Acacia Shade interacts with families raising children with Special Needs in Ghana

Acacia Shade, a United States based organization that supports persons with disabilities in  Ghana on Sunday interacted with members of the Special Mothers Project, an advocacy and awareness creation programme for families raising children cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

Members of the Special Mothers Project who attended the meeting were educated on how to effectively handle and manage children with cerebral palsy and were presented with goodie bags, containing various products and books.

Dr Melissa Kendall, a medical doctor and pediatrician, educated parents on the need to keep the faces and hands of children with Cerebral Palsy, clean at all times to avoid infection.

“Children with Cerebral Palsy can get infections when germs on their faces or hands get into their mouths, nose, eyes or ears, it is important to always clean their faces and also wash your hands with their hands with soap and water as frequently as possible,” Dr Kendall said.

She encouraged families raising children with cerebral palsy to see their children as a blessing and not a burden

Dr  Dickson Kissi, a Ghanaian Medical doctor, educated the families and primary care givers of the children with cerebral palsy on proper eating procedures, he said, “ don’t let the children lie down as soon as they finish eating or they could be choked on the food.

“Most children with cerebral palsy, have swallowing challenges, you need to be patient with them when feeding, if you use 15 minutes to feed an average child, you may need 25 minutes or more to feed a child with cerebral palsy “

Answering questions on drooling, Dr Kissi said, usually the Saliva from the drool is not infectious, there is no disease in the Saliva.

Ms Julie Reneer, a board member of Acacia Shade, who also had a child with special needs, advised the families raising children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, never to give up on their children.

She said “her son who lived up to 40 years was a blessing in her life and changed her life in so many positive ways, you have the opportunity to be your child’s mother, your children are not mistakes, they are a blessing”

Ms Reneer taught the families a massage technique for the hands, which she said was very effective and said it also gave the mothers or primary care givers an opportunity to demonstrate their love to their children through the power of touch.