A Special Learning Journey Cut Short

Students at the St Pius X Resource Centre in Malawi for children with physical and developmental disabilities. Credit: Charity Chimungu Phiri/IPSBy Charity Chimungu PhiriBLANTYRE, Malawi, Mar 29 2017 (IPS)When building a house, it’s critical to lay a strong foundation. The same applies to education, with studies showing that children who attend early learning centers perform better in school than those who do not.In Malawi, a 2003 national survey found that only 18.8 percent of school-age children with disabilities were attending class. More than twice as many of the same age group without disabilities (41.1 percent) attended school. This was mainly attributed to the lack of a disability-friendly environment."Since many children come from poor families, parents are often faced with the dilemma of choosing which child to send to secondary school, bearing in mind that the one with difficulties needs special care." --teacher Miriam ChimtengoMore parents are now sending their young ones to such special preschools, some as little as two years old. This kind of early intervention is especially critical for children with learning disabilities such as autism.Most autistic children are diagnosed late in Malawi due to the lack of specialist doctors and caregivers, but also failure by their parents, guardians and teachers to recognize that the child has learning difficulties.James Botolo* lives in one of the suburbs of Blantyre and has a 10-year-old autistic son named Chikondi*.“For...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Education Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Disability rights early childhood education Malawi World Autism Awareness Day Source Type: news