Unless you have a child with a disability in your family, you probably don’t realize how lonely these youngsters are. Some of them struggle harder with social isolation than their physical and intellectual limitations.
According to a study just released by Dr. Anne Snowden of the University of Western of Ontario, 53 per cent of these kids have no close friends or just one. Three-quarters don’t participate in any community programs (sports, recreation, arts, cooking, computers, music). Fifty-four per cent of their parents struggle with constant stress to meet their needs.
Snowden headed a team of researchers from the Kids Health Foundation, the Special Olympics, Community Living Ontario and the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. What it found was that preschool children are generally well-served by community agencies and elementary schools do their best to include children with disabilities in classroom activities. But around Grade 5 or 6, these kids fall by wayside as their peers compete to be cool and join the “in” group.
Boys, who have a much higher incidence of developmental delays than girls, have a harder time fitting in.
Those who manage to finish high school have enormous difficulty getting the training they need to qualify for a job. Many never get a chance to use the skills they have.
Part of the problem, Snowden said, is that smaller communities don’t have resources for these children with disabilities. But even in major cities parents don’t know what services exist, they lack transportation to get their kids to suitable programs or they can’t afford the enrolment fees.
Read more of Carol Goar's The Star article HERE.
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