Teacher visits to inspire Belizeans with Down Syndrome
Major strides have been made to educate and assist parents of children living with disabilities. In fact, the message now is that children who are “differently able” can succeed in a variety of ways, especially with early intervention and inclusion. On Sunday, twenty-five year old Karen Gaffney, an American teacher, arrives in Belize for a five-day working visit. Gaffney was born with Down Syndrome, a condition that causes some degree of mental retardation, cognitive disability, and other developmental delays. Yet she not only graduated from high school in 1997, but four years later she started working as a teacher’s aide in Portland, Oregon. And while Belize may not have all the resources of the United States, the Special Education Unit can offer many of our children some of the necessary early interventions. Gaffney, who will be accompanied by her mother, says parents must be fully committed to give their children as normal a life as possible so they can be independent and not be a burden on society. Coordinating Gaffney’s visit to Belize is Doctor Francis Smith, an orthopaedic surgeon at Belize Medical Associates. Smith is also the father of a son with Down Syndrome.
Dr. Francis Smith, Coordinating Gaffney?s Visit
?Perhaps it?s gonna be the first time that a person like Karen Gaffney, who is an impressive, remarkable woman with Down Syndrome will visit and through a series of personal appearances will demonstrate that people with these disabilities have learning capabilities and can achieve. So it?s not the first time that focus is being placed.?
Karen Gaffney, Inspirational Speaker
?Today I hope to change that picture. I hope to raise the expectations of what can we do and how much we can learn. I know what the experts say and I know what they told my parents when I was born, but with my family?s help and the support and guidance from some wonderful teachers over the years, I have spent my whole life proving the experts wrong.?
Dr. Francis Smith
?We have a group of remarkable people ourselves here in Belize, our local educators. We have people like the Pallotine nuns Sister Elsa Olivia, we have Miss Dativa Martinez, Eleanor Castillo, Sharon August, people from CARE-Belize. These people have been working in the education of our special needs children for years. We are hoping that through this visit we can be inspired by a person like Karen Gaffney who has been through high school, she has an associate degree in teaching, she is actually a teacher this time. She can demonstrate by her personal appearances and her talks to our educators, to the parents of children, and to children with disabilities, just what is possible.?
Karen Gaffney will be in Belize from November thirteenth to the nineteenth. She will be meeting with special educators and students of Stella Maris, Parents of children with special needs, and university teachers among others.
