In December 2024, Empower To Thrive Development Initiative partnered with JKS Home for Children with Special Needs to host an online awareness seminar titled “I CARE: Supporting Children with Intellectual Disabilities — The Challenges and the Way Forward.” The webinar was convened by ETTDI and featured Dr. Uduak Offiong, Consultant Paediatrician at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, and Mrs. Nifemi Ajileye, Director of JKS Home and JKS Special Needs Academy. The event created a platform for medical insight, lived experience, practical caregiving knowledge, and public support for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The purpose of the webinar was to raise awareness about the realities faced by children with intellectual disabilities and the families and caregivers who support them. Dr. Offiong provided a clinical overview of intellectual disability, explaining that it is a neurodevelopmental condition that begins in childhood and affects both intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour. Her presentation helped participants understand how intellectual disabilities may affect learning, communication, social interaction, daily living skills, and long-term independence. She also discussed causes and risk factors, including genetic conditions, pregnancy-related risks, birth complications, infections, injuries, environmental exposures, poor nutrition, and lack of early stimulation.
A major message from the medical session was the importance of early identification and intervention. Participants learned that signs such as speech delay, difficulty following instructions, challenges with social interaction, delayed motor skills, and struggles with everyday tasks should not be ignored. Dr. Offiong emphasized that although intellectual disability is usually lifelong, early support can improve a child’s functioning, learning, communication, independence, and quality of life. She also highlighted the need for family-centred and culturally appropriate care, special education, therapy, psychosocial support, and stronger community systems.
Mrs. Nifemi Ajileye brought the discussion from the clinic into everyday reality. Drawing from her experience at JKS Home and JKS Special Needs Academy, she spoke about children living with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, learning disabilities, seizures, speech delays, mobility difficulties, and other developmental challenges. Her presentation highlighted the practical demands of caring for children with special needs, including the cost of food, medication, therapy, assistive devices, educational materials, hygiene supplies, bedding, mobility aids, and safe living arrangements. She also described the stigma many families face, including blame, isolation, abandonment, and exclusion from schools, worship spaces, and community life.
The webinar also included a moving parent testimony from a mother whose child, Chimamanda, had experienced severe birth asphyxia and later developed speech delay. Through early intervention and intensive speech therapy at JKS Home, the child made significant progress and was able to enter Primary One. This testimony reinforced one of the strongest messages of the seminar: with timely support, consistent therapy, informed caregiving, and compassionate services, children with developmental challenges can make meaningful progress.
Beyond awareness, the webinar served as a fundraising and solidarity platform for JKS Home. Empower To Thrive invited participants to support the home through cash and in-kind donations, with ETTDI committing to match monetary contributions up to ₦500,000. The appeal highlighted urgent needs such as a large chest freezer, inverter, food supplies, toiletries, diapers, medication support, educational materials, therapy tools, bunk beds, mattresses, mosquito nets, wheelchairs, walkers, and other assistive equipment. Participants were also invited to visit JKS Home in person to see the work being done and deliver donated items.
For Empower To Thrive, the webinar reflected a deeper commitment to inclusion, dignity, and practical support for vulnerable children and families. It showed that awareness must go hand in hand with action: helping communities understand intellectual disabilities, challenging stigma, supporting caregivers, strengthening referral and intervention pathways, and mobilizing resources for organizations like JKS Home that provide daily care to children who might otherwise be neglected or abandoned.
The I CARE webinar reminded participants that children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are not defined by their diagnosis. With love, early intervention, skilled care, family support, inclusive education, and community solidarity, they can learn, grow, participate, and thrive.
Empower To Thrive continues to stand with children with disabilities, their families, caregivers, and institutions like JKS Home that provide essential care and support. We invite partners, donors, volunteers, health professionals, educators, and community leaders to join us in building a society where every child is valued, supported, and given the opportunity to thrive.
