Materials : Country Paper :
The Situation of Persons with Intellectual
Disabilities (ID) and their Families in Thailand
Reported by Mrs. Daranee Thanabhumi
President of Association for the Association for the Mentally Retarded of
Thailand
Critical Issues
1. Early detection and early intervention for I.D. Children
Problems:
1.1 Infant and young children with ID in the rural areas cannot access
to early detection and early intervention programs.
Barriers:
- Poverty
- Long journey
- Parents lack of information and services
- Lack of support from government or local
community
2. Education for ID Children
Problems:
2.1. Lack of special classes for children with moderate ID and most of
them cannot go to the inclusive classes in the regular schools.
2.2. Failure of inclusive education for ID children:
- Inadequate teachers’ training for inclusive classes.
- Inflexible curriculum and assessment method.
- Some of students with ID were sent back to special school.
- Lack of special education teachers to assist the ID children in the
regular classes.
- Lack of appropriate teaching aids and materials for ID children.
Note. Statistics: Only 20.05 % of ID children can attend to the schools.
3. Vocational training and employment
3.1 Vocational training
Problems:
- Lack of governmental vocational training schools or centers. (only a
very few NGOs organize.) Most of them stay at home after school
graduation.
- Lack of transmission from schools or involved organizations.
- Inadequate guidance to parents.
3.2 Employment
Problems:
- The “Rehabilitation of Disables Persons Act 1991” which enforces
employers to hire PWDs through the quota system is not effective for ID
persons.
- Lack of coordination on job placement.
- No appropriate work places for ID persons
- Inadequate personal social skills adaptation for ID persons.
- ID persons have barriers to commute from home to workplace
- Lack of job planning for ID persons.
- Lack of job-coach for ID persons.
Research 2003
The sampling group of ID persons after school graduation, with aged from
20 to 29 in Bangkok and surrounding provinces, shows the percentage of
different living conditions and activities of ID persons in Thailand as
follow:
| 1. Helping in some domestic jobs
in the families |
48% |
| 2. Doing nothing |
32.1% |
| 3. Helping sometimes in business
or work of families |
14.3% |
4. Working for general services in
the offices.
(Monthly salary is provided. The above figure is persons with
mild ID only.) |
5.4% |
Leisure time activities
| 1. Watching TV and playing games |
36.8% |
| 2. Listening to music (radio and
tape) |
27.0% |
| 3. Sport and exercise (sometimes) |
11.9% |
| 4. Drawing and painting |
5.3% |
| 5. Watching flowers and plants |
2.8% |
| 6. Doing nothing |
16.3% |
Parents’ needs and supports inquired to the Government
- Action plan (not policies) developed through parents’ meeting -
- More effective teaching for ID children in the schools (both
inclusive and special schools)
- Vocational training centers for ID persons.
- Job placement and other procedures to get jobs (majority need of low
socio-economic families)
- Provision of sheltered workshops for ID persons who can not go to
workplace
- Fund for parents to open a new venture
- Urgent needs and supports for parents;
- Disabled pension (monthly) for ID persons (now it does not cover
all ID persons. Only some ID persons have received it.)
- Places for living and caring for ID adults whose parents are old
or die and no one takes care of them.
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