WHAT do people mean when they say a child has special needs? Shouldn’t every child be special?
Yes, every child should indeed be special. But children regarded as special – that is they have special needs – invariably also have special reasons to be identified as such.
They are the ones who might need extra attention because of what paediatricians call a medical, emotional or learning problem.
And this extra attention includes medication, therapy or extra help at home or in school – not the typical things normal chidren would need or may only need occasionally.
Mostly, it’s a matter of picking out the ability, limited though it may be, and needs of the special child and be generously forthcoming with the necessary support.
Children afflicted with illnesses such as epilepsy, diabetes or cerebral palsy are considered as having special needs as well. They might need medicine or other help as they go about their daily routine.
As for children with vision problems, Braille books are needed to help them read. Those who cannot hear or speak properly would have special needs as well.
Obviously, a child with hearing problems might need hearing aids but speech therapy is also important since saying words correctly can be difficult with impaired hearing.
Although special children can be spotted, usually most do not attract much attention and are left to their own devices. Moreover, a special child’s problem may not be easily recognisable except to people who know the child well.
For instance, a child could have a certain neurosis – anxiety for instance – but the condition may go unnoticed unless the child talks about it – which is rare because the cognitive processes of young children are not sharp enough yet for them to talk about these things. So it’s up to adults to notice the symptoms and take remedial action.
Some special children may have speech impediment, others may be visually impaired but in milder cases, their intellectual capacity may be unaffected. Take the case of Yap Fang Ling from Selangau in Sibu Division.
The 14-year-old girl is born blind but she is intellectually smart. She sat for her UPSR last year and passed with very high grades – 4A and 1B.
Despite her excellent UPSR results, she, at first, could not find a secondary school to continue her schooling at because there was none equipped with facilities for the visually impaired to be found in Sibu.
But the Education Department’s swift action on a request from well-wishes to set up a secondary school integration class for visually impaired in Sibu – after being informed of Fang Ling’s situation – gave the visually impaired lass a much-needed leg-up.
With the Education Department’s prompt intervention, Fang Ling is now able to carry on her secondary education at SMK Sungai Merah where a secondary school integration class has been set up for her and students like her.
Fang Ling is considered relatively fortunate in that she has only one form of disability – visual impairment. There children out there with more severe afflictions such as multiple disabilities which may include attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autistism.
These are more difficult cases to correct but in dealing with health problems – as with most other problems – the maxim prevention is better than cure can make a big difference.
To prevent a disability from becoming firmly entrenched, what is critical is catching the symptoms early. It is usually too late to seek correction after the affliction has reached an advanced stage.
As Dr Toh Teck Hock, paediatrician and head of Clinical Research Centre, Sibu Hospital, noted, the older special children are sent for therapy, the slimmer their chances of improvement because by a certain age, say six or seven upwards, they will have already developed behaviours usually too complicated for effective correction.
He stressed early intervention is an important preventive measure. And so nowadays, it’s common to see special children getting help at two years old or so rather than six or seven previously.
We should never give up on a child, especially a special child, but render every support where possible so that the child may get a second chance at life instead of facing the future under a cloud of constant neglect, marginalisation and even abandonment.
In this regard, education – not only for the child but also the parents – is paramount. With education, the chances of the special child making progress towards a normal life with his or her parents’ understanding and support would be so much brighter.
It’s certainly worth noting that everytime a special child shows improvement in coping with his or her situation, it’s one giant step forward.