What is it about?
This article reviews advancements in the acceptance and education of children with disabilities, and it traces the initiation of speech-language pathology in Zambia. Limited knowledge about disability and a culture that considers children with disabilities to be misfits have traditionally left these individuals without hope. These beliefs and inadequate resources have hindered attempts to render special services to these children for many decades in the past.
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Why is it important?
Implementation of new polices and laws have promoted equal rights and access to impartial education of persons with disabilities. Training of special education teachers and inclusive enactments have ameliorated some of the inequalities of the past. These advances have prompted the initiation of steps to establish a speech-language pathology program at a university in Zambia, since the country presently has no professional training for speech-language pathologists. Establishment of university training will provide therapists who will reduce the scarcity of communication disorders services that Zambia is currently experiencing.
Perspectives
I hope this article, being one of the few written about the education of children with disabilities in Zambia, will educate readers that equal rights and equal access to basic services have become priority for children with disabilities in Zambia and most African countries, unlike before when there was a notion that educating these children was a waste of time and resources.
MUCHINKA PEELE
Texas Woman's University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Progress in Education of Children With Disabilities in Zambia, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, December 2020, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2020_persp-20-00034.
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