Kenya Society for the Mentally Handicapped

Educational services – These range from preschool, primary, prevocational, vocational, those who can access secondary and University education.

Medical Health services - Take care of needs related to medical health well being.

Social Welfare services - These are necessary to provide needs related family well being – shelter, food and economic upkeep.

Life long (life –span) services – These include services related to the well being of the children and adult living with mental Disabilities at their homes and communities. The services include medical, social welfare and economic well being.

These are services needed to be given to those living at home with their families and in the community to assist people living with mental disabilities. They could be Children or adults with mental disabilities, their Parents or Guardians. Parents and other caregivers should be economically supported to be able to take care of the mentally disabled. A monthly financial allowance should be budgeted for such families or guardians to cover medical, food, clothing and other needs.

Parents/guardians will also require counseling services from time to time to help them cope with the emotional problems which are brought about by living with children or adult with mental disabilities.

Psychological counseling and social welfare services should be taken as special and continuous for the good mental health of the parents, children or adults with mental disabilities.

Group counseling services of parents and adults with mental disabilities should also be provided twice a year per group. Such group counseling would be more effective if undertaken at community based support group levels and district.

Parent’s teacher’s conferences should be organized to bridge between home and school. It is common knowledge that both teachers and parents shy away from these special group’s conferences. This is because parents fear what they will hear and teachers fear negative reactions from parent’s disappointments on delayed acquisition of skills among the mentally disabled.

These conferences should be seen as an opportunity to help the child with mental disabilities as their psychological, social and educational progress is discussed from time to time at least half yearly.
It is during such conferences that parents should be guided to know what they should do at home to assist in their children’s progress. Such conferences should assist parents/ guardians of children with mental disabilities to form support groups in their local communities.

Chromosomal abnormalities:

Down syndrome:

Most common.

• People with this condition have 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46.

• It leads to mild or moderate mental disability and a variety of:

o Hearing
o Skeletal and
o Heart problems
Maternal age is related to this condition.

• The incidence increases significantly in children born to mothers age 35 and older.
• More than 50% of children with this condition are born to mothers 35 years and older.
• It is not known why age is related to this condition.
• Down Syndrome can also be caused by a chromosomal disorder called TRANSLOCATION.
• The child may have 46 chromosomes. The incidence of Down Syndrome is from 1 to 2 of 1,000 births,
• Note that before 1970s the diagnosis of Down Syndrome and a number of other pathological conditions was not made until the child was born or even later.
• Amniocentesis, a procedure for drawing a sample of amniotic fluid (the fluid that surrounds the fetus in the uterus) from the pregnant woman, has made earlier diagnosis possible.

II.) PHENYLKETONURIA (PKU)

This is the absence of a specific enzyme in the liver that leads to a buildup of the amino acid PHENYLALANINE

Note that the effects of PKU and other metabolic disorders such as hyperthyroidism can be controlled by modifying the child’ nutritional intake.

1. But such modification must begin early in infancy to decline in measured ability over time.
2. Some physical characteristics that appear with the syndrome include a slightly larger – than- normal head. together with a long, narrow face, loose connective tissue, and a high, arched palate.
3. Note that such physical anomalies do not show up until two years or more after birth.
4. There is considerable diversity in the behavior patterns of children with fragile X syndrome.
5. But there are consistent problems with social relationships, delay in communication skills, and marked. tendencies towards repetition of words or phrases.

III.) TOXIC AGENTS:

Drugs such as alcohol and cigarette smoke are prime examples of teratogens.

Teratogen is a Greek word meaning “monster creating” which is a substance that adversely affects fetal development.

Note also that this condition can be detected in the new-born’s blood.

IV.) FRAGILE X SYNDROME

• Basically undiscovered until 1969, fragile X syndrome (so named because of a constriction near the end of the X chromosome) is now recognized as one of the leading causes of mental disability.
• It’s most serious influence is on males, although females can carry the genetic basis for the disorder.
• Note that girls seem not generally affected in general IQ scores as are males, but girls may reveal specific learning disabilities in their school performance.

• The major effect of fragile X syndrome is impaired intellectual performance.
• A study of 250 males with the syndrome found only 13% with IQ scores over 70, and there was a tendency for the IQ scores of males with this disorder to be low.
• Heavy use of alcohol or other drugs creates a prenatal and postnatal environment context that is unfavorable for the infant’s and child’s early development.

V.)FATAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME (FAS)

• One of the distressing aspects of FAS is that it directly affects the development of the brains, and its results last long into adulthood.
• FAS is currently considered one of the leading causes of moderate or severe organic mental disability.

VI.) HEAVY METALS

• Ingesting heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury can result in severe consequences including mental disability.
• Most attention is currently focused on lead, and much of the lead that enters the brain comes from the atmosphere.

VII.) INFECTIONS

• Note that the brain begins to develop about three weeks after fertilization and over the next several weeks, the central nervous system is highly susceptible to disease.
• If the mother contracts rubella (German measles) during the first trimester, her child will likely be born with mental disability and other serious birth defects.
• Note that children and adults are at risk of brain damage from viruses that produce high fever, which in turn, destroy brain cells.
• Encephalitis is an example of such virus.

VIII.) OTHER CAUSES OF MENTAL DISABILITIES

• Drugs prescribed or a non-prescribed drugs
• Drugs and substance abuse
• Toxins and intoxicants
• Chronic illness of the mother
• Allergies
• Accidents
• Radiation (x-rays)
• STI and AIDS
• RH factor
• Maternal stress/fetus stress
• Smoking/alcohol
• Explosives (loud noise)
• Poisons (e.g. rat poison, insect sprays) and metal indigestion (e.g. Mercury)
• Age factor/ too young/ too old
• Infections
• Malnutrition/ hunger/poverty
• Attempted abortion
• Domestic violence
• Genetic factor
• Pollutions (water, air, sound)

IX.) DURING BIRTH

• Anoxia (lack of Oxygen).
• Use of forceps.
• Prolonged labour/ shortened labour.
• Vacuum birth.
• Breach birth and any other unconventional birth.
• Unattended birth.
• Carelessness of medical staff.
• Infections.
• Accidents.
• STI like gonorrhea.
• Use of excessive drug at birth.

X.) CHRONIC DISEASEAS SUCH AS:

• Epilepsy, Otitis media, leukemia, malaria.
• Alleges/other diseases e.g. malaria, measles, mumps, meningitis.
• Domestic violence, burning, excessive beating.