Government should invest in empowering persons with intellectual disabilities – CEPD
Mr. Alexander Tetteh, Executive Director of Center for Employment of Persons with Disabilities (CEPD), has called on the Government to invest in the empowerment of persons with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) to contribute their quota to national development.
He said persons with ID had great potentials which are needed to support the development of the Ghanaian economy.
“People with disability need educational opportunities to develop their talents and it is for this reason that society must help in changing the wrong perceptions associated with people with disability”, he said.
Mr Tetteh made the call at a seminar organized by Parents Association for Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Austim (PACID) Ghana, on the theme, “Promoting the Fundamental Human Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Austism”, in Accra.
The initiative was aimed at finding lasting solutions in bridging the gap between the ‘normal’ people and persons with ID and Autism for national development.
It also served as a platform to advocate the fundamental human rights of these persons to be recognized and be respected by the society.
Mr Tetteh said in Ghana, people with disabilities were estimated to comprise 10 to 15 per cent of the total population and was a major cause of poverty.
He explained that individuals with ID were not only more likely to be poor but were subject to prejudice, social isolation and discrimination.
He noted that formal education for these people was a major problem because most of them were intimidated by the inaccessible educational environment.
He added that some families also tend to discriminate members with ID adding, they would finance the education of a child without disability than the one with disability.
According to him, these factors affect the chances of securing a job by these unfortunate ones since currently, the job market was highly competitive even for people with formal education.
Mr Tetteh said the situation of unemployment among disabled females was worse as compared to men.
“Even when they have received good education, they take a longer time to find a position, have less job security and less prospect of advancement with that job”, he said.
He attributed the high rate of unemployment among disabled person to lack of national statistics on them adding, policy makers often neglect disabled persons in their planning.
“No nation will develop without harnessing all its human capital and persons with intellectual disability are endowed with great talents and capacities that both government and that the private sector stand to benefit”, he noted.
Dr. Ebenezer Badoe, Pediatrician and Neurologist at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, said reports had indicated that about four to five children out of 1000 birth suffer from Cerebral Palsy (CP) in Ghana.
He mentioned birth asphyxia and neonatal jaundice as the main cause of cerebral palsy.
Dr Badoe said children with CP were at higher risk of developing problems related to psychological adjustment compared to able bodied peers.
He said females had slightly better overall survival of CP than males.
He advised parents whose children were suffering from CP to place physiotherapy at the centre of management and seek service speech therapist to deal with feeding and communication problems.
Mrs. Salome Francois, President of PACID Ghana called on all stakeholders to advocate, lobby and negotiate with policy makers on behalf of persons with ID to help bridge the gap between normal people and people with ID.
She urged the media to help fight for the rights of persons with special needs.
PACID Ghana is a non-governmental organization established in 2001 as result of a desperate cry for help by parents of children with ID. It was therefore set up to lend support to children having ID in Ghana.
PACID Ghana aims to bring together all parents, guardians and well-wishers of children and adults with intellectual disabilities, give support, education and guidance to its members and together fight for the rights of their special children.
Source: GNA