Disability among children took centre stage last week as scores of parents whose children live with disabilities gathered at Lingelethu Training Centre on Friday 29 August to unpack their challenges and learn valuable lessons from each other.
The event was organised by the Metro East Disability Forum (MEDF), a forum for all the centres that accommodate disabled children in the eastern Metro area.
Speaking on behalf of the Forum, Lindelwa Madikane described the gathering as a platform for parents to speak openly about the challenges they face at home. She said they also share ideas and advise each other.
“We want to know how the parents with children with disabilities cope at home. Are they getting the necessary support that they need? We want them to be open and not feel ashamed about their children. We encourage them to speak out about all the challenges that they encounter,” said Madikane.
She said they also encourage them to have a support group within the forum in their communities. She said they want them to work together with professional health workers to get professional advisors.
“We appeal to the parents to register their children with the Department of Education. We have a good working relationship with the department.
“They mustn’t keep their children at home or lock them indoors because they don’t want to be seen by the community. There are centres for them,” cautioned Madikane.
Social auxiliary for Heads Up organisation Nosipho Mngxosha urged parents to take care of their disabled children. Heads Up is an non-profit organisation that empowers and equips young people to look after their mental health.
She stated that there are different kinds of disabilities and that people need to understand.
“When people talk about the disability they think of physical disability. But there is a mental health problem where a person is physically fit, but psychological is not. In most cases some of them got injured.
“As the organisation that is where we intervene and try to assist them. Because after they are discharged from hospitals they are left unattended,” she stated.
Parent Nokubonga Kose, from Site B, labelled the workshop as educational. She said she felt motivated by other parents and the speakers during the event.
“I have my son who is eight years old and is living with a disability. At the beginning, I felt so embarrassed with him because I was the first person to have a disabled child at home.
“I had mixed emotions and even wanted to dump him at the hospital. But with the support that I got from my family, I developed a lot of love for him,” said Kose.
She said having a support group helped her a lot. She met other parents with similar challenges and spoke openly about everything.
The 36-year-old mother urged other parents, who are facing similar challenges, to associate themselves with forums such as MEDF.
