Ms Colleen Chifamba, a psychotherapist and disability consultant on Tuesday advised parents of children with disabilities to learn about the emotional cycles involved with nurturing a child with disability to be able to effectively support their children.
She said: Children with disabilities also go through the cycle
of grief that parents go through, and parents need to understand their own
emotions and develop patience to enable them effectively support their children
Ms Chifamba, also person with disability, who lives with a
condition called Spina Bifida, said this at a training organised by the Special
Mothers Project, an advocacy programme for children with cerebral palsy and other
disabilities as well as their parents.
The training touched on the emotional processes involved in
nurturing a child with disability, understanding the cycle of grief and how it
relates to nurturing a child with disability, integrating children with disability
into the family and becoming an efficient advocate for children with disability.
Ms Chifamba reiterated the need for support groups like
the Special Mothers Project where parents can be free to share their emotions
and be supported and advised participants not to invalidate the feelings of
parents going through the cycle of grief.
“It is important for parents to know and acknowledge where
they are in their cycle of grief,” saying, parents go through the cycle of
grief at different stages in their children’s development.
She also urged parents to have family rules that cover all
children in their household and not treat their children as special and
therefore without discipline.
“You must discipline your child with disability like you do
with all other children,” she said.
Mrs Hannah Awadzi, Executive Director of the Special Mothers
Project, advised parents to work in unity to ensure that the government
responds to the needs of children with disabilities in our society.
“We can come together to advocate for inclusive education,
Inclusive health, rehabilitation centres, the availability of affordable and
trained caregivers and a lot more,” she said.
Naa Densua, a special needs parents and a specialist teacher,
said it was important to have more early years inclusive educational centres,
and explained that some children with disabilities are able to overcome their
disability once there is early intervention in that direction.
She also advised that the Special Mothers Project works
closely with healthcare centres and hospitals to guide new parents of children
with disabilities with the real-life experiences of nurturing a child with
disability.
Some participants shared their experiences in parenting
their children with disabilities.
