A new column, appearing in the Daily Observer, will focus on "disability, disabled people, their contribution to national development and their relationship with their able bodied counterparts."

That’s according to the columnist, Yahya Muhammad Bah, who says people with disabilities should be treated with integrity and respect. And, he says, he hopes his column will help encourage that.

In his column he tackles everything from the fundamental understandings of disability, to the discussion of development models and how they address disability.

It is important, he explains, to start with a basic definition of disability and to understand people’s perceptions.

"People in different parts of the globe, attaches importance to different type of disabilities, simply because some are common in the area than the other, however, local beliefs also affect how people view different disabilities. In places where people beliefs that fits, for example are the work of devils, thus a child with fits may be feared, teased or kept hidden. But in areas where every body perceive fits just something that happens to certain people, a child with fits may sometimes participate fully in the daily activities of the family and society. Both of these children need help to live grow to be productive citizen. With later kind of attitude, the integration of persons with disabilities into the mainstream of the society will be easier."

Mr. Bah’s column, Focus on Disability, can be found online on the Daily Observer.