True Inclusion Means Mental and Emotional Access, Says Official at Chennai Conference
Inclusion is not merely about physical accessibility but also about mental and emotional access to spaces, said S. Gokul, Additional Collector (Development) of Mayiladuthurai and Project Officer of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), at a conference in Chennai on Saturday.
Speaking at the valedictory ceremony of the third edition of the International Conference on 'Empowerment Beyond Barrier: Global Perspectives on Education, Development and Innovation,' Gokul emphasised that inclusion means truly being part of everything that happens. 'Accessibility is a clinical, sterile thing, but inclusivity is chaotic,' he said, adding that educating students about inclusion is crucial.
Gokul argued that comprehensive inclusion in education must start from kindergarten and should not be the responsibility of the disabled community alone. 'It must be a public-facing endeavour,' he stated. The three-day conference was jointly organised by Patrician College of Arts and Science and Adelphi University, New York, USA.
Other participants included Loyola College Assistant Professor Deepak Nathan, Smitha Sadasivan (Chief Accessibility Adviser at IIT-Madras' Accessibility Research Centre), Poonam Natarajan (Founder of Vidya Sagar), and public policy consultant Andrew Sesuraj. Br. Jerome Ellens, Community Leader of the Patrician Community, said, 'It is a call to policymakers, healthcare workers, and society at large to work together to create a world where each individual enjoys equal opportunities.'
