Disability, Society and Theology: Voices from Africa

Chapter Sixteen: Persons with Disabilities and Psychological Perspectives

Persons with Disabilities and Psychological Perspectives CHAPTER SIXTEEN Persons with Disabilities and Psychological Perspectives Ndung’u J.B. Ikenye Introduction T here is relationship between the physical environment, body experiences and psychological processes of all persons. Basic humannessinvolvesthebody,mind,intimaterelationshipswith others, the natural environment, institutions, and with God, our Creator. Disability affects the whole person, those related to the person, and the community. The quality of life and relationships are not affected by disability as long as such disability is integrated into the overall functioning of a person-the body, mind, relationships, systems of interactions and their quality, residential arrangements, and types of foods eaten. The psychological perspective discussed in this chapter emphasizes that all these multiple levels of functioning have psychological dynamics. Our focus is the psychological processes and dynamics in relation to the disabled persons and those who live and work with them. One of our goals in this chapter is to increase awareness of the psychological dynamics involved in the lives of disabled persons and persons in their community and family. I am convinced that the more information and awareness we have on the psychological experience of disabled persons, the more we can enter into their world of reference, feelings (empathy) and their wholistic Disability, Society, and Theology: Voices from Africa experience (interpathy). Such awareness will show itself in the way we love, work, relate and live with disabled persons. Definition of Terms Three different terms are used by The World Health Organization (WHO) to define a disability. It is a “permanent condition of limitation in the ability to perform essential tasks.”1 The three commonly used terms are impairment, disability and handicap. Psychology The interest of psychology is to describe the causes and effects of the limitations of psychological functioning of disabled persons. The second interest is to consider counseling as a tool of addressing the emotional wounds or pain and suffering. This chapter will focus on the psychological causes, effects, and how we treat disabled persons, their families and communities with the goal of accepting and living with disability in practical ways. For the disabled person, this chapter will also focus on psychological ways and means of accepting and living with disability. For those living and relating with the disabled person, this chapter will focus on the psychological systems of care. Images of Disabled Persons, Family and Society In 1988, a member of the parish I was serving as a priest appeared in the Daily Nation and The Standard newspapers and later on Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) TV for having hidden their disabled daughter for 18 years. She suffered from severe mental disability with learning and communication disorders. Her borderline intellectual functioning made her different from her other two sisters and brother. Nevertheless, this girl was physically attractive. In this chapter, we will keep her image as a person who brought shame and guilt to the family leading them to hide her in the inner room of the house and was never taken to social occasions, or to school. Her ____________________________________ 1 Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, S.V., “Handicap and Disability.” 246 Persons with Disabilities and Psychological Perspectives disability affected relationships in the family as they kept her presence secret from others. As plaque in the arteries restricts blood flow, so do the family secrets limits free communication thus brings division, estrangement, distortions, anxiety, and encourages false companionships. The second image is of a man in the same parish, whom I met when I got to the parish in 1981. He suffered from a mild mental retardation; he never worked but lived with his father. His developmental disability was accepted by his family who valued him and treated him with respect. I was told that at some point, he was married and out of that relationship, two daughters were born. When I met him, his wife had already left him. The father of this man brought him and the girls to church every Sunday. We shall keep this image, of a disabled man, who was accepted and supported by his family. Both these persons had intellectual disabilities that affected their linguistic processing, attention spans and resulted in deficits in social skills. The society and families have their own psychological processes and dynamics, defining what is possible and what is not. Society and families use these processes and dynamics in judging and dealing with persons like these with mild, moderate, severe, or...