WorldStage Newsonline– The parents whose children have hearing impairment have been advised on how to train them to become educated and responsible citizens in the society.
The Yaba Deaf Association at a deaf awareness programme in Lagos on Wednesday said parents need to learn more about their children’s challenges and train them so that they can grow to be responsible.
The Chairman of the association, Mr Lanre Abdulai at the programme with the theme: “Deaf children are able to learn from their parents’’organised in conjunction with the Yaba Local Council Development Area (YLCDA), said through an interpreter, Mr Michael Sukanmi, that: “Many parents who have children with hearing impairment do not understand what it means to have a child with such disability.
“The parents feel discouraged sometimes and are not able to cope with the challenges of taking care of them.
“Some parents abandon the children; this is wrong.’’
The chairman urged the government to support people living with disability by making an enabling environment for them.
He commended the government for the effort it made by establishing the special people’s law in 2017.
Abdulai, however, called on the government to provide more opportunities by providing more jobs for People With Disabilities (PWDs).
“We need to encourage more PWDs to get involved in trainings and jobs so that they can be independent.
“PWDs are hardworking and they want to learn more if given the opportunity,’’ he said.
Earlier, the Secretary, YLCDA, Mr Adetayo Oyemade, said that the government had the responsibility to educate its citizens not to discriminate against PWDs.
Oyemade explained that the programme was designed to promote the cause of the deaf association and enable them benefit from government programmes.
“We believe that there are no disabled persons, but abled; it is the function of the government to ensure that citizens are aware that both the disabled and abled are equal.
“We need to promote the mentality among the citizens so that PWDs will not be stigmatised and the society will be better for it,’’ Oyemade said.
The Chairman of the council, Mr Kayode Omiyale, said that the council would continue to support the cause of the deaf association.
Omiyale said: “We are always available to give the association our support; whenever we organise programmes we ensure that we accommodate them.’’
