Social and Psychological Problems of Special Children
Special child is an umbrella term that encompasses a staggering array of
disability diagnoses. Special children may associate physical disabilities such as
visual impairment, learning disabilities like dysphasia, or profound mental
retardation which results to developmental delay of growth of the child. These
special children needs a unique method in teaching to attend their disability, such
as visually impaired people use Braille system in reading and writing.
A family of a child with special needs should have a great deal of patience
and love in raising the child. Some special children particularly those mentally
retarded cannot live on their own without proper guidance. For some parents with
a special child, they mourn for the lost potentials of their kid. But for some more
optimistic parents, they find it as a challenge and so simple triumphs of their child
is sweeter. According to studies, parents of children with special needs are often
more flexible, patient, compassionate, persevere and resilient than other parents.
In Pakistan, education for children with special needs goes back even
farther from the history of Pakistan itself. In 1906, the earliest school for disabled
children was established in Lahore dedicating to attend to the education needs of
special children. Rapid developments on the institutions promoting special
education started in the 1980s when the United Nations declared 1981 as the
International Year of the Disabled.
However, despite the efforts of the family in creating a normal environment
for the special child, problems are not avoidable triggered from other intervening
factors.
Social interaction is heavily affected by the stigma of disabilities of special
children. There is the unjust stereotype that children’s disabilities are contagious
and anyone who gets near to them will catch their disability, just like a cold or flu.
People may seem uncomfortable being around with disabled children because
they often look and sound different, particularly when they are using special
equipment such as wheelchair or hearing aid. Even some mean and narrow-
minded people mock them causing the self-esteem of special children to deflate.
Sometimes, non-disabled kids do not want to play with special children leaving
the latter unsure of himself.
Also, there is the prejudice that children with learning disability are not as
smart as other children. Learning disabled children have normal hearing and
eyesight, but they have trouble learning because disparity in the brain sensors
receive, process and respond differently to the information being relied. LD
children have difficulty learning how to read, write, memorize and solve math
problems. They also have hard time focusing attention and easily confused by
details. They are easily frustrated causing their morale to stoop down low. But, its
does not necessarily means that they are dull compared to normal kids. Some
learning disabled children have above average intelligence and gifted with talents
such as music prodigy and excellent painting talents. But, their learning
disabilities overshadow their hidden gifts.
Moreover, the society is seeing the mentally retarded people as
dependent for their whole life because they are unable to care for themselves.
When in fact is, mental disability does only slows down the learning capability but
it doesn’t mean that they don’t absorb at all what you’re teaching them. With
proper guidance in caring for themselves and attending to their own basic needs,
they could live on their own when they are older.
Efforts in boosting the knowledge and self-esteem of special children by
educating them and treating them with care would be futile if the society they live
in would not accept them as productive citizens. Social and psychological
problems of special children will continue if the stigmas and stereotypes would
not be freed inside the narrow mind of people. Non-disabled people should know
more because they can learn and understand better.
References:
Miles, Christine, Mobilising Skills for Children with Learning Difficulties in Pakistan: A Personal Cross-cultural Experience, http://www.eenet.org.uk/
Causal attributions and parental attitudes toward children with disabilities in the United States and Pakistan, June 2007, http://goliath.ecnext.com
Khalid, Mariyam, No Special Treatment, January 2010, http://www.nextstepforward.net
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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