Author: Anusha Doshi | December 3rd, 2021
Today, 3rd December 2021 is celebrated as International Day of Persons with Disabilities!
The chosen theme this year by United Nations for World Disability Day is ‘Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’.
Today we focus on the ‘Leadership’ element in the form of inspiration and positive influence of individuals with disabilities have had in the world. We know of several famous people who have made waves in the world of acting, music, science to name a few like Andrea Brocilli, Steve Wonder, Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking.
But let us look closer to home at people with disabilities whom some of us may have not heard of, but have against all odds managed to be successful and be an inspiration to tonnes of people with or without disability worldwide.
Pranav Bakshi: Is India’s first-ever male model with Autism. This 21yr old calls autism his ‘super power’. Pranav also has severe anxiety issues and extreme obsessions. He was taken on by a Delhi-based modelling agency called Ninjas Model Management. Pranav’s mother sent several emails to various modelling agencies in the country, but nobody showed interest. Ninja’s Model agency was one agency that promotes inclusivity in fashion. Apart from fashion, Pranav is also interested in photography and plays golf. His disability has not stopped him from pursuing his dream to walk the ramp for famous international brands and someday become a leading male model.
Akbar Khan: Is an individual who was born visually impaired to a financially constricted family in Rajasthan, but who has against all odds made a name for himself in the music world. He was invited to various platforms as a performer as well as a judge. His biggest achievement has been getting a National Award for The Welfare of Persons with Disabilities in 1989. He believes that his visual impairment has been a blessing for him and not a curse.
Prem Sankar: Have you heard of codewithprem.com. Most probably not. Here is a 26yr old young adult on the Autism Spectrum who has learned the complex coding systems of HTML and CSS to develop interactive websites for his clients. In 2019 after visiting a job fair organised for Autism awareness month, his mother was assured that Prem could learn to code. His mother Mangai, qualified as a special needs educator to help teach her son. She prepared learning models and restructured the lessons according to the slow learning needs of Prem. The simplification of steps she made gave him confidence. Prem has developed five websites which include one for himself!
References:
• Prem Shankar
https://www.disabilityfriendlyiv.com/15-inspiring-famous-people-disabilities/
Coding gets inclusive
https://en.gaonconnection.com/code-for-success-25-year-old-prem-sankar-builds-websites-he-is-autistic/
• Akbar Khan
16 Famous Indians With Disabilities Who Inspire Us Everyday
• Pranav Bakshi
This Indian male model has made autism his superpower