Sun Chia-liang (孫嘉梁), who has cerebral palsy, yesterday called on the government to focus on the rights of independent living for those with severe physical handicaps.
Sun made the call as he celebrated his 30th birthday on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. He received a doctorate from the University of Texas in June.
Sun is currently employed at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Mathematics.
Photo: Yang Chiu-ying, Taipei Times
He criticized the Ministry of the Interior’s trial self-sufficient living plan for the handicapped, scheduled to be implemented next year.
The plan pays employers NT$110 per hour for hiring handicapped personal assistants, capped at 48 hours per month,
However, it only pays for 10 hours per year for peer support, Sun said, adding that the low number of male helpers and lack of urinary catheterization service were serious failings in the plan.
“For a severely handicapped person like me, remuneration is -insufficient [to cover all the costs],” Sun said.
“The plan is not as good as it sounds and should be reviewed and rethought,” he added.
Sun said his birthday wish was that “all physically challenged Taiwanese would one day be able to live self-sufficient lives with the support of the government,” adding that Confucius (孔子) once said a man should be self-sufficient once he reached the age of 30.
“How to be self-sufficient when one is born with severe cerebral palsy is a question I have pondered for more than a decade,” Sun said.
Observing that he was lucky his parents had been so supportive, Sun said that many severely physically challenged people either relied on parents and spouses, employed foreign caretakers, or moved into a care facility.
“Are these our only choices?” he asked.
Self-sufficient living is a basic human right and although physically challenged people may not be able to achieve full autonomy, the government should provide support to enable them to as much self-sufficiency as possible, he said.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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