Vocational Rehabilitation of the differently abled.

INTRODUCTION : Sociovocational rehabilitation is one of the important phases of rehabilitation, offered along with or as a sequence to medical rehabilitation. It is a team effort, which provides the disabled or differently abled person a vocation, a barrier free home, and the right social environment to minimize his handicap. Today, instead of treating vocational rehabilitation as a welfare measure, legislation is recognizing among the handicapped the concept of the ‘right to work’. From the late middle ages to the 19th century, work was an attribute of low social status. It was beneath ones dignity to work, and menial jobs were delegated to the lower peasantry, a concept that is still sometimes practiced. The nobility never worked. Most of the upper class gentry spent time in hunting, gaming or in political manipulations. After the industrial age, and when the world returned to a more social order, the tendency is to treat work as much more than a means to money, but as a way of living and a mode of dignity to the individual. It is thus an outlet for his aspirations, and adds to his self esteem as an independent contributor to society. Disabled Person: An individual whose prospects of securing and retaining suitable employment are substantially reduced as a result of physical or mental impairment Disability discrimination is the act of treating someone with a disability less favorably than someone without a disability. Disability Rating rates the patient’s inability to do an activity compared to what he was able to do before the problem. Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) means the systematic process of assessing an individual's physical capacities and functional abilities and matching human performance levels to the demands of a specific job or work activity or occupation. RESULTS : The visually impaired children score far better overall than normal children 42 % of visually impaired scored properly in all the categories of rhythm pitch and tune 96 % of them had good rhythmic sense Raga identification - Only 30 % of the normal children were able to identify a tune against 62.5% in the blind category. CONCLUSION : The person with disability is considered an equal and active contributor in the modern social order, and his contribution to the field of literature, statesmanship and science or the arts is second to none. Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest brains of the century and the foremost researcher of black holes is a famous professor of physics who suffers from gross motor disability due to motor neuron disease. The poet and creator of Paradise Lost, Milton was visually impaired. The great Helen Keller was visually and hearing impaired. President Roosevelt suffered from the effects of poliomyelitis and had a perennial limp. These people were second to none in their own fields. This paper is an effort to recognise the importance of Mainstreaming and rehabilitating the handicapped Through scientific assessment tools and using the Expertise of the vocational team