‘With inclusive education special needs children can be valuable’

With inclusive education, the right training, and good environment, experts in the industry have assured that children with special needs can live meaningfully and be useful to their families as well as society.

Head of School at Anthos House, Dr. Kimberley Scollard in an interview with The Guardian, during a one-year anniversary of the school told parents who have special needs children not to be depressed, as such children have the capacity to acquire necessary life skills and live independently afterward.

Encouraging them not to keep special needs children in a secluded or isolated place, he cautioned that such actions would worsen the child’s situation, and make him/her a burden to the parents and the society.

“Here our utmost aim is to ensure that besides academics, students gain necessary life skills such as cooking, shopping, and the ability to take care of themselves. We will continue to facilitate our students to be more independent,” she said.

Also, the Executive Director of Greensprings School, Mrs. Lai Koiki, stressed the importance of allowing special needs children have some form of inclusive education. “There is no reason for families with special needs children to be ashamed. We are all special in one way or the other.”

“So, over 30 years ago, we started a special needs unit in our school known as learning support. This initiative was borne out of the necessity for children to have the opportunity to socialise. Moreover, children with special needs can be very valuable to society if they are given the appropriate environment to flourish, and also if they are exposed to the pathway for independence and self-management.”