Having a child who is challenged mentally could cause a number of people to shy away or shield such a child from society. But can one really blame them? At today’s Mental Health Dialogue session, Lola Aneke, certified Special Educator, Consultant, CEO of Comprehensive Autism and Related Disability Education and Training (CADET) Academy in Abuja, took participants through a series of stages which parents go through after a child has been diagnosed. These stages range from denial to depression and finally acceptance. She started her very stimulating session with conducting an exercise aimed at making participants put themselves in the shoes of children with mental disorders. In responding to a question on if one can really tell if a child has a particular disorder based on certain behavior, Lola mentioned that it was wrong to say a child is having a disorder without the child having been diagnosed.

Participants were informed about different stages of disorders among growing children and were also educated on how to guide children with mental disorders until treatment/correction is achieved.

One of the biggest challenges especially among teachers is the inability to spot these disorders among pupils in schools and Lola is recommending that teachers within this category be trained on how to recognise and address these disorders-to help parents and their children.

Watch this space for more interesting clips from Gede’s Mental Health Dialogue sessions.