Special Care for Special Needs

The goal was to clarify who has special needs, understand those needs, identify possible solutions, document recommendations and suggest implementation strategies. At the same time, parents with special-needs children had the opportunity to attend workshops. It was a chance to speak directly with those who administer special-needs care and attend workshops by experts in various fields from autism to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Frontline workers from Cree Regional Authority’s Childcare Centres/Head Start programs, the Cree Board of Health and Social Services, and the Cree School Board came together to find solutions for special-needs children.
“We are one of the supporters and one of the organizations that put this opportunity together. Our director of the family and child care department was a part of this conference,” said Grand Chief Matthew Mukash.
Acknowledging the lack of services available for special-needs children in the Cree communities, Mukash expressed how this type of event was ideal for Crees to assess their situations and determine what kind of a role they can play for these special-needs individuals.
“It would be good if we had all of the services for these special-needs people at home but today it is not like that. We need to go a little further in assessing the needs of people who require special care and it’s the purpose of this conference to explore how we can go about fulfilling this need,” said Mukash.
While some of the services required for various different special-needs children may not be available at this time within the Cree communities, the CSB has come a long way in terms of what it does offer, according to Nydia Nebelsky, Special Education Services Coordinator for the CSB.
“The biggest change is that we finally established a special education services department,” said Nebelsky.
Up until four years ago the CSB only had a consultant when it came to special education. Today the department has four members – two consultants, a coordinator and a psychologist.
Outside services are also called in much more frequently to meet the demands of the communities. Each school now also has a special education department head to assist teachers within the regular curriculum and there are also psycho-educators on hand in three communities to help children who have social and emotional
behavioural problems.
While there have been many advancements in terms of service provision, some have felt the need to send their children elsewhere to ensure they get the services they require.
George Pachano from Chisasibi had to send his 12-year-old daughter to Montreal so that she could get proper care and specialized education at the Summit School and though it is best for her, it has caused a strain on both the child and family.
“We need more professionals, physiotherapists and speech therapists. Those are the services that my daughter needs and cannot get in Chissasibi,” said Pachano who misses his child terribly while she is away, staying with foster parents in order to attend the school.
Because of his daughter, Pachano is a member of a year-old parents committee that advocates for services for special-needs children.
Though some rejoiced in the optimism about living in a world that has awareness of special needs and services available to them, others wept for loved ones they have lost. Two Cree families made presentations on children they had lost in recent years – Kate Charles-Sharl and Matteo Riopel – and spoke of their experiences with those children. When it was over not a dry eye was left in the house.
Putting a more positive spin on living with a disability, Matt Rolloff from TLC’s Big People Little World and who suffers from dwarfism, served as the conference’s motivational speaker to the delight of many attendees.
“Dwarfism is sort of a metaphor for all people with differences,” said Rolloff as he left the conference. Just minutes before Rolloff had been swarmed by many enthusiastic Crees trying to get a photograph.
“Maybe our TV show has played a small role in sensitizing America to people with differences,” Rollof said in reference to Barack Obama’s recent win as U.S. president.
His message to parents of special-needs children was to be resilient through the disappointments and heartaches they are experiencing because of the tremendous joy that can come from the joys and successes of raising a child with a “difference.”
Though becoming a reality TV star has changed his life dramatically and sensitized many when it comes to special needs, Rolloff insisted that he and his family have not changed from the experience.
“We just try to be who we have always been – the good, the bad and the different,” he said.