Tagged: children with disabilities

Photograph of Nadine Bowen, a teacher at Early Stimulation Plus in Rockfort, eastern Kingston together with one of her students.

Helping parents of children with disabilities grow with them

Lifelong learning

By Nadine Bowen

Here at Early Stimulation Plus, we don’t just get to see the children grow, we get to see the parents grow too. Because some are in denial that “there is nothing wrong with my child.” But your child does have challenges, and so do you; and together you need our help.  Our school works a lot with the parents, including  parenting… Read more →←
Photograph of Tajae Williams playing with her son Tajorie, aged 3.

Never give up on your children, they are the future

Lifelong learning

By Tajae Williams

Never give up on your child because you don’t know where or what the future holds. When I found out that my son Tajorie Taylor had Down syndrome it had a negative impact on me, because of what people said. They would fail to understand, or decide that they would not like to discuss it, because they have grown up in a society where to… Read more →←
Photograph of Lucy Meyer with students at Stony Hill Infant, Primary and Junior High School

Unified sports build a health society

Lifelong learning

By Lucy Meyer

I was born with cerebral palsy because I did not get oxygen for five minutes at birth. When I was just a few days old, the doctors told my parents that there was a very good chance that I would never sit up or swallow.   The doctors were wrong!  Living with cerebral palsy means that I have both physical and intellectual disabilities.… Read more →←
Chandis Hamilton

What my daughter cannot see, she can sing so beautifully

Lifelong learning

By Marlene Grant

Early in my pregnancy, I caught chickenpox which damaged my daughter’s eyes. Chandis is afflicted with pigmentary retinopathy, which means her visual acuity is only 8/18 in each of her eyes. Growing up, at times she would walk into people or objects and injure herself and had to use people’s voices to identify them. Yet being… Read more →←
Photograph of Lorna Bell, Executive Director of Special Olympics Jamaica

Special athletes are Jamaicans too, just with Olympic medals!

Lifelong learning

By Lorna Bell

We have just come back from another Special Olympics, not just with 33 medals but eye-opening experiences both for the special athletes and the able athletes who competed in the unified sports. Going to Abu Dhabi was a life-changer for everyone involved because people abroad understand more about disability and the treatment is… Read more →←
Photograph of Kadian Ingleton, Special Olympics Jamaica athlete

Disability does not disqualify our children from becoming champions

Lifelong learning

By Kadian Ingleton

Coming back to Jamaica with a Silver medal in 800 metres swimming at  the 2019 Abu Dhabi Special Olympics has touched my life, especially because four years earlier I was disqualified. At the time I was in shock, but I knew had to come back. Being disqualified had me in tears because it would have been a Gold and all of a sudden it was… Read more →←
Photograph of Allan Levy, Special Olympics Jamaica volleyball coach

Special Olympics athletes taught me to be a better man

Lifelong learning

By Allan Levy

It is the athletes from Special Olympics Jamaica who have made me different than the man who joined in 1996 to coach volleyball. Before that I could not deal as well with people and I was more quick to anger, but being around persons with intellectual disabilities teaches you to be calm, more respectful of differences and able to… Read more →←
Davy Nicholson and Zachary

Life for Jamaican parents of children with disabilities

Lifelong learning

By Maureen Samms-Vaughan

I would like to tell you a story about a little boy called DJ, which illustrates the challenges that parents of children with disabilities and the children themselves have. At the age of two years, DJ’s mother became concerned about his speech. They visited their local health centre where his mother was told “boys are slower than… Read more →←
Jamaica Autism Support Association co-founder Kathy Chang holding a photograph of her son Kyle at a recent JASA parent support group meeting.

Children with autism are not less, they are somebody!

Lifelong learning

By Kathy Chang

In that photo, I am proud of my son Kyle and where we are. We made it to 17! That was on his birthday on March 17. I want to show off to the world that he has autism but he’s also a person – and he’s mine! Kyle was born in 2002, and four years later another autism parent and I started a support group to help other parents, which… Read more →←
Parent Nicola Francis holding a photograph of her twin sons Tegan and Taigan at a recent parent support group meeting held by the Jamaica Autism Support Association (JASA).

My twin sons are people first, their autism is second

Lifelong learning

By Nicola Francis

What you are looking at in this photo is a model of what love can do. An appreciation for the magnitude of their progress and the determination it took to get this far. Tegan and Taigan are 13. Tegan has severe autism, and Taigan is high functioning. Tegan is non-verbal. He’ll make simple sentences but for the most part he doesn’t… Read more →←

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