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 a 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 could 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 just 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 can 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.