical, mental, visual, developmental, cognitive, emotional or a mix of these.
Disability can be caused by genetic reasons or accidents and a person can be disabled since birth or after that.
Compared to the olden times, impaired people have various benefiting facilities available now which makes life easier for them. Some of the top developments which have taken place in the infrastructure and technology over the years for reducing the hurdles for the disabled people are:
Disabled-friendly infrastructures
This feature was not really seen in the past, but now we can see slopes at bus stops, airports, etc. Other facilities such as wheelchairs along with a caring management are now available at these places too, in order to help them.
Stair-climbing wheelchair
A major problem physically challenged people face is in climbing stairs. Carrying out this task without someone's help or support seemed to be impossible A self-balancing wheelchair has been developed by Dean Kamen. This wheelchair is yet to be produced, which will provide the impaired people with the confidence to navigate on their own, a report from mashable.com has revealed.
Robotic arm
Dean Kamen developed another phenomenal gadget call the DEKA Robotic Arm. This arm was developed keeping the soldiers in mind who lost their arms in wars. This arm is capable of peeling a grape! This arm can be tailed-suited depending on the requirement of the person. The arm also comprises of sensors, which can measure the hand grip.
Ear aid
The cochlear implant is a boon for those having hearing disability. The cochlear implant grasps the sounds with the help of a microphone and then it transmits the signals to a small computer which is worn at the back of the ear. These signals are then further processed and they stimulate the auditory nerves of the ear.
