What are the Common Needs of Disabled Children?

Disadvantaged children are different from normal children. Their needs are also different from them. To make the life of disadvantaged children comfortable it is necessary to take special care of them.

This special care should be exercised depending upon the disability. But there are certain basic needs of disabled children which are common to all kinds of disabilities. Certain needs are specific to their disabilities.

(i) Special care

They need extra care in comparison to the normal children because normal children can take care of themselves on certain matters, but these children are not able to take care of themselves so well. They are dependent on other people for their small requirements and daily chores. Mentally retarded children are not able to perform their daily chores and are accident prone because they cannot judge the dangerous situation. So the parents have to take extra care of them.

(ii) Family cooperation

Disabled children need cooperation of their family members especially from their parents and siblings. All of them should help the child in such a way that the child is able to perform his daily chores. For example, a physically handicapped child must be encouraged to move or walk by holding his hands or by providing him crutches.

A blind child should also be encouraged to go to the bathroom himself instead of providing brush and tooth paste on the spot for his convenience. Gradually he will start recognising the path and will become familiar with it. It will strengthen him with self-confidence and he will try to be indepen­dent.

(iii) More interaction with the envi­ronment

Such children need to make extra efforts in adjusting with the environment in comparison to the normal children. We all know sense organs develop very fast during early years of life and the child interacts with the environment through them. He receives stimuli and responses. By this process the
child learns about his environment. He needs more interaction with environment so that more efforts can be done to overcome his disability. The child should be provided with maximum opportunities to learn through sorts and interaction through talks and education depending upon his physical capabilities.

The child should get opportunities to become self- dependent. The child should be provided with various types of coloured toys, should be provided experience of various kinds of voices and sounds like music, rattling toys, bells etc.

He should be provided with various kinds of touching experiences. Gradually the child learns to recognise colours, voices and sounds and textures, to the maximum of his capacity. He uses his sense organs to their full capacity. He tries to take optimum advantage of his normal capabilities in order to overcome his disabled faculty.

(iv) Early education

In disabled children early education is as necessary as the prevention and care of disability. Management of their disabilities should start from the early years of their life. The moment the disability of the child is detected, his early education and training should be started immediately to help him out it helps him to become self- reliant and self-confident.

Actually early education is more important for disabled children than for normal children. Children have to adjust in the society ultimately, so they should be kept near to the normal children and everyone should behave with them as we behave with normal children.

Their education should stress upon making them self-reliant regarding their personal work like taking bath, eating, getting dressed, etc. Blind, deaf and dumb should get education in special schools but elementary education and training should be imparted in family.

(v) Integrated education

It is expe­rienced that disabled children sent to separate institutions from their early years to get education. It was found to be difficult for them to adjust in the society. Psychologists insist that such children should be educated with normal children to make him feel they are part of the society and other children should also accept them from the beginning and become habitual in seeing and standing with them in the same class.

This way the acceptance of each other will be mutual. Adjustment in the society of these disabled children will be easier and they develop positive attitude towards the society if they are kept with normal children.

(vi) Vocational education

Children should be trained in various handicrafts. Vocational training should also be given in order to make them self-reliant and earn their livelihood. Children should be given education according to their interest and talent such as music, painting, handicrafts, etc. Blind children should be taught in ‘Braille’, deaf and dumb should be taught ‘Lip language’ so that they can communicate with other people. Through this communication and these trades, they will adjust well in the society and would not depend on others.

(vii) Providing proper equipment

Physically handicapped children need certain equipments which help them to adjust with the environment, e.g., ‘crutches’ for crippled, hearing aid for partially deaf, spectacles for poor vision so that the child can overcome his disability to a certain extent.

(viii) Combined effort

To prevent and take the problem of disability it is necessary to make a combined effort. Doctors, nutritionists, sociologists, psychologists, counsellers, teachers and parents-all of them should sit together and find out ways for caring, education and rehabilitation of disadvantaged children.

(ix) Need for understanding

Parents and other people should show an attitude of understanding towards such children. These children expect more care, love and under­standing from others in comparison to the normal children.

They have limited capacity to do work. They feel inferior to others. Under these circumstances the sympathetic, affectionate and caring attitude of other people makes them feel secured and add to their confidence. It helps them to recover from their inferiority complex.

(x) Socialisation

It is absolutely neces­sary that such children should be made to
understand that they are very much a part of society. They should be provided opportunities to interact in the society.

They should be taken to the family and social get-togethers, so that people become accustomed to accept them as an integral part of society. They should not be treated differently. Everybody should try that such children develop positive attitude towards the society and become a responsible citizen. Society should provide maximum facilities to such children and help in their rehabilitation.

(xi) Education of the parents

The first reaction of the parents of disabled child is ‘shock and ‘disbelief. Gradually they accept the reality. Parents of such children also need to be educated as to how they should take care of such children? How they can help them to become self-dependent, from where they can get specialised medical advice, etc.

They should be prepared to accept and rear the child as their other normal children. They should under­stand their limited capabilities and should have expectations from them accordingly.

Sometime parents are not ready to accept that there is some lacking in their child. They put the blame on others for the failure of their child. They should face the reality and immediately start taking special care to help the child to overcome the disability.