STIGMA and lack of insight have continued to colour the lives of children with disabilities (CWDs) as people still view a child’s disability as “a curse” for the sins of parents or family members, according to the latest United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report.

According to UNICEF, some people told researchers how family members would mistreat children by using corporal punishment to get them to behave ‘normally’. Other family and community residents disparage children by calling them ‘dunce’ and other derogatory names, the agency said.

UNICEF Jamaica, in the study which was released recently — the data for which was collected in 2021 — said the finding was not much different from that of a 2006 UNICEF-supported study which discovered that some parents in Jamaica viewed the birth of their CWD as “supernaturally connected”. In that study, 40 per cent of parents perceived that the child was “sent by God”, while 18 per cent thought the disability “was due to an evil spirit, punishment for a sin, or looking at a CWD during pregnancy”.

According to UNICEF, such myths and superstitious beliefs are known to contribute to the social exclusion of CWDs. It said a review of the literature on the subject showed that within the disabled population, people with an intellectual disability bore the brunt of most of the discrimination (compared to people who were physically disabled). People with intellectual disabilities were referred to as “retards” or “dunce”.

The report, however, said key informants admit that the level of stigmatisation has decreased and “fewer parents are hiding their children in the home out of shame or out of the need to protect the CWD from social prejudice”.

In the meantime, UNICEF — in disclosing that 24 per cent of those who completed the survey explained that caring for children with disabilities has had a significant effect on their mental health, with a number of mothers breaking down in tears during the interviews — said 72 per cent of the respondents admitted that they only relied on their faith to cope with the psychological stress.

“When probed during the in-depth interview, more than half of the parents who were interviewed spoke of relying on their family and also expressed concern about sharing their intimate business with people around them because of fear that others might betray them or not keep their information confidential,” the report said.

“This fear of betrayal/judgement was also expressed by parents who refused to share openly in their informal parenting support groups. Despite the obvious psychological toll, there was no indication that most of the respondents were getting professional care,” UNICEF pointed out.

It said while the Early Stimulation Programme (the main organisation providing early intervention services to CWDs zero to six years) offers some psychological support to parents, “it does not appear to be enough to cater to the individual needs of each parent, especially the mothers”.

According to UNICEF, the poverty, isolation, limited social support, stigma, discrimination and continuous care can have a negative impact on the physical and mental health of parents/guardians.

UNICEF, as part of its recommendations for help for these families, called for a public sensitisation campaign with aims to: dispel the myths surrounding disabilities in order to reduce stigmatisation; inform the public on the importance of registering at the Jamaica Council for Persons with Disabilities; and educate parents about developmental milestones and early signs of ‘invisible’ disabilities such as developmental delays and intellectual disabilities.

It said the campaign should also publicise the list of available services for children with disabilities, to include information on the emotional and psychological support programmes for parents/guardians, the financial packages available, and the addresses of service locations.