LINDENERS are calling on the relevant authorities to make learning and socialising easier for the differently-abled, especially those who are visually impaired. They say the problem is particularly acute for those trying to get an education, or the hang of a particular sport, as currently, none of the schools and sporting facilities in Linden cater to their needs.
Currently, there are approximately 30 visually impaired students attending most of the schools in Linden. This is in addition to the several students with physical disabilities also attending regular schools, as students with mental disabilities attend the Special Needs School.
For these children attending the regular schools, especially secondary schools, the challenges are so great, most of them eventually decide to drop out of school rather than stay the course.
Special-needs teacher, Shellon Swaving is attached to the Wismar Hill Visually Impaired Unit. She says there’s lots to be done for the differently-abled students, especially those who are visually impaired or wheel-chair bound.
According to Swaving, none of the school’s facilities are disability-friendly. “The children in the wheelchair, as soon as they meet a certain age in secondary school, because there is no one to fetch them around, they have to drop out of school,” she said, adding:
“We have so many of them at home; children with physical disabilities are not getting it easy.”
LIMITED SUPPORT

She also bemoaned the limited support received from the relevant authorities in this regard, as the regional education authorities give as much support as they can, but there is only so much they can do. Similar sentiments were expressed by special needs teacher, Jenelle Williams, who said the situation can be sometimes frustrating. “You need more support from the outsiders; we need to teach them life skills, and we don’t even have a kitchen here,” she revealed.

Mackenzie High’s Relon Sumner, who is visually impaired, said that at one point, he wanted to drop out of school because of the various challenges he was facing, from neglect to bullying.
He said that while he has now become a seasoned campaigner, since it’s going on four years he’s been in school, he worries about his younger brother, Roell, who is also visually impaired and is in Form One.
“I went through it! But is he I studying, because he now start,” Relon said.
Because of the limited systems in place for the students to participate in class activities and grading activities, it is as if they are just passing through school.
Their mother, Ronella Jarvis told this publication that she visited several regional officials, ministers and Members of Parliament about the situation but nothing has changed. To her, the children’s future is at stake, as they are just passing through the education system.
“I got a recorder for my son, and is like a waste of time, as he is just going with the recorder and coming home back with it,” Mrs Jarvis said, adding:
“A few teachers might ask for the recorder; numerous times I go to the school and see my son sitting at the back of the class, and the teacher would say, ‘Oh, he is not doing this subject.’ And I would say, ‘Nothing is wrong with his ears! He can learn!”
Their father, Ryan Waldron said that the children and naturally intelligent, and their future may go to waste as nothing is in place for the children.
“It really tough; it really hard! We need for something to be done to assist the children, because it is unfair to them,” Mr Waldron said.
The few students who make it through high school are now required to travel to Georgetown daily if they want to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
DAILY STRUGGLE
Former student, Teshawn Rodney spoke of the daily struggle of travelling back and forth to attend classes at the Visually Impaired Unit in Georgetown to prepare for the examinations.
“I had to travel to town every single day because Georgetown have the JAWS (Job Access With Speech software); so if you want to do it, you have to find the passage every day,” Teshawn said.
And while the schools are not disability friendly, the sporting facilities are also an issue, because they, too, are not accessible to the students who are differently-abled and may want to pursue a sport or even attend a school event.
The Mackenzie Sports Club Ground has been criticised for its short-sightedness in this regard as the main sporting facility in Linden. “Not because you have a disability means you can’t go to a Sports Club,” Teacher Shellon said.

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Both teachers with whom the Guyana Chronicle spoke are calling for a medium that specifically deals with disabilities.
“We need a channel through the Ministry,” they said. “If we have a differently-abled child, we need somebody at the Ministry who deals with disabilities; we need a special-needs officer, just as there is a primary and a secondary officer.”
There’s also a crying need, they said, for a nexus between the medical and the educational departments to effectively meet the educational needs of the entire differently-abled community.
The struggles of accessing public buildings in Linden, they say, are not only experienced by students but everyone who is differently-abled in some regard.
The plight of the differently-abled was also highlighted by designer and make-up artist, Setra Oselmo, who is herself bound to a wheelchair after losing mobility in her legs following a vehicular accident.
Setra, who is a staunch advocate for equality in this regard, in a previous interview with the Guyana Chronicle made a call for all public buildings to become more accessible, as she has to be lifted into buildings whenever the need arises.
Currently, there are only two buildings that have been made accessible for persons who are differently abled.
“With the exception of the Linden Hospital Complex and the Egbert Benjamin Conference Centre, nowhere has provisions for persons in my condition,” Petra said, adding:
“The Banks, the Regional Democratic Council, the Sports Club are all difficult to traverse, and I have to be lifted 15 to 20 steps by my brothers when I have to go to those places.
“And I’m no feather! So you can well imagine the strain I put them under!”
This situation has deterred her from attending several events and transacting her own business at the bank and other institutions.
“I love to shop, and I miss that above everything else,” she said, “as no shopping centre allows me to shop with my wheelchair.”
Setra is calling upon business owners, governmental organizations and other stakeholders to have their businesses accessible to those who are differently abled, as they are a part of society as well.