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    "id": 491371,
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    "content": "expected to mix chemicals and nobody cares. Again it comes to the same problem of the environment. It is the environment that we need to be able to think through and change. Therefore, this Motion calls upon each of these specific county governments to come up with a training centre and an education centre to cater for children with special needs. This centre will take care of the nitty gritty and the specific provisions that are very critical for the various children with special needs. They will then be given easy access to education. They can be given the right material for their education. For example, those who are blind can be given Braille which will enable them to learn. Madam Temporary Speaker, apart from such centres, the other thing that is also very critical is mainstreaming of people living with disabilities and with special needs. I know there are a number of schools that have mainstreamed this into the education system. The outcome has been enormous. I think in this life, everybody wants to feel that they belong, they have a place within the universe and they have a role to play. It is very important that they are given such a chance to really put that into place. Madam Temporary Speaker, then we should ask ourselves; what has been the problem? Why have such initiatives, as much as they are talked about, not been put into place for a very long time? Why is it that there are certain households that have somebody with special needs or disability and are not able to propel that child’s life to the maximum? One of the reasons that have been given is poverty. That is why you find in some families, these children have been tied up to a pole and they stay there the whole day. Those parents do not have an alternative; they do not know what to do with them. Therefore, right from the onset, there is need to put aside financial impetus to start those programmes. We must ensure that certain equipment and facilities are put into place for these programmes to succeed. Madam Temporary Speaker, another problem is looking at the issue of special needs as a disability from a medical perspective only rather than from a social model perspective. A social model perspective will require that you look at this person as an individual with a role to play, explore ways and means within a particular context to make sure that the impediments should not hinder them from contributing positively to the society. Madam Temporary Speaker, once there is that sense of inclusion, then you are looking at that person as a social being finding where the problem is so that that problem is sorted out. There is the medical aspect and that can be fixed. However, that is different and sometimes it cannot be fixed because of poverty in our society. Therefore, you find that in certain areas even where research has been made or doctors have come to repair eye sight, that has not been the case. However, that does not mean they cannot live as social beings among others and still be able to work and put for themselves bread on the table and feel part and parcel of society. Madam Temporary Speaker, this social approach model which looks at special needs and disability is also referred to as the human rights model. That is critical because even as a person you have your human rights and for the people with special needs and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}