Better life for children living with disabilities

Fifteen percent of the World’s population, at least one billion people have some form of disability, whether present at birth or acquires with nearly 240 million of them are children. Children living with disability have a long term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairment that hinders their participation in the society. They live in every community, they are born with or acquire distinct impairments which in relation to their surroundings lead to functional difficulties such as seeing, walking, hearing, communicating, caring for oneself or making friends.

The extent to which these children function, participate in the community and lead fulfilling lives depends on the extent to which they are accommodated and included. They are faced with a range of barriers that limits their ability to function in daily life, access social services (education and health care) and engage in their communities. Some of the most common challenges include accessibility in physical environments and on the internet, social exclusion, absence of assistive technology and barriers in health care.

These include:

Physical barriers – buildings, transportation, toilets, playgrounds that can’t be accessed by wheelchair users.

Communication and information barriers – textbooks in braille, educational materials, public announcements delivered without sign language interpretation.

Lack of relevant assistive technology (assistive, adaptative and rehabilitative devices) 

Services, systems, and policies that are either nonexistent or that hinder the involvement of all people with health conditions in all areas of life

The solution is assistive technology. Assistive technology is product and related services. They are products, instrument, equipment, or technology adapted especially designed for improving the functioning of a child with disability. The solution helps the children with disabilities functioning and wellbeing. It will also improve access of the children with disability to care which will enhances their physical, mental, and social health. This will translate to improved quality of care of the children with disabilities. Assistive technology has been a missing link in the chain of prerequisites that enable children with disabilities to lead a life where they enjoy and exercise their rights.

This will be done by providing assistive products and services as listed below:

 Motorized wheelchair, smart cane and GPS based navigation device with voice assistant for mobility. 

 Magnifying software and screen reader for computers, combination of braille, audio books, talking calculators, talking book player, audio recorder and player and braille boards for vision, eSight electronic glasses could view the board from their seats, easily read books, tablets and computers. 

Smart pen, including writing words, scribbles, diagrams, everything written is being said aloud from teacher. When the tip of pen is tapped, it will play back what was said. Google launched visual accessibility feature

Voice calls accessible  to deaf or hard of hearing, through speech recognition, and text to speech  technology (live relay) , project diva, google developing solutions  and devices to allow users to interact with Google assistants, non-verbally, interpreting images, making phone calls, using digital assistants.

Dot, a motorized braille smart watch, connects watch to smart phone via Bluetooth to receive notifications, texts which can display in braille four characters, The device uses motorized modules that can raise and lower individual dots to form these characters.

Electronic communication device with recorded speech for communication

Picture based instructions, smart phones with adapted task lists, schedules, adapted toys, and games

Additional devices to improve housing condition include window nets, appropriate toilet facilities waste management devices, long lasting insecticide nets, solar panel, fire alarms.

Health care devices -   first aid kits, weight, stadiometer, blood pressure machine, thermometers

The related services are linking the school for  children of  special need   with neighboring PHC for continuity of care ; training of the teachers on emergencies and first aid, assessment of hygiene and mental state of the children ;education the  community and parents on disabilities  and  advocacy to the government to support schools for children with disabilities in terms of logistics, funds, security, health care amongst others. 

Modakeke School for Children With Special needs is a public school for children with disabilities. The estimated population is about 120 pupils within ages 10-18, it is both residential and non-residential. The school train pupils in four different disabilities namely vision, hearing, learning difficulties and intellectual disability. The school is headed by a head mistress and has 6 teachers supporting her. The school has only two teachers who are specially trained. The school have the following facilities: four buildings of which two are for classrooms, one for vocational training, one for accommodation which extended to accommodate the kitchen. The school has in addition to the personnel, a gateman, one cook, one housemaster and housemistress to take care of the male and female children with disabilities.

The school is currently underserved in terms of infrastructure, housing, health care, educational facilities, funds, and trained specialists. There is just one toilet to 30 males and one toilet to 30 females, the window nets are torn, no insecticide bed nets ,  only 2 wheelchairs for 6 pupils, no ramp, one braille machine ,  very few braille board and stylus, one typewriter,  very few white canes , no computers , no smart phones,  no audio recorders , no headphones,  no hearing aids ,no regular electricity,  very few educational and instruction materials , no adapted toys and games, no sick bay  and no linkage with any primary health care facilities.

The solution will address these needs which will meet the physical, mental, and social health of the pupils, improve functionality and eventually their quality of care.

Which Indigenous community(s) does your solution benefit? In what ways will your solution benefit this community? (Required) {Word limit = 500}

The schools for children with special needs in Modakeke, a peri urban community will benefit from the solution. The team visited the school, discussed with the head of the school to identify the challenges faced in accessing and providing care for the children with disabilities. The team look a tour round the school to access the available facilities. The team also mapped out the primary health care centres close to the school. The team is also engaging the local government education authority, parent teacher association and the community and opinion leaders. The children with disabilities will benefit immensely if the assistive technology through products and services are effectively conducted. 

The team comprises public health physician, residents in public health, community health officers and inclusive the head of the school. The team understands the needs of the children with disabilities by engaging the staff in the different units of the school through the head of the school. The team developed a structured guide and observational checklist to identify the needs of the school. The Team engaged the teachers, specialist teachers, cook, house mistress and the security. During the visit, community leader was in attendance. The challenges and needs of the children were identified and complied with the inputs of the head mistress, a teacher, a specialized teacher for the visually challenged children, the house mistress and the community leader.

The number of people currently served is 120 (60 males and 60 females)  

The team is applying to Solve to assist in identifying partners who are already working with assisted technology and support the team in its application to the underserved group, children with disabilities. Solve will also help to identify and link the team with partners who have assisted devices that can be culturally adapted. Finally, Solve will assist the team in getting trainers to train specialist for school of special needs or identify the specialist through other partners.

Children with hearing impairments depend on visual cues to understand interaction and communication. These visual clues such as lip reading, facial expressions, eye movements, and body gestures There are more recent innovative ways of assisting these children which is part of the solution like live relay, text to speech technology. This will assist the children with hearing difficulties by using regular phone call, transcribe the audio from one end and then converting the text-based response into audio signals. Google developing solutions and devices to allow the children to interact with Google assistants, non-verbally, interpreting images, making phone calls using digital assistants.

Children with physical impairments face or difficulty in accessing school buildings, toilets because of absence of wheelchairs, ramps, and uneven floor surfaces hence the need to rely heavily on guardians, and friends for vital assistance. Wheelchairs and clutches are sometimes made available, but the solution is providing innovative technologies like motorized wheelchairs, ramps in the buildings, toilet rails and seats which will assist mobility with very minimal assistance.

Children with visual impairments, learning in schools is complicated by the lack of access to braille material, and the textbooks designed for the blind are costly for blind children whose parents are poor. They may also rely on others for survival throughout their lives. They are often assisted by low technologies like walking cane, braille machine, boards, and stylus but the solution is providing innovative technologies like eSight electronic glasses that could help them view the board from their seats, easily read books, tablets and computers, move independently. There will be provision of Smart cane and GPS based navigation device with voice assistant for mobility. Also, Dot watch, a motorized braille smart watch, connects watch to smart phone via Bluetooth to receive notifications, texts which can be displayed in braille form, four characters at a time. The device uses motorized modules that can raise and lower individual dots to form these characters.

Children with intellectual disabilities needs proper attention. The children could be assisted by use of communication boards with letters, symbols, or pictures. There are innovative technology devices such as electronic communication device with recorded speech for communication, audio prompting devices that can be used to assist them with memory difficulties to complete task such as making the bed and video based instructional materials to assist them in learning functional life skills like dressing themselves.

Children with disability miss vaccinations or treatment for simple aliments and easily curable illnesses which can become life-threatening if left untreated. Children with severe disabilities may not survive because of lack of access to basic primary health care facilities which may not be readily available in some parts of the rural settings. The solution will make provision of sick bay with automated devices like digital weighing scale, digital blood pressure machine, stadiometer, digital thermometer, stretcher, and motorized recovery bed. Linking the school with primary health care centre that will provide primary health care facilities thereby reducing morbidity and mortality amongst the children with disabilities.

The impact goal for the next year is improve accessibility to health care and education. This might be achieved through creating a space for sick bay in the school, training of the teachers on emergencies and provision of first aid and educating the teachers on assessment of hygiene and mental state of the pupils. Also, provision of learning aids and specialists in the various disabilities. The impact goal in five years is to improve quality of care by 50%. This can be achieved by educating the community and parents on disabilities and advocacy to the government on the need to support schools for children with disabilities in terms of logistics, funds, security, health care amongst others

The few specific indicators are coverage of essential health services, proportion of students offered   adaptive materials (learning materials and assistive devices) and proportion of teachers offered adaptive materials (learning materials and assistive devices)

Activities – Sourcing for the various  assistive devices, procurement of the assistive devices,  installation of the devices, training of the teachers on the use of the assistive devices, teachers train the students on the use of the assistive devices under supervision, provision of sick bay, provision of first aid materials and other digital health devices, training of the teachers on  assessment of the children physical and mental health and linking the school with primary health care facilities.

Output- students functionality and reduction of morbidity amongst the children

Outcome Short term – improved competence of the children with disabilities and access to basic health care

Long term – improved quality of care of children with disability 

The beneficiaries i.e the school management, parents / guardians  of children with disabilities and the key stake holders in the community will be interviewed using structured interview guide to measure the impact of the assistive technology that is the products and services on the health , learning abilities and functionalities of the children with disabilities

The solution is powered by apps and software. Live relay is a software that by using regular phone call, transcribe the audio from one end and then converting the text-based response into audio signals. Project Diva, Google developing solutions and devices to allow the children with hearing impairment to interact with Google assistants, non-verbally assist in interpreting images and making phone calls. Apps that connect Dot watch to smart phone via Bluetooth to receive notifications, texts which can be displayed in braille form. GPS based navigation device with voice assistant are soft ware technology to translate white cane to smart cane. The electronic communication device with recorded speech for communication, audio prompting devices and video instructional materials are based on software technology.

The team comprises of public health physicians, a community health officer who relates with head of the school, a lecturer with BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in computer science who will develop the apps and software that is culturally adapted. The specialist teachers who themselves have visual and hearing impairment as a voice for the children with disability. Also, the head of the school who oversees the administration of the school and matrons and housemasters who takes care of the children with disabilities; cleanliness of the environment, hygiene of the pupils, trained on how to administer first aid. The opinion leaders in the community who are gate keepers and highly influential, they can link the school of the special needs with the government.

The key customers are schools of specials needs or disable. The beneficiaries are children with disabilities. We provide health services and quality education for the children with disabilities. The services and products are provided, procuring assistive devices for use, and linking the school with existing and functional primary health care facilities. The children need the services and products to enhance their functionalities, improve their learning capabilities and skills and quality of care.

The organization will source for funds from different organizations whose areas of interest are on disabilities and children health, sell the products to the government and request services from government through advocacy and philanthropies donations. In the long term, we will raise funds through foundations, projects, and assistance from manufacturers of the products

The organization just concluded a grant from MSD on prevalence of missed opportunities for immunization in urban and rural communities of Southwest, Nigeria. Not so much revenue generated as the grant was just adequate for the research