STUDENTS URGED TO REJECT STEREOTYPES DURING DISABILITY RIGHTS SESSION

Basseterre, Saint Kitts, December 04, 2025 (SKNIS): Students at the Washington Archibald High School (WAHS) learnt more about issues related to disability and the rights of persons with a disability on Monday, December 01, during a special segment at the final Assembly of 2025.

Disability Rights Consultant, Kerryann Ifill of Barbados, addressed the gathering, sharing key information such as the definition of disability, how to interact with individuals with a disability, and ways to avoid discrimination against such. Ms. Ifill, who lost her sight at five years old, shared personal experiences of overcoming challenges and discrimination to graduate from the University of the West Indies, serving as the President of the Senate in the Barbados Parliament, and travelling the world to give speeches as a disability consultant.

“People with disabilities are simply people,” she stated. “They have the same needs, interests, desires, opportunities, as you do, once you give them the chance. “I am a teacher, a Sunday School teacher, I speak at conferences, I helped to rewrite the Constitution of Barbados, I signed laws, I did a lot of wonderful things, and not being blind kept me from doing those things.”

The WAHS students and teachers were strongly encouraged to avoid stereotypes, and to engage positively with individuals with vision, hearing or speech impairments, as well as those with physical, neurological, or psychosocial disabilities, developmental delay or acquired brain injuries.

Ms. Ifill shared that most individuals with a disability are very independent and need a fair chance to live a normal life. She added that she was staying at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and figured out how to use the “fancy coffeemaker” without assistance.

“When I am told I can’t, I prove people wrong and show them that I can. When people say don’t, I say why not?” Ms Ifill expressed, to applause from the audience. “But everybody does not feel that way. Some people, when you pull them down, when you tell them they can’t, when you shove them aside, and treat them as though they are less, you make them less because they step aside.”

The disability rights advocate cited a sobering reality that resonated with the individuals in attendance.

“Anyone of you can become disabled at any time,” Ms. Ifill emphasised. “In fact, before you die, 15 percent of the people in this space listening to me will have a disability. That is our reality.”

Ms. Ifill’s presentation was coordinated by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Ageing, Disabilities. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is observed annually on December 03.

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