Expats with disabilities

The high season is slowing down here in the island.
There are many tourists (mostly British) who come down here bringing someone is a wheelchair.
I have even seen yachters pushing a wheelchair with someone on it.
They go away and others come to St. Lucia to visit the island.

My question refers only to impaired expats.

Many disabled persons are not as debilitated as to be unable to work from home.  Computers make it possible for them to earn a few dollars and – most importantly – to keep themselves happy by working instead of vegetating.

What is the situation where you are? 

Hi John,

Here in Brazil things are pretty much the same. Any pensions for disability are almost exclusively for Brazilians, unless of course one becomes disabled while working here and thus has paid into the Brazilian Social Service plan INSS. They still have a lot of bureaucracy to wade through in order to receive benefits, but even Brazilians are subjected to that unfortunate situation.

There are a lot of laws that govern the rights of seniors and people with disabilities, mostly in the area of mobility rights and employment. For example, public transportation is free (with a special pass) for those with disabilities, men over 65 and women over 60. Some places are lowering the age for men to harmonize it with that of women in order to give equality. Disabled persons actually find it easier to obtain jobs since there are some tax incentives to companies who hire the disabled.

Unfortunately this country really lags behind most of the civilized world regarding those with visual disabilities. While there are very specific laws which guarantee free access to public places for blind and visually impaired persons who have guide dogs, they are so rare in this country many people don't know these laws and those that do have dogs have a constant battle in order to have their access rights respected. Many people have been refused access to eating establishments, banks and other places. While there are over 4 million blind and near-blind individuals in this country presently there are just over 60 guide dogs in the whole nation due to the complete lack of dog training organizations here. In most cases those who have succeeded in obtaining a guide dog have done so abroad. I'm in the process of searching for a dog that I can mostly train myself, in conjunction with a registered trainer to serve as my guide dog. I lost the sight of one eye completely and my vision is becoming gradually more and more impaired in the other, so while my situation isn't urgent the day when I will have to rely on a dog is not too far off.

The main problem for disabled people, especially the blind and those confined to wheelchairs, here in Brazil is the condition and availability of the sidewalks. In most Brazilian cities the sidewalks are completely unregulated, they are the responsibility of the property owner, there are no standards regarding level, width, maintenance, etc. In the major cities that do have laws prohibiting sidewalks from being obstructed, those laws are mostly ignored. Bars and restaurants, shops and other businesses often treat the sidewalks as an extension of their place of business. In the center of São Paulo most restaurants and bars completely occupy the sidewalks with tables and chairs, blind and disabled individuals and mothers pushing baby strollers are simply out of luck when it comes to passing these locations. The level of the sidewalks can change drastically from one property to the next so wheelchairs usually are pushed along in the roadway, blind and elderly are constantly facing the risk of serious falls due to poorly maintained sidewalks or changes in sidewalk level.

While I'm sure that there are lots of places on this earth where things are worse, this country still has a long way to go in order to meet up to the standards of North America and many other nations.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

wjwoodward wrote:

Hi John,

Here in Brazil things are pretty much the same. Any pensions for disability are almost exclusively for Brazilians, unless of course one becomes disabled while working here and thus has paid into the Brazilian Social Service plan INSS. They still have a lot of bureaucracy to wade through in order to receive benefits, but even Brazilians are subjected to that unfortunate situation.

There are a lot of laws that govern the rights of seniors and people with disabilities, mostly in the area of mobility rights and employment. For example, public transportation is free (with a special pass) for those with disabilities, men over 65 and women over 60. Some places are lowering the age for men to harmonize it with that of women in order to give equality. Disabled persons actually find it easier to obtain jobs since there are some tax incentives to companies who hire the disabled.

Unfortunately this country really lags behind most of the civilized world regarding those with visual disabilities. While there are very specific laws which guarantee free access to public places for blind and visually impaired persons who have guide dogs, they are so rare in this country many people don't know these laws and those that do have dogs have a constant battle in order to have their access rights respected. Many people have been refused access to eating establishments, banks and other places. While there are over 4 million blind and near-blind individuals in this country presently there are just over 60 guide dogs in the whole nation due to the complete lack of dog training organizations here. In most cases those who have succeeded in obtaining a guide dog have done so abroad. I'm in the process of searching for a dog that I can mostly train myself, in conjunction with a registered trainer to serve as my guide dog. I lost the sight of one eye completely and my vision is becoming gradually more and more impaired in the other, so while my situation isn't urgent the day when I will have to rely on a dog is not too far off.

The main problem for disabled people, especially the blind and those confined to wheelchairs, here in Brazil is the condition and availability of the sidewalks. In most Brazilian cities the sidewalks are completely unregulated, they are the responsibility of the property owner, there are no standards regarding level, width, maintenance, etc. In the major cities that do have laws prohibiting sidewalks from being obstructed, those laws are mostly ignored. Bars and restaurants, shops and other businesses often treat the sidewalks as an extension of their place of business. In the center of São Paulo most restaurants and bars completely occupy the sidewalks with tables and chairs, blind and disabled individuals and mothers pushing baby strollers are simply out of luck when it comes to passing these locations. The level of the sidewalks can change drastically from one property to the next so wheelchairs usually are pushed along in the roadway, blind and elderly are constantly facing the risk of serious falls due to poorly maintained sidewalks or changes in sidewalk level.

While I'm sure that there are lots of places on this earth where things are worse, this country still has a long way to go in order to meet up to the standards of North America and many other nations.

Cheers,
William James Woodward, Expat-blog Experts Team

60 guide dogs to 4M disabled persons?
Brazil is a country of big, crushing contrasts.
And what an opportunity for people with love for animals and disabled persons to become dog whisperers is this ...

P.S.: for your deteriorating eyesight, make sure to eat vitamin A and walk your body 1-2 hours / day.  The doctor should prescribe you great medicine and adequate nutrition.
After all, you can treat bad eyesight in Canada.

Here in St. Lucia, only now access to persons in wheelchairs is possible only in 3-4 places.

I thought freedom means to be free to work and create better environs but it seems freedom is just about parasite people sucking as much blood from one another as they could. 

Hello Sir,

Where i am living (Angola) its very difficult to say anything much about in this....
But what i see in Journal(local news channels)that nothing they get benefit....even  local disabled persons are not in good conditions so think how about the expats...their view for foreigners are ....we didn't invite you so its not our problem....Where as i was in Congo Republic and Gabon...there atleast local have something to say but mostly in africa its not a theory to be worked....and i dont blame them because still they themselves have to be settled then only they can think about expats...........this is my view....may be i am wrong ....and might be not aware of any development programme of the local governments........

Regards,
Anil

Hi John,

Here in Vietnam i have not notice at expats with disabilities. But if an expat with disability living here will be horrendous. The restaurants and parking have no law regarding catering for the disable. it will be very inconvenient for fellow local or expat everyday life to go on. In a house in the city most of them have no lifts and are build 4 to 5 story high. The other day I saw a local man with disable legs. He was crawling on the road, right where bus, cars and other vehicles are passing. What a poor sight and really in a developing or under develop country being disable is like sentenced to death.

Dannytan wrote:

Hi John,

Here in Vietnam i have not notice at expats with disabilities. But if an expat with disability living here will be horrendous. The restaurants and parking have no law regarding catering for the disable. it will be very inconvenient for fellow local or expat everyday life to go on. In a house in the city most of them have no lifts and are build 4 to 5 story high. The other day I saw a local man with disable legs. He was crawling on the road, right where bus, cars and other vehicles are passing. What a poor sight and really in a developing or under develop country being disable is like sentenced to death.

Very sad.
I think expats everywhere could take the lead and do something to improve the lives of disabled persons many of whom are fully capable of thinking logically and do work which many able persons cannot do.

A disabled person is a living example of what could happen to any of us at anytime, anywhere, anyhow ... 

(Edit added: Let's not attract the wrath of Gods by not caring when we indeed could care ...   )

How autism can help you land a job
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/autism-he … .html?vp=1

I can imagine there are many problems for expats with disabilities. I am in Israel and as people with disabilities get quite a lot of support (although not enough) from the government, it would be very hard for an expat to even get private insurance here.
The country itself has a long way to go on making public places accessible, there is currently a lot of work done to raise awareness in local businesses.
A friend of mine is opening this new website that will create a community assisting people with disabilities travel.
Any references are greatly appreciated, check it out -
Voyability.com

Welcome to Expat-Blogs...........
Thats nice , your friend is doing great work.........all the best to you and your friend..........

Regards,
Anil

There is a place here in Basel where guide dogs are trained. A week or so ago there was a short report on the local tv about the training of these dogs. It showed the more difficult stage where the trainer/dog team moves on to where the dog must guide a masked young volunteer (who has learned how to respond to the dog's signals). Up till that point the dog was the (student) and knew who the boss was. Now instinctively the dog knows that the person holding the guide handle is completely useless and cannot give any instructions. This must be repeated often till the dog is capable of leading someone who is "blinded". It's good that the volunteers are young because they are tripping and falling all over the place - quite amusing to watch. 
Eventually both gain confidence in each other at which time the dog is then ready to "take" a real blind person.