Middle/lower class and have a child with autism?

DR RADICA MAHASE

“HERE every creed and race find an equal place”.

“Together we aspire, together we achieve”

Our national anthem and our national watchwords give a fake sense of equality and togetherness. There are beautiful words but they do not reflect the reality of a country that does not cater to the needs of its citizens equally.

You see, in our country, if you belong to the middle, and more so the lower classes, you do not have equal access to opportunities. Our entire system is based on wealth and elitism. This is even more visible if the middle/lower class family has a child with autism (and other special needs as well),

In TT resources are not available and/or accessible to everyone. Education is a good example of existing inequalities.

Little Noel is ten. His parents are business owners. According to his father, “When Noel was three years old, we took him to Miami, where he was diagnosed with autism.

"We hired a special-needs teacher to homeschool him until he was six, and then we enrolled him in a private school where he is getting individual attention. He has a team of therapists working with him and as he gets older, he is learning to cope better. Right now, he has a tutor working with him to guide him with his online classes.

"He has his laptop and iPad and any other devices that he needs we will get it for him. We don’t want this covid19 situation to detract from his progress and we will make sure that he gets the resources and assistance that he needs.”

Fariah is nine. Her mom is a single parent who depends on social welfare. She was attending a government primary school and when schools reopened recently, the teacher called her mom to tell her that she needs to get a computer for Fariah, otherwise she won’t be able to work with her. The teacher explained that the school did not have a printer and paper, so she could not print any work for her.

Fariah’s mom is saving a little bit every month so she can afford a device for her daughter. Also, she has to now budget for internet access.

On top of all this, Fariah’s mom is illiterate, so she cannot sit and help her child with her schoolwork. She doesn’t know how to use a computer, so when she actually gets a computer, she has to get someone to teach Fariah how to use it.

Fariah has never attended any kind of therapy, although she desperately needs a speech therapist to work with her, because her mother simply cannot afford to pay for the therapy sessions.

When it comes to special-needs individuals, Noel and Fariah’s situation clearly shows that opportunities are accessible to those who can afford them. Systems and structures in our country prevent equal access, especially with education and therapy.

If we want to change this then we need to identify the biases which exist. We need to identify groups that are treated unequally or at a disadvantaged and make a deliberate attempt to put policies in place that will facilitate equality. As a country, we need to be more proactive; for example, we can team up with organisations that can help to reach the most disadvantaged groups in our society.

It is important that we work from the ground up. In this country, it is usually the case where the ones in positions of power such as government ministers, cannot identify with the most vulnerable groups in our society.

It is also important that we work towards fixing worst-case scenarios rather than looking at the best-case scenarios and promoting those as the reality in TT. As a country we love to boast about what’s working but we barely pay attention to what’s not working, much less try to fix it, as seen with the present education system.

Research, consultations, engagement with vulnerable groups, focused attention on those who have unequal access to opportunities and the development of policies to get rid of inequalities should be a main part of our agenda.

Then, in the words of Nelson Mandela, “Thus shall we live, because we will have created a society which recognises that all people are born equal, with each entitled in equal measure to life, liberty, prosperity, human rights and good governance.”

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