Social and Psychological Problems of Special Children


 


 


            Special child is an umbrella term that encompasses a staggering array of


 


disability diagnoses. Special children may associate physical disabilities such as


 


visual impairment, learning disabilities like dysphasia, or profound mental


 


retardation which results to developmental delay of growth of the child. These


 


special children needs a unique method in teaching to attend their disability, such


 


as visually impaired people use Braille system in reading and writing.


 


            A family of a child with special needs should have a great deal of patience


 


and love in raising the child. Some special children particularly those mentally


 


retarded cannot live on their own without proper guidance. For some parents with


 


a special child, they mourn for the lost potentials of their kid. But for some more


 


optimistic parents, they find it as a challenge and so simple triumphs of their child


 


is sweeter. According to studies, parents of children with special needs are often


 


more flexible, patient, compassionate, persevere and resilient than other parents.


 


            In Pakistan, education for children with special needs goes back even


 


farther from the history of Pakistan itself. In 1906, the earliest school for disabled


 


children was established in Lahore dedicating to attend to the education needs of


 


special children. Rapid developments on the institutions promoting special


 


education started in the 1980s when the United Nations declared 1981 as the


 


International Year of the Disabled.


 


However, despite the efforts of the family in creating a normal environment


 


for the special child, problems are not avoidable triggered from other intervening


 


factors.


 


 


            Social interaction is heavily affected by the stigma of disabilities of special


 


children. There is the unjust stereotype that children’s disabilities are contagious


 


and anyone who gets near to them will catch their disability, just like a cold or flu.


 


People may seem uncomfortable being around with disabled children because


 


they often look and sound different, particularly when they are using special


 


equipment such as wheelchair or hearing aid. Even some mean and narrow-


 


minded people mock them causing the self-esteem of special children to deflate.


 


Sometimes, non-disabled kids do not want to play with special children leaving


 


the latter unsure of himself.


 


            Also, there is the prejudice that children with learning disability are not as


 


smart as other children. Learning disabled children have normal hearing and


 


eyesight, but they have trouble learning because disparity in the brain sensors


 


receive, process and respond differently to the information being relied. LD


 


children have difficulty learning how to read, write, memorize and solve math


 


problems. They also have hard time focusing attention and easily confused by


 


details. They are easily frustrated causing their morale to stoop down low. But, its


 


does not necessarily means that they are dull compared to normal kids. Some


 


learning disabled children have above average intelligence and gifted with talents


 


such as music prodigy and excellent painting talents. But, their learning


 


disabilities overshadow their hidden gifts.


 


            Moreover, the society is seeing the mentally retarded people as


 


dependent for their whole life because they are unable to care for themselves.


 


When in fact is, mental disability does only slows down the learning capability but


 


it doesn’t mean that they don’t absorb at all what you’re teaching them. With


 


proper guidance in caring for themselves and attending to their own basic needs,


 


they could live on their own when they are older.


 


            Efforts in boosting the knowledge and self-esteem of special children by


 


educating them and treating them with care would be futile if the society they live


 


in would not accept them as productive citizens. Social and psychological


 


problems of special children will continue if the stigmas and stereotypes would


 


not be freed inside the narrow mind of people. Non-disabled people should know


 


more because they can learn and understand better.


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


 


References:


Miles, Christine, Mobilising Skills for Children with Learning Difficulties in Pakistan: A Personal Cross-cultural Experience, http://www.eenet.org.uk/

Causal attributions and parental attitudes toward children with disabilities in the United States and Pakistan, June 2007, http://goliath.ecnext.com


 


Khalid, Mariyam, No Special Treatment, January 2010, http://www.nextstepforward.net


   

 



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