She hands me a bulk of her students' individualised lesson plans as she hurriedly walks to tend to one of them.
The lesson plans are categorised into segments that highlight the students' strengths and weaknesses, short and long-term objectives and the materials needed to achieve them.
Their ages vary from as young as five years to as old as 17 years.
For instance, Anna is good at following instructions, can shade numbers but through a lot of pressure and is quite social.
However, she cannot recognise, relate or recite the numbers or shapes and cannot do any writing without supervision.
Kevin is friendly, has expressive language, can express the need to go to the toilet, has got a good pencil grip can to concentrate on shading activities for long.
However, he is dependent on the use of the toilet and seeks too much attention.
Sylvia is good at practical tasks, can copy words according to instructions and her fine and gross motor skills are well developed.
However, she gets tired quickly, is not clear in her speech and is impulsive and says things that are untrue.
Fellistus, a special needs teacher at a local county school, has 30 students, all mild, moderately or severely disabled.
Her students suffer from conditions such as mental handicap, autism, and microcephalus. Those with severe disabilities (16) are in her special unit class while the rest (14) are integrated with other students.
She uses an Individual Educational Programme to create lesson plans for all her students because the students have "different" capabilities. Individualising helps her address the weaknesses of each student.
Some short and longterm objectives include: identifying shapes, colours and number, naming objects found in their environment, matching pictures to words and sequencing story pictures.
However, she says the school lacks adequate teaching materials and a teacher's aide. A teacher's aide would be instrumental in taking care of the children in her absence.
"There was a time one of the integrated students had an epileptic seizure and all the teachers did not know what to do. I had been held up by traffic so there was not much I could do to help," she says.
"On the days when I cannot make it to school, I advise the parents to leave their children at home because there is no one else that will take responsibility for them."
Teaching without the materials is futile since they are used to enhance mobility, communication and creative skills. They include shape boards, colour beads, name cards, plaster, books and blocks.
"Their education needs greatly vary from the typical student since you are trying to teach them skills that others have long acquired," she said. "It is useless for them to come to school if we are not giving them skills that will help them."
The teacher explains while their education process cannot be rushed, she gives them tests to determine the progress made. She uses tests administered to the rest of the school.
"Depending on how they perform I make a decision on whether to integrate them or continue with them at the special unit," she explains.
STIGMA AND REJECTION
At Little Hope IECD centre, the director Lilly Oyare says stigma from family members and society is the greatest challenge they face.
Her students suffer from cerebral palsy, down syndrome, hearing and visual impairment and intellectual disabilities. Training on how to handle special needs students is also expensive.
Secluding special needs children only serves to worsen their state because they feel isolated.
"They are very happy when they are included with the rest because they interact and adapt very well," she states.
Inclusion also helps the students with skills because they are able to copy what they see other students doing.
Oyare praises the new curriculum stating it is child- friendly and allows the children to practical tasks such as paintwork, drawing, and colouring by themselves.
(Some names have been changed to protect identities)
