More than 17 per cent of people in the province are coping with disabilities which is the second highest rate in the country, second only to Nova Scotia and we have to get our act together. That was the message delivered at a forum organised by the Saint John Human Development Council.
Executive-Director Randy Hatfield tells CHSJ News there are still too many barriers when people with disabilities seek healthcare and at a time when the province is trying to constrain the escalating cost of healthcare.
The forum was told there are not enough interpreters around to allow the deaf to communicate by sign language and that sometimes results in them being treated with a lack of respect. The forum also hearing there’s a stigma that if you have a physical disability, somehow you also suffer from a mental disability.
