This is the adorable, Luke..He is a wheelchair user because of Spina Bifida. I met him this morning at the Rehabilitation Clinic at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. When I first saw him, my attention was immediately drawn into his adult wheelchair, size 14 inches (which is my own wheelchair seat size). There was too much space around his body and he had already developed Scoliosis to his spine because of it. I approached him and slowly made friendly conversation with him, although he was quite shy at first. However, he later told me that he loves to play computer games and he repeatedly made the angry birds sound :)...
I was quite pleased when I heard that Dr. Anis was going to provide a new wheelchair for Luke, one that was suitable with his small body size. However, I was not happy when I heard that he was in Special Education classes in SK Luyang and learning from a Special Education curriculum. What is wrong with our education system nowadays? He has Spina Bifida, but he doesn't have learning difficulties so why would the school put him into Special Education classes? Though his physical appearance is not like other healthy children, but his mind is still sharp and fit to learn from the ordinary curriculum; he was unfairly discriminated against due to his physical appearance. Upon learning this I spoke to Dr. Anis about Luke, and she shared a common concern about this problem in Sabah. Something needs to be done because it will definitely effect the future of children like Luke. In my opinion, the principal of SK Luyang should come up with something to solve the problem at hand instead of placing a smart child like Luke into special education classes. One solution could be assigning a teacher to teach Luke with the Ordinary Education curriculum if accessibility of the classes is the issue.
I traveled a lot and I've met a few friends that contributed to success stories of children with disabilities in schools. For instance, Mohammad Zulkifli, a wheelchair user due to Guillain-Barre syndrome from Sandakan attended ordinary class in "SMK Elopura 2" and completed his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia with flying colours. This achievement was aided by the principal because he saw him as good as other students in his school, without discrimination. The principal moved Mohammad’s class together with non-disabled students to the ground floor and they studied alongside him. In another case in Beluran, Farreha Natasya, another wheelchair user, was placed in a Special education classroom, but is learning from the ordinary education curriculum, thanks to her teachers and the principal.
Let us imagine that people with good brain function are forced to learn the syllabus that is not to par with his or her real IQ? Now imagine that person is you.....So, how would you like to be treated? Think about that deeply...
'Sigh'............
seriously bro, i agree with you. the adults nowadays should learn the difference between physical and mentally handicapped.
ReplyDeletethey forgot that children can accept differences better than adults..children understands compassion and empathy more than we do :D
Yes Jeremy, it's about time that our society change their mindsets and perceptions toward children with physical disabilities and their education. We are talking about their future and the development of our country Malaysia. This is why we are still stuck with 'developing country' status, come on la, vision 2020 is very near already, and yet we are still trapped in 20 year behind punya thinking...
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