Inclusion of children with disabilities is problematic, expert

The social and school inclusion of the children with special needs is problematic even if the state makes effort to deinstitutionalize these children, chairman of the public association “Woman and Child – Protection and Support” Alexandra Grajdeanu said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “The number of children who are now institutionalized is not so high. The parents do no more abandon their children so easy. Many of them prefer to work with their children and integrate them into society and the ordinary school. But the children with special needs require increased attention, In most of the cases, one of the parents must be the child’s personal assistant in order to help him move and do other things. The fathers usually abandon these children and the mothers are unable to find work or leave the child in somebody else’s care,” Alexandra Grajdeanu said in a news conference. According to her, the authorities should work out a school curriculum for these children and contribute to their social and school inclusion by training the teachers how to instruct disabled children. Ina Cazacu, coordinator of Inclusive Education programs, considers that besides the legal obstacle, there is also the mentality obstacle. “Most of the parents of healthy children oppose the inclusion in school of children with disabilities. They are not adequately informed and cannot understand that this way they deprive these children of the chance to grow normally. A child needs positive examples since early childhood. They must see that they are not a burden for their parents and society. Studies show the healthy children who have disabled children nearby are more tolerant,” said Ina Cazacu. The Criuleni-based public association “Woman and Child – Protection and Support” has dealt with the social and school inclusion of children with disabilities for 11 years. The organization’s specialists created a mobile team that works with disabled children at home.