As the momentum of the global movement towards deinstitutionalisation is growing, the proportion of children with disabilities in institutions is growing. In many countries, children are being moved from institutions to family-based alternatives, but in this process the children with disabilities are left behind. Often for many of the same reasons that had them end up in the institutions in the first place.
Again, like with poverty (read the blog HERE) and education (read the blog HERE), the reasons why children with disabilities end up in institutions are various. The reasons are also to a certain extent interlinked with poverty and education.
In countries where there is little or no access to free or affordable medical care and rehabilitative care, parents may feel that they have no way of providing their child with the care needed. It may seem like a better option to place the child in an institution where all these things are – or seem to be – taken care of.
Access to education is also a big barrier to parents caring for their own children with disabilities. In many countries, there is no inclusive education. Mainstream schools may refuse to accept a child with disabilities, even if the child only has a physical disability and no special education needs. The alternative then is a special school. Often there are not many of these, certainly not in rural areas. So, the only way to allow the child to get some kind of education, is to place her in a special boarding school, or in an institution for children with disabilities that also provides education.
Poverty and education are not the only reasons for placing a child with disabilities in an institution, however. The social and cultural attitude also play a major role. In a society where a child with a disability is seen as proof that the family is cursed, or that the child is a witch or a demon, the position of the entire family within the community can become impossible if they keep the child with them. In these cases, there may also be a risk of someone in the community deciding to kill the child, in order to get rid of the ‘threat’. So bringing the child to an institution may be the only way to save her life and to keep the lives of the rest of the family liveable.
In some countries giving birth to a child with a disability can be grounds for the mother to be rejected by the community or for the father to divorce the mother. Again, not a situation where a child can be raised safely.
Finally, there is the attitude of the medical profession. It is still true in many countries that doctors will tell parents that both they and the child will be better off if the child is placed in an institution. Understandably, not many parents feel able to go against the advice of these ‘experts’.
So, unfortunately, there are many ways in which parents of children with disabilities feel forced to give up their children, whether due to poverty, lack of access to education or stigma. And once a child with a disability ends up in an institution, she is much less likely to come out of it again than children without disabilities are, even if deinstitutionalisation is pursued.
After the remaining main cause of institutionalisation has been described, I will post a series of blogs addressing how these main causes can be taken away or at least significantly reduced in sustainable ways.
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