Lack Of Awareness Deepening Myth Surrounding Children With Disabilities – Expert

The Project Director of Special Attention Project (SAP), the leading non-governmental organisation in Ghana working for the rights of children with learning difficulties has expressed worry about the low level of awareness on children with disabilities in Ghana.

Mr. Richard O. Opoku said the lack of knowledge and recognition of disabilities has further deepened the misconceptions about children with disabilities in the country.

The Project Director was speaking at the Autism and Digital Technology Event and Exhibition (AutismDTgh) 2019 held in Accra. He spoke on the topic: “Awareness and Recognition of Children with Disabilities”.

“Over the years, SAP’s information sharing with parents and community members has revealed that there’s lack of awareness and recognition of learning difficulties and other disabilities in general. This is very worrying because what it means is that the myth surrounding children with disabilities still remains.

“As organisations focusing on children with disabilities, there’s the need for us to intensify our awareness raising campaigns by utilising the number of information sharing platforms available to us,” Mr. Opoku stressed.

Hannah Ackom-Mensah, an Early Childhood Consultant and the event organiser said the AutismDTgh 2019 was an annual event organised to bring together parents, careers, professionals and other stakeholders to discuss ways in which digital technology impacts Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and uses dialogue to explore how research could improve policy making and conditions in Ghana and across Africa.

The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Cynthia Morrison was the guest of honour.