Special Mothers call on government to facilitate inclusion policy

Some mothers with children with cerebral palsy, have called on government to help such families with policies that ensures a holistic integration of the children into the society.

A cross-section of special mothers at the meeting

Most children with cerebral palsy in Ghana are kept at home excluded from social life because there are no social structures that facilitate the inclusion and integration of the children into society, Mrs Mina Yeboah, mother of a five year old girl with cerebral palsy said.

“I am mostly surfing on the internet looking for help because it is so difficult accessing services for your child with cerebral palsy in Ghana, there is the lack of proper seating and standing equipment and physiotherapy services are expensive,” she said.

Mrs Yeboah said this at a meeting to review the activities of the Special Mothers Project and look at the way forward for the project.

The Special Mothers Project is an advocacy and awareness creation programme of cerebral palsy. The project brings together mothers with children who have cerebral palsy to share experiences and encouragement while serving as a counselling point for mothers.

Mrs Emelia Gyenkel, mother of a nine- year- old boy with cerebral palsy, who shared some of her experiences with the group, said physiotherapy services, which used to be GH? 6 was suddenly increased to GH¢36.00.

“I spent not less than GH¢80.00 to access a session of physiotherapy for my son and it is a big disincentive to me, considering that many mothers are forced to stay at home, how mothers can access such services which are very expensive,” she said.

Mrs Gyenkel called on corporate organisations both in Ghana and abroad to support projects such as the special mothers project to enable more mothers get access to some of these services.

The Special Mothers Project in collaboration with similar organisations organises periodic workshops for parents with cerebral palsy children.

The workshops serve as a skill learning platform for parents since professionals like physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapist train parents on the basic handling skills.

The Special Mothers project has also adopted a government Special School in Madina in the Greater Accra Region is hoping to raise funds to improve the schools infrastructure to enable more parents’ access education for their wards.

Most children with cerebral palsy are rejected or refused admission into the crèche system since most of those institutions are privately run.

Meanwhile the Multikids Foundation, an NGO has expressed readiness to collaborate with the Special Mothers Project to set up services for children with cerebral palsy and their families.