By: Evans Attah Akangla| ignewss| Ho
Joseph Gyedu, a mental health nurse from the Ho Municipal Hospital in the Volta region has cautioned parents and teachers to desist from hitting children’s head with stick and other objects.
His words of caution came when speaking as a resource person during a programme organised by Women Breaking Barriers Foundation (WBBF), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), to donate some books to pupils of Mother Florence Memorial Academy, in the Volta Regional capital, Ho.
Speaking on issues of Neurologist learning disabilities, he said, the sickness cannot be cured but assured parents, teachers and the pupils that, there is hope for people with learning disability provided they seek early medical attention from a specialist.
He underscored Neurologist learning disabilities are not caused due to physical or mental illness, economic conditions or cultural background neither an indication of whether the child is lazy or weak.
“According to experts there is no single specific cause for learning disabilities however, some factors that could cause a learning disability are as heredity, illness during and after birth, drug or alcohol consumption during pregnancy, physical trauma, poor growth in the uterus, low birth weight, and premature or prolonged labour could easily cause the disability.” He explained.
Dr. Gyedu also mentioned stress during infancy, environment and comorbidity where children with learning disabilities are, as factors contributing to a higher-than-average risk for attention problems or disruptive behaviour disorders.
He further urged parents and teachers to always seek advice from clinical psychologist, special educators, child psychiatrist, counsellors, mental health experts and paediatrician/ paediatric regarding issues of learning disabilities.
He called on parents and teachers to be very observant about their ward to enable them to identify if a child is suffering from learning disability and quickly consult the appropriate facility for early support.
He advised the children to also desist from hitting their colleagues head with objects.
Source: www.ignewss.com|Ghana