People with impairments are not as efficient as people without impairments? Sigrun Passelat wants to eliminate this prejudice once and for all. To what extent she herself is a role model and how she otherwise rolls, she tells us on REHACARE.com.
Name: Sigrun Passelat Age: 50 City: Wuppertal, Germany Occupation: Motivational coach, prosthesis model Impairment: Thigh amputation after MRSA germ and bone cancer; working as a motivation coach for people with a disability and disabled extreme sportswoman
What have you always been wanting to do and why have you never done this so far?
Sigrun Passelat: A tandem parachute jump. Unfortunately, there hasn't been a chance to do that yet.
Which person has influenced you most? And why?
Sigrun Passelat: I do not let myself be influenced – I go my own way.
You have the chance to become the Commissioner for the Disabled. What would you do first?
Sigrun Passelat: I would increase the compensatory levy (in Germany), which employers have to pay for severely disabled persons who are not employed, so drastically that it is more lucrative for an employer to employ a severely disabled person than to pay this compensatory levy. I have experienced it myself when I was looking for a job that people prefer to pay this levy rather than give me a chance, because they still believe that people with disabilities are not so efficient.
What is especially near and dear to you?
Sigrun Passelat: With my role model I want to show that people with disabilities are just as capable as non-disabled people – on the contrary, they are often more committed and motivated.
Which question would you like to be answered the most?
Sigrun Passelat: Would I have gotten bone cancer if I hadn't had the MRSA germ?
What I still wanted to say...
Sigrun Passelat: Just let her talk, do your thing and enjoy life. (quote: The Joker/Facebook)
What makes other people actually happy in life? If you ever wondered, you have come to the right place. In regular intervals REHACARE.com asks a varity of people always the same questions. What results from that? Read for yourself!