Ukraine now has over 152,000 handicapped children

Ministry of Health statistics cite 152,210 crippled children in Ukraine, 80% of whom live with their families. The structure of juvenile invalidism has changed noticeably: while children with congenital development disorders prevailed in 1998, today nervous and sensory malfunctions prevail (33.1%), followed by congenital anomalies (19.7%), and mental disorders (12.7%). A falling total birth rate and mounting rate of birth defects result in the accumulation of grave chronic diseases, causing an even further drop in the birth rate. Is this a closed circle?

«There are certain stereotypes prevalent in this society with regard to handicapped children. In part, they are believed to originate from alcohol and drug-abusing families. Our studies, however, prove that most their parents are people with a post-secondary education, and that one of their biggest problems is isolation, being ill-adapted to life,» The Day 's Oleksandr FANDEYEV was told by Iryna Ivanova, Candidate of Science (Medicine), head of the Center for Social Work with Handicapped Children in the Ukrainian Institute for Social Research.

«Quite often parents consciously restrict their handicapped children's abilities,» states Tetiana Kutsenko, a center psychologist. «I worked with a 7-year-old boy who could not speak. Now he is enrolled in a special school. Children like him are extremely sensitive and show adult wisdom; they have a very deep inner world and humanness.»

These children live among us. They wish and can be full-fledged members of our society. But do we really want this? I mean all of us so-called healthy individuals, meaning that we are even more responsible for them. Can we satisfy their so very just desire?