Early Intervention for Children with Disabilities in countries south of the Sahara: How do family and community involvement and cultural values benefit intervention programs?

摘要

This paper discusses how family and community involvement and cultural values benefit intervention programmes. Early intervention services are designed to meet the developmental needs of children from birth to 5?years who have a developmental delay in physical, cognitive, communication, social, emotional, or adaptive development or have a diagnosed condition that has a high probability of resulting in developmental delay. This paper explored the role of parental involvement, the influence of culture and the socio-economic status of a family, in developing countries south of the Sahara, in relation to the provision of Early Intervention to children with disabilities or who have developmental delays. A review of literature indicates that poverty, political instability, poorly sustained health and education systems and lack of expertise affect early intervention programs in developing countries. Therefore to be practical, early intervention programs for children with disabilities or developmental delays, require the implementation of community-based systems of care that are coordinated, family centered, and culturally sensitive, with greater interagency collaboration.