Put special needs on government agenda

DR RADICA MAHASE

Last week Wednesday August 19, senators and a new Cabinet was sworn into office by the President of Trinidad and Tobago. Sadly, up to now, government has not made special needs a significant part of its agenda. The special needs population has been dealt with in a rather haphazard manner with the main focus being on education and social welfare but still to a limited extent. There is a desperate need for more structured focus on the special needs population. Here are some ways that the government can include special needs in its health and social welfare agenda:

Health – Generally, our public health care system needs to be more inclusive of individuals with special needs. There is a real need to train medical practitioners so that they can be more sensitised to the needs of those with special needs. There have been too many complaints by parents that when they attend paediatric clinics they are turn away because they child had a meltdown and the nurses are harsh with them. There are also parents who have been told that nothing is wrong with their children even though the children show visible sings of developmental issues. In order to provide better care and services, all medical practitioners should receive special training in special needs health care.

Paediatric clinics at hospitals need to be organised more efficiently and fully staffed so that children can be attended to in shorter time frame. A good example of a serious need for change is seen with the diagnosis of children with autism and other developmental issues – a parent should not have to wait as much as long as18 months at the Mt Hope Hospital to get an appointment at the paediatrics clinic.

All government health institutions should have programmes in place to assist parents in childcare for example, educational sessions for pregnant women and mothers and counselling services for parents of children with special needs amongst others.

Different types of therapy services should be accessible through public health care institutions. Individuals with special needs should be able to access speech and occupational therapy in hospitals and health centres and not have to pay exorbitant fees for these at private practitioner. Access to speech and occupational therapy is very important in helping children with special needs to live as fulfilling lives as possible but there are absent in the public health care system.

Social welfare – In so many cases social welfare grants are the only income for parents/caregivers, especially single parents, of special needs children. In so many case, social welfare grants are the only income for adults with special needs in TT. In 2019, the restructuring of grant meant that many parents/caregivers with special needs children were unable to access them as previously because they did not pass the means test (based on household income). The criteria for allocation of the Disability Assistance Grant needs to be changed so that the grants are more widely available to individuals who need it, taking into consideration that the household’s income might be high but not all members of the household are financially supporting the person with special needs. Also taking into account that a person with special needs to access extra services, has special diet, etc.

It is important to increase the staff in the Ministry of Social Welfare and Family Services so that applications can be processed faster and home visits can be done in shorter time period. Too many parents/caregivers apply for grants and have to wait very long periods before they are declined/accepted or keep running back and forth to the ministry’s offices because of lack of guidance in the entire process, etc.

There is a serious need to have training programmes for staff so that they can be more sensitive to the needs of those with special needs. It is simply appalling and unacceptable as some of the things staff members say to persons who are trying to access services at this ministry.

The government need to increase the budget allocated for this area so that more services can be afforded to special needs individuals and their families – counselling services for both parents/caregivers as well as siblings to help them cope with their everyday situation; stipend for parents/caregivers who cannot be gainfully employed because they are required to care for a special needs person full time; and skills training sessions for parents/caregivers to help them understand and care for someone with special needs.

Dr Radica Mahase is the founder/director of Support Autism T&T