Early Intervention For Children With Disabilities: The St. Louise's Example

By Aniefiok Christopher & Mfonobong Ukpong

Early childhood is unarguably the most important aspect in a child's life. This is so because good parents could easily identify the future of their children based on their attitudes at this stage of life. For children with disabilities, the early years are not only critical but hard to cope with for a number of reasons. Yet the earlier a child is identified with having a developmental delay or disabilities the better a time for the child to benefit from intervention strategies carefully designed to meet the child's mental needs.
Early childhood intervention has been defined as the provision of educational or therapeutic services to children under the age of eight, and the early childhood intervention service providers have identified at least three separate groups of children who should benefit from early childhood intervention service. Among such children are those diagnosed with conditions known to result in disability or delay in development, children at risk from prenatal and postnatal histories that suggest an increased vulnerability to disability (e.g pre-maturity or birth traumas, and children at environmental risk because of conditions in their surrounding which might result in disability or delay for instance poverty.
While children with established conditions are usually recognized during the first weeks of life, children at risk for delay or disabilities can be identified at anytime between the age of birth and fine. Very often babies with hearing impairment are missed out as the parents are hardly aware of the signs that would identify that such a child would have hearing difficulties in the long run.
In Europe the concept of early intervention was introduced in the early 1800's by people such as Friedrich Froebel of Germany. In Rome, Maria Montessori established early education programmes for poor children and children with learning disabilities using educational practices that emphases learning through active involvement with the environment. Here in Nigeria, the concept of early intervention of children with disabilities has been developing only within the last few decades.
Reviews of Early Childhood Intervention Literature involve scores of studies completed during recent years. The studies revealed that children who received three years of home visits, child care, medical care and other therapeutic intervention scored higher on test of mental ability than those (Children) with similar disabilities who has only received health related services. Generally, the early childhood intervention programmes focus on the enhancement of a child's abilities and development and the support of a child's family to enable them adapt to their child's ongoing needs. The issues facing eligible young children and their families are complex, demanding a commitment by early childhood service provided to build comprehensive coordinated community service system. He above reasoning might have been the back bone behind the creation of the St. Louise Special School carved out of Ukana Iba where persons with multiple disabilities resort to for treatments and physiotherapy, especially persons with physical impairment.
Worried by the increasing number of children with hearing impairment and learning difficulties, Sister Alice Daly, Mr/Mrs Anita and Peter Kuppers made a passionate request to the then Catholic Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese, late Dominic Cardinal Ekanem of blessed memory who gave his blessings assistance and encouragement towards the establishment of the special school to carter for children with special educational needs, on May 31st 1983. The school which is situated at Queen Street in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday 15th November 2008, rolled out its drums to celebrate the achievements of a centre that has given life to the hopeless, strength to the physically challenged and voice to the less privileged members of the Nigerian society.
The centre owned and managed by the Catholic Mission (the Daughters of Charity) has grown into four major units, including educational services, the Audiology Unit Vocational and the Adult seat club well equipped with modern facilities from its humble beginning of two small buildings, five staff and 17 pupils with the pioneer administrator, Mrs. Anita Kupers.
The centre managed by the Daughters of Charity under the proprietor of Most Rev. (Dr.) Camillus Etukudoh, the Catholic Bishop of Ikot Ekpene with Rev. Sister Martha Ali as the administrator is currently boasting of a total population of 250 children from different religious background and tribes with special educational needs.
The school which is managed in partnership with CBM of foreign mission has been of great help to children with the hearing impairment, learning difficulties, physical impairment and those with multiple disabilities. The Silver Jubilee celebration of the centre which started with a Mass with the Catholic Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese and present Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Most Rev. Camillus Etukudoh, as the Chief Celebrant was witnessed be a cross section of parents, friends of the school and the Catholic community from within and outside the state. Among the special features of the event were chorography, Melodrama, Cultural displays by the inmates of the centre to the admiration of all.
The most wonderful event by the special kids were how they danced to the rhythm of music/beats even though the performers were all deaf and dumb. You would have also wondered at the inmates who true to wordings were merely challenged to display their hidden talents with their special signs, their most common mode of communication. Some of the children who were visibly elated at the ceremony participated fully at the mass in psalms and praises to God for their lives. They presented gifts to the church in appreciation of the Catholic Mission who nursed the idea of the centre. Also at the anniversary proper, were presentations of awards to deserving citizens of the society who have contributed in one way towards the progress of the centre as well as a fund lunch in support of the proposed secondary school project.
The St. Louise's Centre, according to the administrator, Sister Martha Ali of the Daughters of Charity, (DC) came to be as a result of the increasing number of children sent to the Ukana Iba rehabilitation Home, at Essien Udim.
According to her, the need to provide formal education for these children with special needs led to the establishment of a separate centre to take care of their peculiar needs. The administrator, Sister Ali who spoke with our reporter paid glowing tributes to Sr. Alive Daly (Daughter of Charity) Anita and peter Kupers who presented their request to the late Cardinal Ekanem who at the time was the Bishop in charge of Ikot Ekpene Diocese and he gave them his blessing. The school today has a student population of 252 with various departments and units catering for those with hearing impairment, hearing difficulties, physical impairment and multiple disabilities.
The centre has a nursery and primary section mainly for children with hearing impairment while those with learning difficulties are at the pre- vocational skills unit. There is also the vocational training unit, audiology unit, speech therapy, counseling, home visitation for special children who are living outside the school environment. Others are pastoral unit that ministers to the moral and spiritual needs of the children. The centre also has a medical unit that attends to the medical and health needs of the special children. There is also a unit for the adult deaf.
One striking feature one could find in the children is their ability to follow instructions. One of the teacher in the school disclosed that when they are brought to the school newly, some of them encountered difficulties teaching but he was quick to add that the children normally pick up with time. The school which started with 17 children and 5 staff has 252 children and 52 staff. The school audiology unit which currently has three staff provides the following services; hearing assessment, ear mould making, hearing aids fitting, hearing aids repairs, dewaxing (removal of impacted wax). It also undertakes screening programme in villages, schools, churches, barracks among other places through what they call “Mobile ear care out reach” with a view of identifying those with similar problems where they are detected and properly treated.
The centre has over the years been conductingin-service training, workshops and seminars to further equip its staff on new techniques. The vocational unit provides training for the adult deaf, young girls with mild to moderate learning difficulties and young girls from poor homes who could not cope with the higher demands of academic in classroom situations and whose parents are unable to train them in higher education. According to the administrator, the students spend a maximum of three (3) years after which they are provided with tools for authentic rehabilitation, although some of them spend more than three years due to their peculiar problems. The Bishop of Ikot Ekpene Diocese of the Catholic Church, Bishop Camillus Etukudoh who is also the proprietor of the school in an interview with The Sensor expressed joy at the achievement recorded by the school. He maintained that the school serves everybody, saying that children from all over the country irrespective of religion and tribe have been admitted into the school.
The Bishop called on the state government to come to the aid of the school especially as it plans to embark on a N100 million secondary School Project. Bishop Etukudo called on government support to the school citing the fact that even though the school is established here in Nigeria, it has been receiving various forms of assistance from far away in Ireland and several other countries across the world, hence the need for the state government to reciprocate the gesture by making monthly subvention to the school.
The CAN chairman believes that if the secondary school comes on board, it will be of immense help to the children who will not have difficulties in advancing their education because of the kind of facilities they are to be provide, to meet the needs of the special children. On stigmatization the administrator, Sister Ali lamented that the challenges facing the children and indeed the school is the attitude of some parents of these children who abandon their wards after sending them to the school for care. She said that they never returned to see how they fare. The school can boast to special facilities, like hearing aids, they have trained teachers who have been able to impact positively on the lives of the children. The school also have sporting facilities for the children.
Another development that the Bishop found disturbing as it concerns the school are: the activities of certain individuals and groups who visit the centre claiming to be government agents who usually come to take statistics of the children with a promise to give financial assistance to the school. Bishop Etukudo said after such visit the visitors disappear without giving a feedback. He said the activities of these fraudsters have become worrisome to the management and called on government to be ware of such people. However, Bishop Etukudo was quick to point out that government has been assisting the centre through exchange of staff.
So far about 2 teaching staff from government employ has been sent to the school. But the management is asking for more. Speaking also with our reporter, the PTA Secretary of the school, Mr. Columba O. Etim whose child with some form of disability is a student at the school described the school as unique place for the disable children. He said his son who was admitted into the centre as a cradle at the age of 3 is now doing better as he could now communicate well noting that this was a difficult task in the past. Mr. Columba said his son now 20 years of age has shown a remarkable impairment. The PTA Secretary described the plight of the physically challenged children as unfortunate but maintained that the school has brought a lot of hope to parents and guardians who had lost hope in them. He stressed the need for the public to come to the aid of the school by donating towards the establishment of a post primary education to cater for the educational needs of the special children who are physically challenged and not really disabled as many would say or regard them.
Mr. Columba's son master Etiyeneobong Columba Etim who has a mental disability can now do some of the things he could not do by himself several years ago. According to the father, he could not bath himself, as he was always assisted to take his bath before now. The father who was visibly elated described the school as indeed a special one. Mr. Columba himself a health professional believes what ever is the plight of the physically challenged anywhere in the world is an act of God, saying there is not much a parent can do than to accept it the way it happen. The school has so far trained out many children who have undergone secondary education; some have completed their university education while others are studying various degree programmes in various universities in the country. In fact the Administrator mentioned that one of them undergoing a masters Degree programme at the University of Ibadan is sponsored by the school. She commended the German government and other partner organization and individuals for their financial material support to the school.