By Utamu Belle
When 42-year-old Lindener Shellon Swaving ventured into the amazing world of teaching 25 years ago, she was unaware at the time that she would be motivated to be steered down the path to becoming actively involved in the lives of children with special needs.
Swaving initially began teaching in 1995 but while she was trying to gain employment in Linden, teaching positions were not opened in the community at the time, which led her to the Victoria Primary School on the East Coast of Demerara that same year.
Swaving recently shared the story of how she found her life’s calling of educating and empowering children with special needs during an interview with the <<< Sunday Times Magazine >>>. She noted that it was during her first year of teaching that she realised that she was especially drawn to assisting students who had learning disabilities.
“At the time, the children at the school, we would consider them as special needs children – most of them – because it was children who didn’t have a desire to learn. I always wanted to know why…Since then, my desire was always to make an impact in their lives”, she related.
After teaching for about a year at the school, Swaving shared that she was transferred to her hometown Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) to attend Teacher’s Training College. However, this was delayed as she was placed at the Kwakwani Primary along the Berbice River in the same Region.
“I taught another year at Kwakwani and again the experience was completely different, another set of children with not this zeal for education,” she said.
In 1997, when she was placed at the Wismar Hill Primary and started attending college, she began working with students whom she noted were motivated but she was plagued with thoughts about those students which she had left behind.
“It always kept me wondering what I could have done to motivate those children…I tried my best but I did not feel accomplished in terms of getting them to perform the way I wanted them to perform,” she admitted.
After graduating in 1999, she continued working at the Wismar Hill Primary School which contains a unit for the blind. Having seen the struggles of her own blind 10-year-old sister who was taken out of school due to the disability, she was even more motivated to make a difference in the lives of such students. Swaving related that though she was a mainstream teacher at the time, she would always show interest in the unit by attending training workshops, though she was not assigned to unit at the time. Her chance came in 2008 as her efforts were recognised and she was recommended to be placed at the unit. She has not looked back since then.
“I love Special Education. I could have moved on for promotion sake and all of these things but I refuse. I said I would like to stay in Special Education because I would like to see something good coming out of our children”, she noted.
The unit has since transformed into a Centre for Special Needs children. Though she admitted that there are challenges, Swaving said she would not trade her job for anything as she is quite passionate about working with the children.
“Yes, there are challenges and a lot of things we would like to see for them. When we look at overseas compared to Guyana, I would say that we have come a very far way. And now, the Ministry of Education, they’re paving a path for persons in Special Education where you can be promoted and remain where you are and that’s great”, she said.
Swaving is a stickler for inclusive education, which includes Special Education. She noted that her desire was always to assist those who might be considered slow learners. She now has the chance to work with students with different disabilities as the Unit has since expanded from just catering for low vision students as it now caters for children with other disabilities including autism, Down Syndrome as well as children with intellectual, learning and physical disabilities.
On board with her are 2 other teachers and 2 volunteers.
She explained that sometimes it can be very challenging. The Unit is presently in the process of being extended to include a sickbay for the students, compliments of the Education Ministry and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).
It has approximately 18 students which also include students from the Wismar Hill Primary. Swaving said her aim is to try to make the classroom a home away from home where the students can feel safe and loved. She referred to her experience as “motherhood in the classroom”, explaining that she would sometimes work beyond the call of duty.
She acknowledged that there is a stigma attached to special needs here in Guyana but urged persons to read and become educated about it.
“This is not like back in the day when my sister went blind and we didn’t know how to deal with her…parents as well as persons in the community should be knowledgeable enough. These are human beings just like us. It’s difficult sometimes, let’s say a parent might want a taxi to take their child to school. Somebody might say, ‘don’t carry he, he does dribble up’…and so you have this stigma attached to the children…We would really like for persons in the community to see the person before they see the disability”, she urged.
She pointed out too that she would love to have special transportation for the students who attend the Unit, noting that sometimes it is hard financially for parents.
The Unit has had many educational success stories over the years with students performing exemplary at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations. This is remarkable, Swaving noted as she explained that students sometimes come in not knowing how to write but leave with enhanced learning capabilities.
“They’re moving not at a very fast rate but we’re seeing improvements, a lot. And even the parents can testify”, she said.
For them, simple things such as learning to write and opening their lunch bowls are considered as great steps and achievements.
Her dream is to one day see a levelled playing field being created for persons with disabilities to become more employable.
“It is heart-breaking to know that when they get older they have to depend on maybe a husband to maintain them, they cannot go to work, pay day-care to keep their children. They need to go to work like everybody else and earn a living”, she said.
Swaving also pointed to the need for community groups to give support as she shared stories of the difficulties faced by students, parents and past students who encounter daily lifestyle challenges. She said there is need for community support and love especially for those who now have families of their own. She also pointed to the need for a special agency or channel to lobby on these families behalf as she posited that there is hope.
Swaving stressed that children oftentimes are born with eye defects and may need glasses, but said apart from the Unit writing and requesting free glasses, there is no other link.
“We try to tap in to find out who has an issue. Children need wheelchairs…walkers and we see how things ‘tight’ in Linden. At the hospital, there’s a physio department, but who links physio to the baby that was just born? So we really need that support mechanism…you need a community worker that can identify”, she stated.
Swaving is also involved in the screening of students to determine their abilities and to verify whether they are delayed. She related too that sometimes even parents are frustrated as she highlighted the need for support through counselling for both children and parents in such circumstances. Considered a vulnerable group, she further pointed to the need for counselling.
Swaving added that there is a need for a Special Needs Education specialised programme at the University of Guyana. She said while it is a part of the Curriculum for other subject areas, there is no specialised training available in Linden. She said she has had part-time training in various areas but nothing specialised. Having experienced two vehicular accidents, she noted that she is unable to attend the University as constant travelling is very traumatic for her.
“So if we get Special Education training available to us whether online or whatever, we would be happy to get the same student loans given to persons who attend University and myself and my teachers, we would go for it because we want to be Special Education trained…because when certain cases are brought to us we really don’t know how to deal with it, unless we get Special Education trained”, she noted.
Swaving said if this becomes available for teachers in Special Education there would be more specialists in the area. She cited that criteria to become a specialist require that you have a Degree in Special Education as she noted this is more so necessary since there are more children being born with disabilities.
Following screenings in the Region years ago, Swaving said it was discovered that some persons refused to acknowledge that there were persons with disabilities living within their homes and kept them locked away. She noted that there were also issues such as neglect and heavy financial constraints faced by families, some whom she noted do not receive public assistance.
“If you spend a day in Special Education you would be amazed by what is happening…this is how it is for a number of years and I expect to stay in Special Education “, she posited.
Swaving said over the years she has developed trustworthy relationships with students even into adulthood as she noted that some still pay her visits at the Unit and keep her up to date with various aspects of their lives.
Recently, she got the opportunity of attending a Seventh Day Adventist Special Needs Summit in St Lucia, through which she is working to help persons with disabilities at an educational and religious level.
The Special Needs Teacher is optimistic about the programme being implemented in Guyana which she noted will see such persons becoming much more integrated into society.
