Movement of the Organized Blind in India: From Passive Recipients of Services to Active Advocates of Their Rights

In recent years, the subject of the newborn disability rights movement in India has been attracting the attention of researchers, but there has been very little effort to document the movement of blind people in India for their rights, which preceded the broader disability rights movement. I therefore conducted a qualitative study of this movement of blind people in India by using the methods of oral history and document analysis. For this purpose, I conducted 93 interviews (by interviewing 45 informants) and analyzed relevant documents. Borrowing terminology from the self-advocacy movement of the blind in the United States, I describe this movement as a movement of the Organized Blind, which was launched when blind activists began to organize themselves at the national level in India during the early 1970s. I have attempted to explain that since the launching of this movement, blind activists have been constantly engaged in a struggle for their rights, which encompasses a wide range of issues from the right to employment to the enactment and implementation of the comprehensive disability rights law. I describe the historical evolution of this movement as a process of transformation of the status of blind people in India from being passive recipients of services offered to them through the service delivery organizations to active advocates of their rights. I have classified the evolution of this movement into four stages from 1970 to 2005. I also reject the existing views about the time of origin of the disability rights movement in India and establish my argument that it began in late 1980s when blind activists began to focus on the demand for the enactment of a comprehensive disability rights law, which resulted in the enactment of such a law in 1995. Finally, I have analyzed the changing methods of advocacy as well as the shift in the approach of the service delivery organizations in the field of blindness in India from outright rejection of the advocacy approach to its acceptance in the post-1995 period. In recent years, the subject of the newborn disability rights movement in India has been attracting the attention of researchers, but there has been very little effort to document the movement of blind people in India for their rights, which preceded the broader disability rights movement. I therefore conducted a qualitative study of this movement of blind people in India by using the methods of oral history and document analysis. For this purpose, I conducted 93 interviews (by interviewing 45 informants) and analyzed relevant documents. Borrowing terminology from the self-advocacy movement of the blind in the United States, I describe this movement as a movement of the Organized Blind, which was launched when blind activists began to organize themselves at the national level in India during the early 1970s. I have attempted to explain that since the launching of this movement, blind activists have been constantly engaged in a struggle for their rights, which encompasses a wide range of issues from the right to employment to the enactment and implementation of the comprehensive disability rights law. I describe the historical evolution of this movement as a process of transformation of the status of blind people in India from being passive recipients of services offered to them through the service delivery organizations to active advocates of their rights. I have classified the evolution of this movement into four stages from 1970 to 2005. I also reject the existing views about the time of origin of the disability rights movement in India and establish my argument that it began in late 1980s when blind activists began to focus on the demand for the enactment of a comprehensive disability rights law, which resulted in the enactment of such a law in 1995. Finally, I have analyzed the changing methods of advocacy as well as the shift in the approach of the service delivery organizations in the field of blindness in India from outright rejection of the advocacy approach to its acceptance in the post-1995 period. In recent years, the subject of the newborn disability rights movement in India has been attracting the attention of researchers, but there has been very little effort to document the movement of blind people in India for their rights, which preceded the broader disability rights movement. I therefore conducted a qualitative study of this movement of blind people in India by using the methods of oral history and document analysis. For this purpose, I conducted 93 interviews (by interviewing 45 informants) and analyzed relevant documents. Borrowing terminology from the self-advocacy movement of the blind in the United States, I describe this movement as a movement of the Organized Blind, which was launched when blind activists began to organize themselves at the national level in India during the early 1970s. I have attempted to explain that since the launching of this movement, blind activists have been constantly engaged in a struggle for their rights, which encompasses a wide range of issues from the right to employment to the enactment and implementation of the comprehensive disability rights law. I describe the historical evolution of this movement as a process of transformation of the status of blind people in India from being passive recipients of services offered to them through the service delivery organizations to active advocates of their rights. I have classified the evolution of this movement into four stages from 1970 to 2005. I also reject the existing views about the time of origin of the disability rights movement in India and establish my argument that it began in late 1980s when blind activists began to focus on the demand for the enactment of a comprehensive disability rights law, which resulted in the enactment of such a law in 1995. Finally, I have analyzed the changing methods of advocacy as well as the shift in the approach of the service delivery organizations in the field of blindness in India from outright rejection of the advocacy approach to its acceptance in the post-1995 period

Changing Etiology and Antibiogram of Urinary Isolates from Pediatric Age Group

To The Editor: Pediatric UTI often remains an under-diagnosed clinical entity in primary care [1]. Usually, the presentation of UTI is variable with nonspecific signs and symptoms. But it is important to diagnose the condition as it could be the first presentation of an underlying urological anomaly [2] or it may in itself, lead to significant morbidity from renal scarring, hypertension or eventually renal failure [1]

Disability of language: Disabled peoples are not blessed with divine organs

This short article deals with the familiar issue of terminology in the field of disability, but more specifically, it is about a recent controversy in India with regard to "labeling" a person with disabilities

Distressed Lonely Siblings’ Struggle with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Background: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common and often disabling, psychiatric disorder  Earlier it was considered a difficult-to-treat disorder these viewpoints are radically changed in the last three decades as cognitive behavioural therapy (exposure and response prevention therapy), has shown significant results for individuals suffering from OCD. In the present report, two cases of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), which happened to be siblings (one male one female), are being reported. In contrast to most other case reports depicted in world literature, the two siblings reported here were living under a roof but couldn’t talk for years. Both felt that their relationship suffered badly through their illness; as both of them were having a distressing sexual obsession of each other, along with other compulsions. The case report illustrated the journey of two distressed and lonely siblings’ struggle with OCD. Assessment & Management: OCD was diagnosed applying the existing criteria for OCD in the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems (ICD-10), in addition, Y-BOCS also used to determine the severity of symptoms, pre-treatment and improvement Post-treatment. Therapy was adapted component from cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) & exposure and response prevention (ERP) and typically involves 16 to 20 sessions. Outcome: This case report shows that Psychological intervention led to significant symptomatic improvement in the patients discussed. By present findings and understanding of the cases, it is to claim for sure that for successful treatment of OCD psychological treatment must be used. Keywords: Obsessive compulsive disorder, sexual thoughts, exposure and response preventio

Primary tuberculous abscess of chest wall in a young immunocompetent female

Chest wall tuberculosis (TB) is rarely reported in immunocompetent individuals and is usually a part of disseminated disease. A tuberculous abscess may mimic pyogenic abscess and unless strongly suspected, tuberculous etiology may be missed due to paucibacillary nature of extrapulmonary lesions. Molecular diagnostic tests can prove useful by providing a rapid and accurate diagnosis in such cases. We present here a case of chest wall tuberculous abscess without any evidence of immunosuppression or previous history of TB

Outbreak of Salmonella Typhi enteric fever in sub-urban area of North India: A public health perspective

AbstractOutbreaks of enteric fever are a major health concern not only due to significant human morbidity and mortality but also fear of spread of multidrug resistant strains. We report an outbreak of enteric fever caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi in a suburban area, in city Chandigarh of North India. Twenty-seven strains of S. typhi were isolated from blood cultures over a period of two weeks with 18 of these 27 patients residing in the same area. Maximum cases were in the age group 5-14 years (10 patients, 55.5%) while 4 (22.2%) cases were children under 5 years. All the strains showed similar resistogram being resistant to ampicillin and nalidixic acid, intermediate to ciprofloxacin and sensitive to chloramphenicol, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, cotrimoxazole and azithromycin on disc diffusion testing. Minimum inhibitory concentration of ciprofloxacin was determined by agar dilution method and was found to be raised (⩾ 2 μ g/mL). This nalidixic acid resistant S. typhi outbreak report warrants the necessity of implementing stringent sanitation practices in public health interest

Prognostic implications of double J ureteral stenting in patients with renal stones undergoing extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy

Background: Most patients with uncomplicated kidney stones can be successfully treated with extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL). Double-J ureteral stent is used to facilitate stone clearance, however double-J ureteral stents themselves may cause complications. Study conducted the study to know the exact role of double J stent in ESWL.Methods: 80 patients undergoing ESWL were divided into two groups, group A (n=40) double J stenting and group B (n=40) without double J stenting. Both groups were compared for stone fragmentation, stone clearance, number of shockwaves required for fragmentation, time required for passing through ureter, steinstrasse, Urinary Tract Infection.Results: Both the groups were comparable for age, sex, stone size and stone location distribution. There was no significant difference in clearance of stone and no. of shockwaves received for clearance in both the groups. The overall incidence of steinstrasse between the two groups was insignificant with a p value of 0.644. The incidence of UTI was significantly higher in stented group (p value 0.032).Conclusions: Study recommend ESWL without double J stent in patients having solitary renal calculus of size < 2 cm. Double J stent predisposes the patient to multiple complications including urinary tract infection which increases the morbidity of the patient. Based on our study we conclude that double J stenting in patients of renal calculus of size < 2cm, prior to ESWL is not beneficial

A Rare Case of Primary Anterior Chest Wall Abscess due to Salmonella Typhi in an Immunocompetent Male

A case of suspicious anterior chest wall mass due to Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi in a middle aged, non- diabetic male is being described. The infection was successfully treated with timely institution of antibiotic treatment. This case highlights the fact that a focal Salmonella infection involving the anteriorchest wall should be considered as a differential diagnosis and not treated as tuberculosis empirically. Submission of specimens for microbiological analysis should be performed for an accurate diagnosis and management

Maxillary Osteomyelitis Caused by Apophysomyces Variabilis - Emerging Trends

In the maxillofacial skeleton, chronic osteomyelitis is more often observed in the mandible than maxilla. Maxillary osteomyelitis is rare because of its rich blood supply. It is usually seen in individuals with impaired immune response, uncontrolled diabetes and hospitalized patients. It can be caused by bacterial, fungal or viral infections. We report a rare case of maxillary osteomyelitis caused by an emerging mucormycete, Apophysomyces variabilis