Taking the stigma out of disability

Copyright: Siyabulela Duda/GCIS, CC BY-ND 2.0

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Taking the stigma out of disability</h1>
<h4></h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<div id="buzzsprout-player-9685091"></div>
<p><script src="https://www.buzzsprout.com/1257893/9685091-taking-the-stigma-out-of-disability.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-9685091&player=small" type="text/javascript" charset="utf-8"></script><br />
<a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px 7px; height: 40px; width: 165px;" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/africa-science-focus/id1526509178?uo=4" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Apple Podcasts</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -53px; height: 40px; width: 106px;" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2m6poWeZPx2F1KeKHxXph9" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Spotify</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -113px; height: 40px; width: 165px;" href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xMjU3ODkzLnJzcw==" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Google Podcasts</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -173px; height: 40px; width: 111px;" href="https://www.stitcher.com/show/africa-science-focus" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Stitcher</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -233px; height: 40px; width: 120px;" href="https://overcast.fm/login" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Overcast</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -293px; height: 40px; width: 162px;" href="https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/84c899ed-bc56-45ef-9a82-e31d8270daa8/AFRICA-SCIENCE-FOCUS" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Amazon Music</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -353px; height: 40px; width: 120px;" href="https://castbox.fm/channel/id3207143?utm_campaign=ex_share_ch&utm_medium=exlink&country=gb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Castbox</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -413px; height: 40px; width: 162px;" href="https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/3063514" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Podcast Addict</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -473px; height: 40px; width: 150px;" href="https://pca.st/ku8esadk" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Pocket Casts</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -533px; height: 40px; width: 140px;" href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-africa-science-focus-71518179/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on iHeartRadio</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -593px; height: 40px; width: 115px;" href="https://www.pandora.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">Listen on Pandora</a><a style="display: inline-block; background-color: #000000; background-image:inherit; background-repeat: no-repeat; border: 1px solid #000000; border-radius: 5px; margin: 0 5px 5px 0; text-indent: -9000px; background-position: 10px -653px; height: 40px; width: 121px;" href="https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1257893.rss" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-bg-image="url('https://www.buzzsprout.com/images/badges/listen-on-embed.svg')" class="lazyload">RSS Feed</a></p>
<hr />
<p><strong>Season 2, Episode 14</strong></p>
<p>It wasn’t until Daniella Akellot was 28 years old that she found a name for the invisible thing that she felt had always made her different. Akellot was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a group of rare conditions that affect the connective tissues that support the skin, tendons and internal organs.</p>
<p>Akellot tells Africa Science Focus that, as a young African woman, she has struggled at times to be taken seriously as a scientist. Despite this, she’s now research coordinator at the specialist CoRSU rehabilitation hospital in Uganda, where she is investigating poorly understood conditions to help children with disabilities overcome stigma.</p>
<p><strong><em>Africa Science Focus</em></strong><strong>, with Michael Kaloki. </strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/role-models/qa-my-medical-colleagues-learn-from-my-disability/"><strong>Learn more about </strong><strong>Daniella Akellot’s career</strong></a><br />
<a href="https://www.carnegie.org/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676 lazyload" data-src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 426px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 426/200;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676 lazyload" data-src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 426px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 426/200;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676" src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" /></noscript></noscript></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>This programme was funded by the <a href="https://www.carnegie.org/">Carnegie Corporation of New York</a>.</em></p>
<p> </p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/podcast/taking-the-stigma-out-of-disability/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/podcast/taking-the-stigma-out-of-disability/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify Listen on Google Podcasts Listen on Stitcher Listen on Overcast Listen on Amazon Music Listen on Castbox Listen on Podcast Addict Listen on Pocket Casts Listen on iHeartRadio Listen on Pandora RSS Feed

Season 2, Episode 14

It wasn’t until Daniella Akellot was 28 years old that she found a name for the invisible thing that she felt had always made her different. Akellot was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a group of rare conditions that affect the connective tissues that support the skin, tendons and internal organs.

Akellot tells Africa Science Focus that, as a young African woman, she has struggled at times to be taken seriously as a scientist. Despite this, she’s now research coordinator at the specialist CoRSU rehabilitation hospital in Uganda, where she is investigating poorly understood conditions to help children with disabilities overcome stigma.

Africa Science Focus, with Michael Kaloki.

Learn more about Daniella Akellot’s career