CHILDREN with special needs in the Corporate Area were given an opportunity to express themselves confidently in a supportive and inclusive environment on Thursday during a function hosted by the Ministry of Education to mark Child Month.

The children from the Salvation Army School for the Blind, Danny Williams School for the Deaf, Carberry Court School of Special Education, Randolph Lopez School of Hope, and Hope Valley Experimental School gathered on the lawns of Devon House in St Andrew as part of the ministry’s Child Conversations initiative.

The event, which was held under the theme ‘Prioritising our children’s mental health, stronger minds, safer future’, saw the children being also given the opportunity to interact with their peers who do not have special needs.

“We want our children to understand that it’s okay to be sad about things. It’s okay to talk about things. Mental wellness doesn’t mean that you are mad, so to speak. We want them to understand that as much as it is important to be physically well and emotionally well, mentally well is also a part of it. We want them to understand that it is okay to find ways to ensure that they are mentally well,” Hyacinth Blair, senior director for Children’s Affairs and Policy at the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, told the
Jamaica Observer.

Pointing to the insensitivity of children towards those with special needs sometimes, Blair shared that the initiative brought together both parties so they could develop a better understanding of each other.

“We have paired them with able-bodied peers, and we want conversations so that there is a greater level of understanding between children who do not have challenges and our special needs children so we can have more collaboration, more understanding,” said Blair.

“Children can be really cruel. You may see a child with special needs and another child will want to tease them. So we want them to understand each other more, to talk more. And so with a greater level of understanding, you as a child who does not share the same challenge, you may be in a crowd with other students, and because you were exposed to that child or that special need, you can be able to say to your peers, ‘Don’t do that’ or ‘Don’t say that,’ ” added Blair.

She pointed out that research shows children with special needs are at a greater risk of being abused and argued that the topic of mental health is often downplayed in society.

“It’s probably greater among them because sometimes we don’t remember them as we ought to. And sometimes they can’t articulate their challenges or their problems as well as the other child because of the issue that they may have. There was a time when we would not talk about mental health. It’s something that we keep in the closet, but we understand now that in order to develop strong minds and to have a safer future for our country, then our children need to be mentally well,” Blair told the Observer.

“One of the ways really is to be able to express yourself, to talk about the things that are bothering you, and to find solutions. To feel safe in expressing themselves. We want it to become a normal part of life,” Blair added.

According to Blair, despite methods of communication being available for children at risk, many children may not be able to utilise it due to limitations, and as such the need to explore alternative options for communication is significant.

“We have like a 211 hotline that you can report child abuse. But if a child can’t speak, really, they can’t use it. And so there has to be other means by which they can communicate. And that is what we have to look into to at least increase and to make it easier for them to. If a child doesn’t speak well, doesn’t hear well, then it’s hard for them to articulate how it is they’re feeling,” noted Blair.

The ministry’s initiative was welcomed by Sashoir Murphy Hewitt, a teacher at the Danny Williams School for the Deaf.

“I think the initiative will be very beneficial, especially to the deaf students, because Jamaican Sign Language is not a language that is publicly known, and that is their first language, so many time they don’t have persons to communicate with or who understand them or who they feel comfortable to share whatever they are going through,” said Murphy Hewitt.