BVIslanders with special needs forced to move
Walwyn. Families in the Virgin Islands are being forced to move to the United Kingdom to secure proper care for their children with special needs, according to Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn. Spe...
Families in the Virgin Islands are being forced to move to the United Kingdom to secure proper care for their children with special needs, according to Opposition Leader Myron Walwyn. Speaking in the House of Assembly, Walwyn said parents have long struggled with the lack of local services and are left with no choice but to leave their homeland. “It is not easy for parents with children with special needs.
You have people who have to leave their homeland,” Walwyn stated. “You know, when people go to England, you ask them, where's Tom? Oh, Mary had a special needs child, she had to go to England because of her to get the support. What nonsense is that?” He urged the government to provide direct support to families, including financial assistance and specialised programmes. “Give them a stipend to help the parents to take care of the children.
Most of them have to get caretakers and all kinds of things,” he explained. Walwyn also called for reforms in the education system to ensure children with disabilities gain essential life skills. He pointed to the Eslyn Henley Richiez Learning Centre, recommending changes to the curriculum. “Change the curriculum done at Eslyn Henley and let part of it be to teach those children how to take care of themselves.
Those things got to be there because some of the children will never come to the point where they'll come to top executive jobs but they must know how to live,” he insisted. He highlighted the long-term anxieties parents face. “The greatest fear of a parent with a child with special needs is them dying before the child dies.
Because if the parent dies, that child will get knocked about. We have to take these things seriously,” Walwyn warned. Parents of children with special needs have repeatedly appealed for more investment in education, therapy, and employment opportunities. Advocates have said that without structured support, families are being pushed into migration despite wishing to remain in the territory.
Walwyn argued that the territory’s push toward self-determination must include every resident. “Teach the children how to take care of themselves when they become adults. And put them in employment so they can become independent and be part of this nation we're trying to build. We're building a nation going full speed about independence and you're leaving back half the people,” he said. “And we think we’re bright.”
Primary source: BVI News