Seek early treatment for disabled children, parents urged

Parents with disabled children have been urged to take them to hospital early enough for correctional treatment.

A programme officer with the National Fund for the Disabled of Kenya Amos Mkenye on Wednesday asked the parents guard against ignorance and seek information on how to help their disabled children.

He noted that many parents had resigned to the fate of their loved ones instead of looking out for ways to get treatment.

“When a child is born with a disability, it is a big challenge but when parents find themselves in such situation, they should take the children to hospital immediately for physiotherapy services,” Mkenye said.

He said taking disabled children for physiotherapy during the early stages of life would make their situation less acute as their limbs become stronger with age.

Mkenya added that parents should also send the children to special schools, unlike any other normal child.

The officer spoke to journalists in Kitui town on Wednesday as he donated economic empowerment kits to disabled persons from Lower Yatta subcounty.

The kits will help beneficiaries set up income-generating ventures like barber shops, wielding workshops, hair salons and furniture workshops.   

He said for disabled people to be recognised for support, they must also be registered with the National Council for the Disabled.  

That way, it would be easy to trace them whenever the need arises.

Mkenye said his organisation will have presented equipment worth Sh2.6 million to 135 disabled persons in Kitui county by the end of the week.

He however lamented that many disabled people in Kitui shy away from seeking his group's support as they only get negligible numbers of applicants from the county.

The officer said most people with disabilities who possess skills in certain trades stand a better chance of getting support from the organisation. 

He, therefore, said it was prudent for those aspiring to get support from the National Fund for the Disabled to acquire some skills even through informal jua kali training.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)