By Bridget Tikyaa
Only those who care for children with special needs can relate to the enormity of the challenges of survival such children go through on daily basis and the daunting, often frustrating life, parents endure in raising such children. It takes a leader with a vision to relate to the seemingly helpless situation those tested with such conditions go through. Only leaders like the visionary Rev. Fr Hyacinth Alia, the Governor of Benue State, can relate, respond, and offer lifelong solutions.
Caring for special needs children requires a unique blend of understanding, patience, and love. Each child is different, have their own set of challenges and strength, and require specialised support to survive, overcome their situation, acquire education, cater for their health, and all other human needs.
In Nigeria, although there’s a policy for people with special needs, the challenges facing them have persisted. This includes discrimination in accessing inclusive education and healthcare, segregation and lack of support, poor counselling services, and therapy, among others.
According to the World Health Organisation, approximately 15 per cent of the world’s population lives with some form of disability, which includes children with special needs. In Nigeria, this translates to millions of children who may require additional support.
The United Nations Children Fund reports that children with disabilities in Nigeria face significant barriers to education and healthcare. Their data highlights the need for inclusive policies and practices to support such children.
It is pertinent to note that there are four major types of Special Needs Children. They include those with physical disabilities like muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, chronic asthma, and epilepsy, among others. There are also those with slow cognitive development, which include those with Down syndrome, autism, dyslexia, and processing disorders.
Another category of children with special needs are those with behavioral and emotional conditions such as bi-polar, oppositional defiance disorder, etc, while the last group are those with impaired sensors – the blind, visually impaired, deaf, limited hearing etc.
Surprisingly, no one chooses how and where the special needs children are to be procreated as they are born into various classes of homes: the rich, middle, and poor homes. Wherever they are born, the reality is that taking care of such children is costly and time intensive. Invariably, those from poor homes will end up neglected, abandoned, and facing discrimination and segregation.
This is where the visionary government of Governor Alia stands out. It not only acknowledged the challenges but also took the decisive step to provide such children with inclusive education, care, and therapy vital for their everyday needs and survival.
The governor has approved the establishment of a healthcare training centre for children with special needs. It will be the first in the history of Benue State. The centre will be coordinated by the Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH), supervised by the indefatigable Chief Medical Director, Dr Stephen Hwande.
This is coming after Governor Alia has approved the establishment of a cancer care centre at the hospital and valuable projects, including water supply and manufacturing systems and a classic pharmaceutical centre, among others.
Already, the process for the take off of the centre is in full swing. According to Dr Hwande, they have begun the selection of qualified personnel and their retraining to effectively man the special centre. He said that the centre will have educationists, child psychologists, sociologists, and other specialised disciplines for the care of the children with disabilities in Benue State. The CMD said Governor Ali has agreed that those recruited will undergo special training from related organisations at home and abroad.
The establishment of the school will take off in the second quarter of the year and completed before the last quarter of 2025 and will have world class facilities to aid the special children in attaining successes in every stage of their development.
Dr Hwande agreed that understanding the specific needs of each special child is crucial, as it allows caregivers to tailor their approaches and create an inclusive atmosphere. He believes that with positive support from Governor Alia, the new centre will make the special needs children to thrive, develop essential life skills, and build meaningful relationships.
Thus, the uncommon vision of the governor to establish the centre is to ease the pains, disillusionment, and hopeless situations both the children continuously find themselves. Now is an opportunity to receive therapy, access the right equipment, support systems, and drugs, and reduce the cost burden on families.
“When completed, the centre will also teach disability awareness, acceptance, and inclusion through different means. The government will sponsor staff that would take the message to the grassroots. They will be trained in relevant sectors on how to handle these special children. The bottom line is to address stigmatisation faced by PWDs in society. As a government that cares, it can help out by reducing this.
“However, the best way to support special needs children is to first educate them. African societies still have biases and believe all sorts of ridiculous myths about children with special needs. If we can understand that a disability is not contagious and the bottom line is love and acceptance, PWDs have the right to enjoy their fundamental human rights. The community must unlearn and relearn about acceptance and inclusion and find ways to include PWDs in the community,” the CMD said.
He also gave insight into how to care for the children. “One is to provide a conducive physical environment in public areas. Families should also educate their children not to bully kids with disabilities and avoid passing derogatory remarks.”
Hwande explained that in caring for children with special needs, parents and caregivers must accept and acknowledge the situation so that it can become easier to attain the readiness to put in the work required for progress and improvement.
The CMD advised that all adults around children with special needs, at home and in school, parents, caregivers, and teachers must work together for a common goal, which is the benefit of the children. There must be stable communication channels to ensure that the approaches and goals in school and at home are aligned.
Bridget Tikyaa is the Principal Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Publicity and Communications Strategy
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