Thursday and Friday

The past two days were spent wrapping up training and starting assessments on the children. As I mentioned earlier, there is no one here who can help these parents assess whether or not their child has autism. If they believe their child has it, then they must! They also struggle to comprehend the scope of autism, and everyone seems to think their child is severely affected by it – even when they are not. I explained to the parents and teachers that when I receive a new student in my class, I am also given their assessments and ability levels… I am not the one who assesses the children at home. However, they are so thirsty for understanding and have no assessments at all. I went online and attempted to download a copy of CARS (childhood autism rating scale) but was unsuccessful. I did find a similar scale (as was mentioned on Wednesdays post), and decided it was better than knowing nothing at all.

My heart breaks for these families… numerous parents have been bringing their children in to see if they have autism and if they will qualify for Nehemiah. Some of these families have had to leave the school knowing they will not come back – and it kills me. What more could we be doing? Can we open another center? How about a center for all children with special needs? Does this school HAVE to focus on autism? Back in AZ, if a child is not the right fit for a program you can probably give them a list of 10 other options that they should explore. Here in Ethiopia, you have nothing to give them. One boy who came in for an assessment clearly had down syndrome. His mother insisted that he had autism – because she wanted him to be able to attend the school. If he can’t come to Nehemiah, there is nowhere else for him to go.

Another mother came in with a seven year old child who was about the size of a three or four year old. He could not walk, could not feed himself, could not chew, and could not talk. His mother said he is never apart from her, and because of this she can not work. She has no money, her husband left her when their son was born, and she is able to live with family for the time being. This little boy was so happy… he just sat in his mother’s lap shrieking with joy and smiling. He did not respond to his name, but smiled when his mother sang to him. After going through the assessment with his mother it was obvious that he had a severe intellectual disability – but it was not autism. Now what? Where can this mother go? She has not a dollar to her name and is unable to work because of the supervision that her child demands… It broke my heart watching her walk away, carrying her son on her back, with a smile on her face the entire time. You could see how much she loved that little boy, and she was willing to do whatever it took to make sure he was taken care of.

There is a serious cry for help coming from this country. They have no resources for children/adults with disabilities and have no education on what they can do to help them. They need respite care, centers for adults, work programs, SCHOOLS, and the country as a whole needs more awareness about disabilities. These children are looked down on, hidden away in homes, families are embarrassed to take their children out in public… I wish there was more that I could do in my short time here.

On a more uplifting note, I am headed to Lalibela, Ethiopia this weekend for some tourist enjoyment. You should google image it – entire churches have been carved out of the rocks. I will take photos, and hopefully be able to share them when I get home.