Parents face a lot of difficulties when they discover that their children are not normal. Sometimes from the appearance, they can see that something is wrong with their child. At other times, the child looks normal but fails to develop properly. The parents, those who can afford, do the normal things i.e. take them to the nearest clinic or doctor to find out what is wrong. It is when they learn that the child is abnormal and has developmental difficulties that they are devastated. They are rarely told what is exactly wrong with the child and as they struggle to come to grips with this enormous problem, the stigma from the surrounding community is already beginning to isolate them. There is no centre that they can go to where they can get services from a team of specialists from different disciplines for management of mental disorders. The parents start giving up since they cannot find help from anywhere. When they hear about KSMH, they immediately seek help.
A mother, who had locked up her adult son with mental disabilities in dog’s kennel, had this to say when the son was rescued by KSMH. “I really love my boy.It is just that I cannot manage him since I do not know what to do. My son, when he is relatively quiet, is all right. But these quiet spells are few and far between. What do I do? You are the first persons who have offered to help. At least I know that my son’s disability can be managed. I will make sure that he is now kept properly. Please, please help me. I am so desperate.”
Once, the KSMH rescue team found a mentally disabled boy tied to a tree with chain. The team had to wait till the mother came back. When she was confronted with the situation, she started crying tears of hurt and humility. “What can I do? My son cannot be left by himself. He wanders around and will get lost. Once I found him after three days. Since then I have to tie him to this tree. I only do this because I have to go out and earn money for our survival. My husband left me long time ago when he learnt that his son was mentally disabled. Can you please help me to look after him?”