Children with Disabilities are a blessing - Empowerment Series

Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection inaugurates Technical Committee to review Disability Act

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mrs Cynthia Morrison, on Friday  inaugurated a technical committee to review  the persons with disabilities Act, 2006 (Act 715) to comply with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.

The Committee set up by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities will work together with consultants to prepare the regulation to accompany the Act 715 and consider the proposed amendment submitted by organizations of persons with disability.

Members of the committee include a representative from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, The Special Education Division of the Ghana Education Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice the Judicial Service

Other organizations represented on the committee are Head of Drafting Unit, Attorney General, Ghana Federation of Disability Organizations, the Academia, Centre for Employment of Persons with Disability, Special Mothers Project, Child-Health- Paediatric Neuro-Disability Unit of the Accra Regional Hospital, Department of Audiology, Speech and Language Therapy, Centre for Disability and Rehabilitation Studies and the Executive Secretary of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities.

Mrs Cynthia Morrison charged members of the committee to come up with realistic amendments that were achievable, “Do not put just anything on paper to impress, make sure you put together a document that can be achieved.”

Dr Samuel Kaba Akoriyea, Head of Institutional Care Division of the Ghana Health Service, who chairs the Committee, pledged his commitment to ensure that the committee works to accomplish its mandate

“We all need to be concerned about disability because there is a very thin line between disability and ability,” he said.

Ms Esther Ekua Gyamfi, Executive Secretary of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities said the committee is working within a time frame to submit the reviewed Act and its accompanying Legislative Instrument to Parliament by April 2020.   

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.