Accept children with disabilities ? please!

This story is about a marginalized group; children with disabilities.  This is a topic that is very seldom covered in (Namibian) media so publishing the story in itself is already encouraging. However, the story could have been strengthened by taking the following into consideration:

 

Sources: the story provides one sided perspective to the issue at hand. The story seems to emanate from a meeting of a group of parents of disabled children held to address their problems. Apart from a citation from the Namibian constitution, only the chairperson of the parent’s group, a female, is cited, yet the writer claims ‘close to sixty mothers’ were at the gathering. The story does not provide any information about the parents in the group, like how many are women and how many are men. Only one person’s perspective of the probably diverse group of parents was provided. Also the views of relevant authorities and the children themselves are missing.

 

It is often so that in Namibia, as in many other parts of the world, women carry the burden of childcare and fathers often abandon disabled children. If it is so that the group of parents only consists of women, this issue should have been highlighted and the story should have sought reasons for it. If there were male parents in the group, their views should have been sought. These voices are important to giving the reader more insight into the problems the parents, and the children too, face. The journalist frequently refers to the group of parents as ‘mothers’ whereas the only source refers to them as parents in direct quotes. The constant reference to the parents as ‘mothers’ and the failure to give context to this subtly reinforces the stereotype that care for children, especially disabled children, is women’s responsibility only.

Some questions for discussion:

Who should have been interviewed? Why?

What data is important to add context and insight to the story?

What are some of the missing issues from the story? Why do you think they are important?