A cross section of health practitioners drawn from Kwabibirem and Denkyembuo districts in the Eastern Region have launched a passionate appeal to parents and families not to neglect children with Intellectual Disabilities (ID).
Intellectual disability, from a clinical perspective, involves impairments of general mental abilities which are generally recognized as an IQ below 70, that impact adaptive functioning in the conceptual area such as skills in language, reading and writing.
The social and practical area of intellectual disability has the components of empathy and social judgment and self-management in areas such as personal care respectively.
According to the health practitioners, people with ID are not contagious and are equally normal as other human beings who need care and love, despite their relatively genetically challenged condition.
They called on Ghanaians, particularly families or parents with children with ID, to seek early treatment since the condition is not spiritual but medical condition which cannot be treated at church or the premises of juju men.
According to them, often times, instead of parents seeking for early medical treatment for their children, they rather spend their time at prayer camps and premises of juju men for solution, because of superstition.
They made the observation during a three day workshop organized by Inclusion Ghana, in collaboration with Talent Search International, all Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), on people with Intellectual Disabilities (ID) at Kade, on Tuesday.
Speaking with The Chronicle, the Executive Director for Talent Search International, and also Board chairman of Inclusion Ghana, Festus Buetey Longmatey, said the workshop would stimulate the urgency of health practitioners coming into understanding with people living with Intellectual Disability (ID).
According to him, a research conducted by Inclusion Ghana in 2013 on access to health care by people with ID revealed that, the latter face discrimination and other deeply entrenched barriers when accessing health care.
According to him, the research further shows that persons with ID are excluded from general health care, via numerous obstacles, including the interplay between cultural and social environments, physical inaccessibility and communications barriers.
The resource person at the workshop, Mrs. Nana Akua Owusu, Speech and Language Therapist, disclosed that the workshop was not only to find means for people with ID to access health, but also how best parents and families with ID children could be supported in reducing their burdens.