Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian philosopher and leader once emphasised the importance of making positive impacts on others, when he said; “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Consequent to the above, the country can only find itself by investing massively in educating all children including the special needs.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian education system is falling short of accommodating special needs children. Experts maintain there is a need to consider individual differences which is not unconnected with the fact that children do not develop the same way and at the same pace.
The universal modern trend is shifting towards addressing the educational challenges of children with one form of disabilities or the other so as to better their life.
The idea is contingent upon the fact that people with disabilities too have invaluable roles to play in national development, and to be able to do this effectively and meaningfully, their education needs must be given proper attention.
It is still fresh in our memories how in a groundbreaking moment for the world of art and disability awareness, 14-year-old Nigerian-born Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, an autistic artist successfully completed his attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the Largest Art Canvas.
A special needs child with the help of education made Nigeria proud with his talent, a feat even many normal physically children of his age could not achieve.
Obviously, no parents would want to see their child go through life suffering developmental disabilities, yet it is also a fact that such do happen at one time or the other for various reasons.
Children with developmental disabilities such as Autism, Down- Syndrome, and Cerebral Palsy, among others, may find it difficult to live up to normal children’s developmental expectations.
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This is why the government, corporate organisations and individuals should consider it necessary to invest in building education ecosystem that accommodates the special needs children.
Gabriel Ogbechie, the group executive director at Rainoil Limited once made a case for public special school system that would exclusively cater for the needs of special needs children in Nigeria, as the private ones are too costly for many parents.
Speaking at the launch of Brace Foundation, Ogbechie said that Nigeria needs to provide special schools that cater for special needs children.
“What we have seen in Nigeria is normal schools that say that they cater for special needs children, but the truth is that they’re normal schools who just bend backwards to actually tolerate these children, and not cater for them.
“So we look forward to having full-blown schools that do nothing but just cater for special needs children,” he said.
Similarly, Samson Ibikunle, a special needs educator said for Nigeria to achieve a successful implementation of inclusion education, there must be appropriate funding for special education facilities.
Besides, he said the government and various authorities must redesign inclusive schools and make adequate rooms to conveniently accommodate special need children.
Inclusion education, means that all children in a school, regardless of their strengths and weaknesses in any area of disability become part of the same learning and interactive community. They are included in the feeling of belonging among other students, teachers and other members of community.
Udenta Henry, a teacher stressed the need for special adaptation and modification of curriculum, because according to him, the present curriculum of the regular school system in Nigeria should be re-worked in the light of inclusive practices in the schools.
“Curriculum designers should be such that encourage learning experiences in a way that the unique needs of the children are adequately addressed. The roles of supportive staff such as sign language interpreters for hearing impaired and other ancillary should be therefore spelled.
“It should be pointed out that large classes should not be encouraged given the fact that children with disabilities benefits more form individualized educational programme, the school must make conscious attempts within the framework of the curriculum to address in a differential manner the learning needs of each child,” he said.
It is time we change our attitude towards ‘disability’ as a physical or mental limitation that hinders ones thoughts, movements, senses, or daily activities. Unlike most people living average, normal lives, people with disabilities go to school, work, have families, laugh, cry, play like everyone else, despite their disabilities.
A handicapped child is a gifted being who has the ability to be educated irrespective of his or her disabilities. Hence, schools should be designed with adequate access to all parts of the classroom for special needs children.
