Anila speaking to parents |
Anila and her parents |
Anila awarded by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in |
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2019 for being a sucessful person with a disability |
against adverse situations . The students told to me “ We cannot be your friend .” Or they will ask me , “ Why are you at our school if you can ’ t walk ? They addressed me using slang words . I became upset by their action . However , I had to compromise with them , because none of the schools were prepared to accept me as their student . My dream was to be a lawyer to represent persons with disability rights in Bangladesh .
We feel happiness and sorrow , we smile and grimace and we have also the power of understanding but we express those differently . From my childhood , I was very much familiar with the words cerebral palsy ( CP ), autism , ID , etc . When people called me “ CP-baby ” I felt very sad . The people who call us like this , don ’ t they know that we have our own names ? Don ’ t they think that we also have the same rights to live like other children ?
I used to go to rural areas as a volunteer with the Tauri Foundation , an organization working to secure children rights and an inclusive society and talk with parents about how their children having disabilities need to fight to be heard . I ’ ve been on many TV programs , where I spoke about issues related to rights of children with disabilities . I have represented Bangladesh in the Global Children ’ s Panel with Save the Children U . K . It was a big opportunity . I am so proud that I became one of the Global Children Panel members of Save the Children U . K . by following the e-mail voting system . Being a member of the National Children ’ s panel , we try to break down the divisions between neuro-diverse and neuro-typical children .
But I did not have enough opportunity and there are not enough facilities to receive proper education in Bangladesh . Because the educational institutions were not ready to accept a person like me , or they don ’ t have any plan or interest to create disability friendly academic environments . Even the government does not have any constructive policy for the education of people with disabilities at that time . In fact , currently the government have laws to protect interest of people with disabilities , but implementation of such laws are extremely poor . That created frustration within me that I may not be able to turn my dream into a reality . Even during my O-Level and A-Level examinations because of the attitudinal problems of some British council officials , I faced tremendous problems with my scribe as they provided me with a
scribe from a different discipline and she did not do the minimum orientation about the subject to follow my dictation . As a result , my performance did not reflect my knowledge .
I am actively participating in different programs and activities to establish the rights of persons with disabilities . For such involvement , Distressed Children Infants International , USA has given me a Young Leadership Award 2017 . I also received an award in 2019 from the Honourable Prime Minister as a successful person with disabilities in Bangladesh . Confronting multifarious challenges , I have completed my Bachelor in Laws from North South University to give a positive shape to my dreams . I also worked with the World Food Program for two years . So , I firmly believe that sometimes people with disabilities can do things that neuro-typical persons can ’ t . We can even do some things .
I am an indomitable person because I am stepping ahead , confronting all adverse situations and competing with neuro-typical persons .
I joined the Tauri Foundation in January 2024 as Executive of Disability Inclusion . I am working to
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