“Improve facilities for special schools"

A Child physiotherapist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Miss Sandra Carsamer, has called for an improvement in rehabilitation and educational facilities for children in special schools.
She made particular reference to children in special schools suffering from a movement and posture defect known as cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy is a disorders of movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking that occur due to problems with brain development.
It is caused by injuries or abnormalities of the brain. Most of the problems occur as the baby grows in the womb, but they can happen at any time during the first two years of life, while the baby's brain is still developing.
Ms Carsamer explained that such disabled children were mostly faced with the challenge of how they would be able to transport themselves to hospitals, afford specialised equipment and how such equipment could be adopted to their needs.
She said with the improvement in facilities, the assistance needed by these children to stand, sit and move would be readily available to extend the help given by physiotherapists.
Miss Carsamer made the call in an interview with the Daily Graphic after an exhibition at the New Horizon Special School in Accra.
The exhibition was organised by a Scottish charity known as Cerebral Palsy Africa (CPA) to showcase chairs and standers that are specially tailored to meet the needs of children living with the cerebral palsy disease.
The technology known as the Appropriate Paper-based Technology (APT) were made from recycled cardboard and flour paste.
According to the physiotherapist, children with cerebral palsy need a lot of care, love and support from parents and society at large.
She added that “these kids can be very useful to the society when they are given a lot of support and care by their family and the community”.
Miss Carsamer further noted that the disorder occurred when a child developed convulsion or an oxygen deficiency in the brain and when the pregnant mother suffered from untreated malaria or adopted wrong medication during pregnancy, among others.
She, therefore, advised pregnant women to attend regular antenatal check-ups to ensure safe delivery.
The representative of CPA, Ms Margriet Langeveld, said the technology had been tried and tested in many African countries, where they were considered to be an effective tool to facilitate movement among cerebral palsy patients.
She advised families to seek early care and support when a child was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, stating that “the disease is non-progressive, but not curable”.
The Headmistress of the school, Mrs Salome Francois, entreated the government and other philanthropist to support the school financially to enable them to hire qualified teachers and provide the needed resources for teaching and learning.