Tagged: children with disabilities

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 →←
Lisa and Stephen Henderson holding a photograph of their son Sean, at a recent parent support group meeting held by the Jamaica Autism Support Association (JASA).

Children with autism: let their personalities shine through!

Lifelong learning

By Stephen and Lisa Henderson

This photo represents a significant milestone for our family: Sean who has autism recently turned 10 and just to see him smile into the camera was a big thing, because for the first five or six years he refused to make regular eye contact. So we had lots of photos of our first daughter but not many of him looking into the camera. Today… Read more →←
Photograph of Kenisha Williamson holding a photo of her son Adrian, at a recent parent support group meeting held by the Jamaica Autism Support Association (JASA).

This photo reminds me how much I love my autistic child

Lifelong learning

By Kenisha Williamson

My son Adrian has severe autism, and on a scale of 1 to 10 I would say I love him 11. I have a very soft spot for him because he’s a very loving person. Even when autism makes him get frustrated and angry, he will just touch my face and say, ‘Did I hurt you? I am so sorry.’ Those little things just melt your heart and you just… Read more →←
Photograph of Brittany Bailey, aged 7 years old, who has countless abilities and one day wants to be a doctor. She also has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC).

My daughter has a disability, and she is the most amazing gift!

Lifelong learning

By Simone Lewis

“They should show us more love and respect and help us more, especially on the road and in school, and stop making fun of us! Because that’s what makes me feel sad, when other children tease me saying how I cannot walk.” That’s my daughter Brittany, who is seven years old. She has arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC),… Read more →←
Photograph of children at Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy, Jamaica's first inclusive school

Jamaica’s first inclusive infant school unites children and families

Lifelong learning

By

Parents of children with disabilities reassured The moment I walked into Savanna-la-Mar Inclusive Infant Academy, I became fascinated by the way children of varying abilities were interacting with each other. There was no separation and the children were not treated differently – just happily interacting with each other. They each… Read more →←

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