Children with special needs display abilities in sporting activities

To display the abilities of children with special needs in sporting activities, the New Horizon Special School on Saturday held a Fun Day Games at its premises in Accra.

The Fun Day Games dubbed: ‘’The World Autism Fun Games Day’’ saw the children undertake sporting activities such as sack race, football, three-legged, lime and spoon, filling of bottles, picking of balls, wheel chair race, among others, which elicited ecstatic applause and cheers from parents, friends and the public gathered. 

The event was held on the theme: ‘’Let me Win, But If I cannot Win, Let Me Be Brave in the Attempt’’.

Mrs Salome Francois, the Executive Director of New Horizon Special School, said the fun games are organised by the School every year since 1992, to give the special children the opportunity to enjoy sporting activities like their counterparts in regular schools, and also to set high standards and encourage maximum efforts.

‘’The day is not just to entertain students and their families and friends, but also to show the public the abilities of our children with special needs in our society,’’ she said.

Mrs Francois said during the exercise, winning was not necessarily the objective, but co-operation, discipline, and the joy of participating was what mattered most to the children.

‘’The children are happy just to be part of the games, like the Special Olympic Oath, they keep on saying, let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt,” she said.

She said the adult students with special needs were given vocational training in various skills to produce high quality items for sale in the school shop including baskets, trays, foot and bar stools, doormats, tablecloths, tie and dye batik materials, Ghanaian dressed dollies and beadwork.

Mrs Maureen Darko, the General Manager of XpressGas Limited, who chaired the programme, said the Company was delighted to support the School to help train the children.

She said XpressGas Limited was providing New Horizon Special School free gas for a year,and has also painted the school building.

‘’We are doing this because we are a socially responsible company and believe in doing business that brings development to communities and institutions that support our business.

‘We believe all children have the fundamental human rights to live and be happy irrespective of any disability, hence the need to focus on our children with special needs,’ she said.

Mrs Darko commended the staff of the School as well as the parents for their selfless dedication to providing care for the students.

She appealed to the public to accept and relate well with persons with special needs rather than discriminating against them as this negativity affected their self-worth and human dignity.

 

Credit: GNA