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Nationmedia.com | Daily Nation | NEWS EXTRA | Can't hear, can't see: Task of raising children with rare disabilities
Ten-year-old Brian Nyantika lives in a world of his own. He seems lost in thought, hardly aware of what is going on around him.
To him there is no distinction between day and night and he has never heard or seen anything in his life because he was born deaf — and therefore dumb — and blind.
All he does to communicate with his handlers is gesture menacingly, using the body language, and they understand his needs.
The boy with three major physical disabilities is a member of the Kitui Deaf-Blind Unit – the first facility of its kind in Eastern and Central provinces.
It is rare and challenging for a child to be born without the ability to see and hear, a complication often accompanied by lack of speech.
Brian who comes from Nyamira district in Nyanza province, initially could not find an institution to cater for his special education needs until the unit was established this year.
Like his five colleagues, his parents enrolled him at the unit for the yet-to-be-established deaf-blind special education programme to train such pupils on basic living skills such as eating, brushing teeth, using the toilet, environmental familiarisation and orientation in mobility.
However, their inability to hear and see makes it extremely difficult for them to learn and develop mentally because most of what people learn about the world comes through sight and hearing.
To get an idea of how the deaf-blind live and how they cope with their unique condition, the Saturday Nation recently visited the newly-built unit, part of the Kitui School for the Blind.
When we got there, it was time for what they call circle time — a bonding session in which the pupils gather in a circle to confirm that all of them are present and to relate to one another. It is the equivalent of assembly time or parade in a normal school.
The three women teachers and their aides were guiding their charges, helping them to recognise their colleagues through touch and smell.
Interestingly, despite their handicap, the children sensed our arrival as they kept fidgeting on their seats, an indication of their dislike for strangers.
Mawia Kadogo, a nine-year-old girl who also joined the unit this year from Kanziko village in Mutomo district, nervously turned her head to the left and right and then back, often interrupting our interview with the teachers.
There is no regular or adapted curriculum here, and the different learning sessions have no specific periods like the school lessons, and the circle time lasts as long as the children enjoy it.
The determined teachers struggle to change positively the lives of the less fortunate children by giving them a new chance in life. They decry the little awareness about the affliction of the deaf-blind in Kenya, and the subsequent lack of support from the Government and society, which makes an already difficult situation worse.
“The deaf-blind are often rejected by their communities and sometimes even by their own families because their parents face equally enormous challenges in helping them to cope and grow up with their handicap,” says teacher Ruth Mutia.
Ms Mutia gives the example of Michael Musembi who, for more than 10 years, was detained in a small room by his parents until he joined the unit.
“His food was always served on the floor and as a result of this inhuman and degrading treatment, he developed a phobia for fellow human-beings, and for a long time he tried to flee every time he heard somebody approaching,” she says.
She adds that although Michael sometimes gets violent, his condition has improved tremendously since he joined the school. “When we went for him in January, this year, we found him in a small room where he had spent most of his life. It took him a long time to be able to use a plate since he was used to eating from the floor.”
Ms Josephine Muthoni, another teacher, says Michael can now recognise his teachers and colleagues as well as eat from a plate and use a spoon. He has also gained some self-confidence, but is yet to recover from the mistreatment he received at home.
“The worst way to treat such children is tying them and leaving them in an isolated place, like what most parents are tempted to do,” she says. “This is a big mistake.” Instead of tying them, she suggests, the children should be taken for regular walks so that they may feel part of the community.
The teachers express the hope that with the correct moral support, it is possible for the deaf -blind to become active members of society and do anything that anyone else can do.
But for the children to adapt to the day-to-day life, each needs a personal teacher as a learning strategy depending on the nature of the child’s character, they say. The learning procedure should be continuous to ensure the child does not get confused through constant alterations.
The teachers train them gradually up to a level where just the mere touch of a toothbrush or a cup signals the time to use it.
In most developing countries including Kenya, the relevant authorities do not have up-to-date figures on the exact number of deaf-blind people, where they are or how they cope with the disability. In Kenya, the number is estimated at 3,000, with only five schools to cater for them.
Like the Kitui school, which was established with support from the Government and non-governmental organisations, they are mere units within schools for the handicapped.
Besides, a special primary or secondary school has not been established, limiting the development of such children who may wish to continue learning.
The knowledge about deaf-blindness is slowly increasing in the country as the number of cases whose causes are neither uniform nor universal rise by day. For instance, the Saturday Nation established that three children from the same village are being taken care of at the Kitui unit. The coincidence also that they have a similar disability is raising scientific and environmental questions.
Since the deaf-blind cannot speak and most communities mistakenly regard this condition as a social curse, most of the children are hidden by either their parents or guardians, making it difficult for the authorities to know where they are in order to provide help.
To overcome this, the unit collaborates with NGO Sense International that carries out regular assessment tours of the region with the support of the provincial administration and local leaders to identify families hiding such children.
Says Mr David Mbengeli, the assessment coordinator: “We conduct thorough surveys in Eastern, North-Eastern and Central provinces looking for deaf-blind children.
“In the last quarter of the year, we identified some children who will be enrolled in January, next year.”
“Sense International is therefore conducting research to find the main causes of deaf-blindness in this region.”
Ten-year-old Brian Nyantika lives in a world of his own. He seems lost in thought, hardly aware of what is going on around him.
To him there is no distinction between day and night and he has never heard or seen anything in his life because he was born deaf — and therefore dumb — and blind.
All he does to communicate with his handlers is gesture menacingly, using the body language, and they understand his needs.
The boy with three major physical disabilities is a member of the Kitui Deaf-Blind Unit – the first facility of its kind in Eastern and Central provinces.
It is rare and challenging for a child to be born without the ability to see and hear, a complication often accompanied by lack of speech.
Brian who comes from Nyamira district in Nyanza province, initially could not find an institution to cater for his special education needs until the unit was established this year.
Like his five colleagues, his parents enrolled him at the unit for the yet-to-be-established deaf-blind special education programme to train such pupils on basic living skills such as eating, brushing teeth, using the toilet, environmental familiarisation and orientation in mobility.
However, their inability to hear and see makes it extremely difficult for them to learn and develop mentally because most of what people learn about the world comes through sight and hearing.
To get an idea of how the deaf-blind live and how they cope with their unique condition, the Saturday Nation recently visited the newly-built unit, part of the Kitui School for the Blind.
When we got there, it was time for what they call circle time — a bonding session in which the pupils gather in a circle to confirm that all of them are present and to relate to one another. It is the equivalent of assembly time or parade in a normal school.
The three women teachers and their aides were guiding their charges, helping them to recognise their colleagues through touch and smell.
Interestingly, despite their handicap, the children sensed our arrival as they kept fidgeting on their seats, an indication of their dislike for strangers.
Mawia Kadogo, a nine-year-old girl who also joined the unit this year from Kanziko village in Mutomo district, nervously turned her head to the left and right and then back, often interrupting our interview with the teachers.
There is no regular or adapted curriculum here, and the different learning sessions have no specific periods like the school lessons, and the circle time lasts as long as the children enjoy it.
The determined teachers struggle to change positively the lives of the less fortunate children by giving them a new chance in life. They decry the little awareness about the affliction of the deaf-blind in Kenya, and the subsequent lack of support from the Government and society, which makes an already difficult situation worse.
“The deaf-blind are often rejected by their communities and sometimes even by their own families because their parents face equally enormous challenges in helping them to cope and grow up with their handicap,” says teacher Ruth Mutia.
Ms Mutia gives the example of Michael Musembi who, for more than 10 years, was detained in a small room by his parents until he joined the unit.
“His food was always served on the floor and as a result of this inhuman and degrading treatment, he developed a phobia for fellow human-beings, and for a long time he tried to flee every time he heard somebody approaching,” she says.
She adds that although Michael sometimes gets violent, his condition has improved tremendously since he joined the school. “When we went for him in January, this year, we found him in a small room where he had spent most of his life. It took him a long time to be able to use a plate since he was used to eating from the floor.”
Ms Josephine Muthoni, another teacher, says Michael can now recognise his teachers and colleagues as well as eat from a plate and use a spoon. He has also gained some self-confidence, but is yet to recover from the mistreatment he received at home.
“The worst way to treat such children is tying them and leaving them in an isolated place, like what most parents are tempted to do,” she says. “This is a big mistake.” Instead of tying them, she suggests, the children should be taken for regular walks so that they may feel part of the community.
The teachers express the hope that with the correct moral support, it is possible for the deaf -blind to become active members of society and do anything that anyone else can do.
But for the children to adapt to the day-to-day life, each needs a personal teacher as a learning strategy depending on the nature of the child’s character, they say. The learning procedure should be continuous to ensure the child does not get confused through constant alterations.
The teachers train them gradually up to a level where just the mere touch of a toothbrush or a cup signals the time to use it.
In most developing countries including Kenya, the relevant authorities do not have up-to-date figures on the exact number of deaf-blind people, where they are or how they cope with the disability. In Kenya, the number is estimated at 3,000, with only five schools to cater for them.
Like the Kitui school, which was established with support from the Government and non-governmental organisations, they are mere units within schools for the handicapped.
Besides, a special primary or secondary school has not been established, limiting the development of such children who may wish to continue learning.
The knowledge about deaf-blindness is slowly increasing in the country as the number of cases whose causes are neither uniform nor universal rise by day. For instance, the Saturday Nation established that three children from the same village are being taken care of at the Kitui unit. The coincidence also that they have a similar disability is raising scientific and environmental questions.
Since the deaf-blind cannot speak and most communities mistakenly regard this condition as a social curse, most of the children are hidden by either their parents or guardians, making it difficult for the authorities to know where they are in order to provide help.
To overcome this, the unit collaborates with NGO Sense International that carries out regular assessment tours of the region with the support of the provincial administration and local leaders to identify families hiding such children.
Says Mr David Mbengeli, the assessment coordinator: “We conduct thorough surveys in Eastern, North-Eastern and Central provinces looking for deaf-blind children.
“In the last quarter of the year, we identified some children who will be enrolled in January, next year.”
“Sense International is therefore conducting research to find the main causes of deaf-blindness in this region.”