Help Cape Mental Health - CMH by donating money, food, blankets and toiletries for children, women and men with disabilities.

Help Cape Mental Health - CMH by donating money, food, blankets and toiletries for children, women and men with disabilities.

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It is estimated that about 1 to 4% of the population is affected by intellectual disability in varying degrees. This condition is not an illness; it is permanent and cannot be cured. Intellectual disability can be caused by health problems, genetic conditions, environmental factors, and problems during pregnancy and birth. It can be a factor in conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and Prader-Willi syndrome. Intellectual and adaptive difficulties usually begin in early childhood. Parents and caregivers may start to notice a delay in language or motor skills by the time their children reach the age of two, and then need to take their children to a healthcare professional for further observation. Children could be affected in the range of profound, severe, moderate and mild intellectual disability, each with different support needs. According to the American Psychiatric Association, people with an intellectual disability are those whose mental age is well below their chronological age, and who have difficulty acquiring life skills and coping with challenges. Intellectual disability involves problems with mental abilities in two areas, viz. intellectual functioning such as learning, problem solving, and judgement, and adaptive functioning that includes activities of daily life such as communication and independent living. People with intellectual disability disproportionately experience more health problems than the general population and face discrimination and socio-economic exclusion. Cape Mental Health promotes knowledge of intellectual disability through our annual Intellectual Disability Awareness Campaign held in March. We challenge the stigma surrounding intellectual disability by calling on society to change its mind set about people with intellectual disability and their right to inclusion in the home, community and society. We are recognised as a leading organisation in providing Special Education & Care Centres to meet the special needs of children with severe to profound intellectual disability and will continue to do so until these learners are integrated into schools run by the Western Cape Education Department in accordance with the Right to Education court ruling of November 2010. Sadly, the children at our SECCs cannot access State-run schools because of the severity of their disability and they are therefore denied the benefits that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) provides to other learners. By being excluded from the national learner database, they are excluded from the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP), and exemption from paying school fees, which all promote health, school attendance and ongoing learning. The very system that should uphold their right to education and inclusion enforces their segregation and exclusion. As a member of the Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability, Cape Mental Health advocates actively for the Right to Education of children with severe and profound intellectual disability. Our CEO, Dr Ingrid Daniels, served as one of four representatives sent by the Western Cape Education Department in 2023 to meet with a new Technical Task Team established by the National Department of Basic Education – the team’s objective is implement a strategy for the inclusion of learners with severe to profound intellectual disability (CSPID) and the provision of funds for the necessary infrastructure, staffing, transport, and training and accreditation of staff. As long as children with severe to profound intellectual disability are denied access to inclusive education, NGOs such as Cape Mental Health will continue to carry the costs of providing special education and care services to these children.