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Working with children with disabilities
Having a child with disabilities is a challenge for all parents, whether they see the child as a punishment or, rightly, as a gift from God. Although most parents care for these children in the sense of keeping them warm, sheltered and fed, there is often little understanding of the importance and value of stimulating their development. It is easy to think that they can never respond or develop, but the experience of a centre for children with disabilities shows that progress can be made.
Faraja Children Centre
It is the only centre in this new district that cares for children with disabilities. The centre struggles in its day-to-day operations; however the team at the centre takes the children in and supports them with stimulating or teaching methodologies. You can tell how well the children are doing and the effectiveness of the care they receive.
The centre works with children between the ages of 5 and 14, who have severe physical disabilities.
The children need a lot of help, so much of the focus at the centre is on physiotherapy work, such as helping they learn to sit and move. They concentrate on stimulating the main senses: sight, sound, touch and smell.
A recent development is to look at the children’s educational and social needs in addition to the physical care.
Work and play
One of the biggest challenges at the centre has been to educate the staff about the idea of play. In a society where work is seen as all important, the idea of play simply does not exist in adult thinking. People do not see that play, either alone or in a group, is part of social development. When a new toy is introduced – for example a container with different shaped holes in the lid for slotting shapes through – the staff will learn how to use it.
The staff needs capacity building
Then they will give it to a child and expect them to know what to do with it. If they don’t, the toy is seen as being no good. The staffs have to be shown that the toy could be used in many ways. They could take the lid off and look inside, touch it, shake it, enjoy the colours and so on. They could forget the lid completely and put it on end.
A whole change of attitude is needed so that the staff can really understand and enjoy ‘play’. This also involves encouraging the children to explore toys. Some might not even touch one unless they are encouraged. Believing that development is possible and realising how it can be encouraged, is part of the essential training that the staff need in order to be effective.
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