The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education results for class of 2013 released  today on Tuesday, 31st at Mitihani House here in Nairobi. There is a group of candidates that am really thinking about on this day. Those pupils with LEARNING DISABILITIES who are yet to be identified by our education system. This is that boy or girl who cannot remember the last time he was not last in their class or the last time he was not punished for having incomplete homework. More often than not, we will be quick to dismiss this child as being lazy, naughty or just plain stupid. We fail to notice that this child is the one who sits the longest at the study table doing their homework but that does not mean that they will have completed it come morning since this child needs a bit more time to tackle each task and being given 30 questions from each subject as homework everyday in addition to the composition and insha does not help. This child will always be the first to get to school in

This has been a great year with lots of high and lows and new experiences and lessons too. I have met lots of people and have been around people who didn't respect me. I never imagined this could happen after so many years of proving to myself that I am capable of doing things. It taught me a great lesson thought, that people are different and react differently to situation. We ourselves must maintain self-respect, "as long as we don't doubt ourselves we have already overcome a lot." I have always learnt to be true to myself and learnt "every single person in this world is fighting a battle we have no right to judge their behaviour but top love them and honour them for where they have come from, experiences make us who we are." Anyway being in such an environment made me skeptical and got me asking the question does Godly love exist? Of course it does! We have a million example right before us. In the same length it also taught me that being w

 Hello good people, I hope you enjoy reading this piece from an amazing lady who despite living with muscular dystrophy is a challenge and inspiration to many.  I am writing this article to raise awareness and I would appreciate it if it is widely shared pls. The latest Challenge I have been facing is on Airlines. Traveling a few years ago and now is not the same. The airlines seems a lot more strict and unaccommodating. I am genuinely physically challenged and that seems to make traveling a lot more challenging. I recently wanted to travel by flight to South Coast and avoid the 10hour journey by car. The airlines said due to narrow climbing space on flights a physically challenged person who requires minimum help can travel easily. In their words " The only caution is that customers must be able to ascend and descend stairs with minimum help. Our aircraft doors are narrow and cannot take high loaders." This made me ask the question "what facil

Kenya at 50 is what is on almost every tongue in the country right now. For us at MDSK it is definitely worth celebrating for a few reasons. First, 50 years ago, the Kenya society did not have the time for people with special needs and looking at our country as it is now, we have come a good long way and a conversation about special needs is not frowned upon by everyone. Secondly, how many schools for children with special needs had been set up? Today, there are special schools in at least every county in the country, well, even though the quality of the service offered might raise questions, we have come a long way. Third, teacher training on special needs, Teacher training colleges might have been among the first institutions where Kenyans could get training even amidst the many untrained teachers during the colonial and immediate post-colonial period but they were not trained about handling students with special needs. Teachers in the country are now taught a bit

Hey lovely, so tomorrow there is this event, awesome( in my opinion) that is going down at Kilimani Primary organized by therapiesforkids.org . Some one might be wondering why am so psyched for the day, here are a few of the reasons;- 1. A fun day for kids? sure those happen every other day and corporates know that they just need to organize for face painting, a lot of sweet things and the kids will go home happy, right? Now, this is going to be a fun day for special children. Those often forgotten or given weird looks when they show up for those other fun days. 2. How often have you spent time with someone with special needs. Now, am not talking about mildly restricting special needs, I mean persons with cognitive disabilities which may range from cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum of disorders among others. For me, that was all too new for me some months ago but I've of late had the chance to interact with kids with intellectual disabilities, autism and cerebra

"Rain rain go away come again another day......" this nursery rhyme must be familiar to most if not all of you. When you are walking in town after a long day of shopping or at the office, then you feel a drop on your forehead, the first signs of a shower that will come down in no time, your first thought is to make a dash to the bus station or the matatu stage before the touts double the fare withing minutes of the rain. However much this might be a worry for any person with mobility restrictions or any form of special need, it is not their biggest worry.  Let me tell you why * When you are running to get to the bus station before the fare hikes, there's a person to whom running seized to be part of what they can do and they may end up getting drenched before they take cover. *Am sure for those who have been in the Capital at rush-hour, you know how crazy it gets with people pushing to get a seat on the next matatu or busy home. We all know it gets worse when its raini

When looking at the photos that I uploaded in the previous post, WHAT'S YOUR TAKE? You might have noticed how there are some modifications that are rarely thought about when putting up buildings as well as other structures. When you wake up in the morning, we more often than not just worry about getting to work or school in time. rarely do you think about how the road is, which route on the road has friendly touts and drivers and vans instead of buses, right? When you're thinking and planning ahead on how your day will be at work, rarely do you think of how low or how high the seats are at the nearest eatery to your work place, rarely do you think of how slippery the floor is at that fast-foods joint. When a friend invites you to their place to maybe just hangout, how often do you ask them on what floor their house is on or how the stairs leading to their house are? When you think of changing jobs or even starting up on your career, how often do you want to visit the place,

 All work and no poetry makes the world a bit dimmer!! Songs of Sulleman: Mansion : For those looking for a wedding poem, here's one for your reading pleasure. To the one who inspired a great chunk of it, you know yourse...

Often we wonder, what next after you have been given an official diagnosis that you have a form of disability and not just MD. I won't lie to you, at first it sound like a death sentence, especially with MD since there is no known cure for the condition and the best our medics can do it to tell you how to slow down the rate at which your muscles waste away. Soon after feeling as though it is a life sentence, there is a sense of relief when you finally have a name to condition that could not be explained by anyone and one that had gradually made you make modifications to how you live your life and carry out your daily activities. This relief, however, does not give you the permission to sulk and sit around waiting for your muscles to waste away, you need to come up with a plan on what you will do to ensure that you live your life to the fullest. For those with MD, you need to get on a regular routine to keep your muscles moving as soon as you can. Most people will go to workout

Hi there,  the name is Faith Njahira, recent graduate of Special needs education majoring in Learning Difficulties and English at the great (yes I just called it great)Kenyatta University. Until recently I was living in denial of being with muscular dystrophy   (well, for a long time I din't have a name for my condition but most of my life I have been aware that I am different). In becoming part of this blog I am hoping to share my life experiences as a person living with Muscular Dystrophy which I will be abbreviating as MD. This is a rather new term and a mouthful for most of you but hopefully in the end you will be more informed and aware and even sensitive yet no longer feeling pity for those of us that God chose to fight this battle with MD. For my friends and family out there who might find this all a bit too much to wrap your heads around, do feel free to engage me with questions that may come into your mind. Cheers!! Col 3:23 In whatever you do, do it heartily as thou

1. Frequent falls because lack of balance. I know you must have been walking on a path sometime when something, a protruding rock, a loose pebble, a banana peel, mango seed or perhaps a missed step threw you off step. Walking when absentminded Or when walking on our muddy kenyan roads and you lost your balance. But did you fall? My bet would be that you didn't, you were able to recover your balan ce and keep from falling. When you have MD, all the above things will have you losing your balance and on the ground in a matter of seconds. Funny thing is that, when you are up again, at times you can't see what it is that threw you to the ground!! Bottom line, if you have MD the fear of falling might be your greatest fear.

TYPES OF MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY DISCLAIMER: Despite being a long piece with a lot of medical jargon that you might be seeing for the first time, do read on and get informed!!  What Is Muscular Dystrophy? Muscular dystrophy (MD) is a group of inherited diseases in which the muscles that control movement (called voluntary muscles) progressively weaken. In some forms of this disease, the heart and other organs are also affected. There are nine major forms of muscular dystrophy: • Myotonic • Duchenne • Becker • Limb-girdle • Facioscapulohumeral • Congenital • Oculopharyngeal • Distal • Emery-Dreifuss Muscular dystrophy can appear in infancy up to middle age or later, and its form and severity are determined in part by the age at which it occurs. Some types of muscular dystrophy affect only males; some people with MD enjoy a normal life span with mild symptoms that progress very slowly; others experience swift and severe muscle weakness and wasting, dy