KYC-KYC Educational Consult and Academy Lt; a disability management organization has restated readiness to empower persons with living with disabilities at its forthcoming vocational outreach 5.0.
Director of KTC-KYC Academy, Damilola Banwo Oyalaja, made this known while speaking at the organisation’s Special Needs Vocational Outreach (SNVO 2022), which was held on Saturday.
Oyalaja said the next edition of Special Needs Vocational Outreach will be held in September 2023.
In a statement, Oyalaja said KYC-KYC Educational Consult and Academy’s core is in training, mentoring, and equipping educators and families of persons with disabilities.
The statement reads partly, “The Academy arm of the organization is a Vocational Training Skill varsity that prides itself in equipping young adults living with disabilities to gain mastery in skills that are necessary for living an independent and functional life.
“For three consecutive years, and this year’s outreach, being the 4th edition, the organization has been organizing a Free Informational Webinar, that addresses pertinent issues around disability inclusion, disability employability, entrepreneurship and accessibility.
“For this year’s seminar the goal was to have discussions on ways to promote Disability Entrepreneurship, & Employment, and Skills Acquisition as a tool today for Young People living with a disability, in order to gain Functional Independence and Financial Sustainability,” it said.
The conference, themed, “Pathway to entrepreneurship in disability management: What can we do better?” saw various disability inclusion experts as panelists.
Speaking at the event, experts tasked policy makers and politicians to make enabling provisions in their progragmmes and manifestoes for the purpose of accessibility and inclusivity for children and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The experts also asked stakeholders to give children and people with special needs a chance at life, particularly in terms of job opportunities, just as they addressed various factors impeding the potential and chances of PWDs and at employability.
The conference had 4 speakers, who delivered on various subjects around the theme:
1. Accessibility for all Speaker: Mr. Olawale Dada: Disability/Inclusion Advocate, Realtor, Entrepreneur.
2. Role of Organizations and Institutions in Paving the Path Towards Inclusiveness.
Speaker: Barr. Foluso Liasu: Lawyer/Disability Advocate/Founder Super Parents Foundation.
3. Customized Employment as a Pathway to Entrepreneurship Speaker: Yuliya Khripunkova, LMSW:
Assistant Director- Special Projects & QA AHRC NYC, Employment & Business Services Advance and Earn.
4. Recruitment of Persons with Disability: Its Plausibility, Opportunities, and Expectations Speaker: Tobiloba Ajayi: Chief Responsibility Officer; The Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation.
The conference had seven panelists, who answered questions from the audience.
1. Ms. Joy Odiete (J’odie): Artist/Disability Advocate.
2. Ms. Susan Ihuoma: Educationist/Disability Inclusion Advocate.
3. Mr. Greg Simon: Humanist/Content Creator/Disability Advocate/Film maker.
4. Ms. Biboara Iyekere: Director The School of Grace Learning and Vocational Centre/ Published Author.
5. Micheal Thompson Showunmi: Founder-Raising Star Africa.
6. Adetoye Abioye: Executive Director, Theseabilities Foundation.
7. David Adesina: Disability Advocate/Content Writer/FGrowth Manager/Lead Fortyfive Degrees Media (FFDM).
Highlights of the conference included: what can be done to improve employability skills amongst the disabled community; entrepreneurship skills as a tool towards functional independence; as well as harnessing and maximizing available resources towards Disability Inclusion in the workplace.
Oyalaja stated, “We need to move away from seeing the disability of a person first, we must begin to see the individual before the disability.”
According to her, the academy focuses on bringing awareness of disabilities to educators, parents and organizations within Africa and all over the world.
“KTC-KYC equips parents, Educators, professionals and schools with individuals living with disability, through training and administrative consultation. The organization is actively involved in inclusion advocacy, providing Special educational needs department consultation and set-up, Sensory room and Home play therapy set up.
“KTC-KYC gives professional and vocational advice to parents/ schools of individuals with disabilities who are unable to attain academic expectations due to the presence of the disability. This is achieved through its Academy, which is also referred to as a “skillsversity” for persons living with a disability where young adults with disability are groomed to own a skill, master the art of skill and monetize the skill vocation of choice.
“KTC-KYC believes that young adults with disabilities can be functionally, financially and
