Cape Mental Health

Open Day invitation to Cape Mental Health’s Special Education & Care Centres

Dylan — Thu, 07 Mar 2024 11:50:33 +0000

Open Day invitation to Cape Mental Health’s Special Education & Care Centres

Cape Mental Health invites the parents of children with intellectual disability, community members and businesses to attend an Open Day on Friday, 8 March at our three community-based Special Education & Care Centres (SECCs) in Heideveld, Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha.
The SECCs cater for the special needs of more than 180 children with severe and profound intellectual disability who live in poorly resourced communities in the Cape Town Metropole by providing a comprehensive programme developed to meet the special needs of each child.
Programme manager Mpilo Khumalo says that the core reason for the Open Day is to show parents, community members and businesses what Cape Mental Health stands for and why we are in their communities every day, fetching children who would otherwise be left at home with no interaction.
“Anyone is welcome at the Open Day event,” he says.
The WCED has started to admit children with severe to profound ID at some schools as a pilot, sadly, most children with severe to profound intellectual disability have not been integrated into and are therefore denied the benefits that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) provides to learners attending State-run schools. By being excluded from the national learner database, they are excluded from the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP), and exemption from paying school fees.
Cape Mental Health supports the advocacy movement to realise the Right to Education court ruling of November 2010. Dr Ingrid Daniels, the organisation’s CEO, is one of four representatives who were sent by the Western Cape Education Department in 2023 to meet with a new Technical Task Team established by the National Department of Basic Education. The team has been tasked to implement a strategy for the inclusion of learners with severe to profound intellectual disability (CSPID) and the provision of funds for the infrastructure, staffing, and transport needed to achieve this goal.
The SECC Open Day will share vital information about intellectual disability and the services provided by Cape Mental Health. The event is one of the activities in this year’s Intellectual Disability Awareness Month (IDAM) to raise awareness about intellectual disability, showcase the services available to children and adults living with intellectual disability, and break down the stigma of mental disability. The theme for this year’s IDAM Campaign is “I am not my disability – see my ability!”
The SECC Open Day will run from 10:00 until 14:00 on Friday 8 March. Whilst the learners leave for home at 13:00, visitors will still be able to visit the centre and engage with staff until 14:00. The staff at the centre will show everyone around the premises and explain the specialised curriculum adopted at our centres, and how children learn through play, repetition and, sensory stimulation.
Please contact the centres directly if you would like to visit any of the centres:

Heideveld Special Education & Care Centre, corner of Zuurberg and Guardian Roads, Heideveld: 021 879 3370
Imizamo Yethu Special Education & Care Centre, A401 Zodiac Street, A Section, Khayelitsha: 021 879 3376
Erika Special Education & Care Centre, 11 – 12 Spreeu and Canary Streets, Rocklands, Mitchell’s Plain: 021 879 3369

For more information, please visit https://capementalhealth.co.za/ or contact the PR and Communications Officer Barbara Meyer at 061 043 1298 or 082 897 8176 or by emailing barbara.meyer@cmh.org.za. Cape Mental Health is an award-winning organisation, recognised at national and international levels for our innovative mental health services to persons with emotional adjustment problems, and those with mental disability (intellectual and or psychosocial). We provide a range of accessible services to assist anyone living with a mental health condition in the Cape Metropole.

Useful information for the media: Four out of every 100 South Africans are affected by some level of intellectual disability that can range from mild (slow learners) to profound (those with the inability to walk, talk, feed themselves or use the toilet independently). People affected by intellectual disability are not ill and cannot be cured (though the disability may have been caused by an illness such as meningitis). Many require lifelong care or support.

Intellectual disability is described as a neurodevelopmental disorder which occurs during the developmental period and impacts intellectual as well as adaptive functioning across social, cognitive and practical domains. People living with an intellectual disability can have difficulty acquiring life skills, coping with challenges, and grasping complex issues they encounter in their lives, leaving them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

There are many different ways of structuring a bequest. You can leave:

Dylan — Tue, 10 May 2022 09:32:26 +0000

There are many different ways of structuring a bequest. You can leave:

— A specific sum of money or item (such as a home or vehicle). Although this is the simplest form of a bequest, it makes no allowance for the effects of inflation or changes in the value of your estate. If you choose this type of bequest, you need review your Will regularly to make sure you are not giving away money or items you no longer possess.

— A percentage. This ensures a fair distribution amongst all your beneficiaries, regardless of any changes in the value of your estate.

— The residue (or a percentage of it). The residue is what is left over after funeral expenses, taxes and other bequests have been paid. You can leave the entire residue to a single beneficiary, or apportion it among several beneficiaries.

— A Life Insurance Policy – this can be ceded to an organisation like Cape Mental Health. Or you could take out a new policy, naming Cape Mental Health as the beneficiary.

— Charitable bequests are exempt from tax and can help reduce estate duty, as they are deducted from the value of your estate before tax is calculated. Please consult a qualified professional – an accountant, financial planner or attorney – before making or changing your Will. They will advise you on how best to structure your bequest and ensure that all documents are legally worded and witnessed.

Please contact us at 021 447 9040 or email info@cmh.org.za if you would like to discuss how you can support us in a way that is meaningful to you.

Ensuring inclusion for persons with intellectual disability

Dylan — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:27:52 +0000

People with intellectual disability want the same things as everybody else. They want a sense of belonging and purpose, and a chance to make friends and enjoy life. Unfortunately, many people are held back because of the stigma and bullying they endure as a result of people’s ignorance about the rights of persons with intellectual disability and discrimination.
March is Intellectual Disability Awareness Month and for people living with intellectual disability, it is a chance for their voices to be heard in an awareness campaign that calls for community inclusion after almost two years of COVID-19 and lockdown isolation. People living with intellectual disability are already excluded from day-to-day activities, like mainstream schools, affordable and accessible public transport, access to jobs with the necessary support in place, and community activities. For them, COVID-19 has only exacerbated this isolation.
An intellectual disability is defined as the impairment of cognitive functioning, characterised by a person having an IQ score of less than 70, given that the average IQ is 100. According to the American Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, intellectual disability originates during the developmental period and is characterised by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behaviour, which is expressed in a person’s conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills.
For some people with intellectual disability who have other medical conditions, their low immune system meant that they were more vulnerable to all the COVID-19 variants, forcing them to be confined in their homes for long periods during the pandemic. The lockdown, however, not only kept people safe from the virus but also prevented them from interacting with other people ̶ and this isolation could have resulted in a deterioration of their mental well-being.
The reality is that people with intellectual disability have been excluded from their communities for much longer than the past two years; this is why this year’s Intellectual Disability Awareness Month is dedicated to Ensuring inclusion for persons with intellectual disability. This theme, chosen by the South African Federation for Intellectual Disability Awareness Month (IDAM) 2022 in partnership with Cape Mental Health, addresses the need for inclusion of people with intellectual disability in community life, education, employment, and access to resources. The theme also explores stigma and discrimination as the main drivers of exclusion.
“Intellectual Disability Awareness Month provides us with the opportunity to raise awareness about the emotionally harmful consequences of stigma and exclusion of persons with intellectual disability. We all long to be accepted and included and, not to be judged by our differences. It is therefore our responsibility to embrace Ubuntu and remove the barriers that prevent people with intellectual disability from contributing and participating in education, employment, community and family life. Once you remove the “dis” in disability “ability” becomes the focus of attention”. Inclusion has to be intentional and conscious in order for us to remove the social and structural barriers which people with intellectual disability face daily – we all have a responsibility in this regard,” says Dr Ingrid Daniels.
In March, Cape Mental Health calls for an inclusive society so that people with intellectual disability are fully welcomed, included, and accommodated in the communities in which they live. The organisation will raise awareness about the rights and abilities of people with intellectual disability, in the media and through online inclusion activities. Training Workshops Unlimited (TWU), a programme of Cape Mental Health, will also host its Trolley Race to include persons with intellectual disability in a fun community event, to showcase their abilities and raise much-needed funds for TWU.
Cape Mental Health will also lobby government to improve access to resources for people with intellectual disability so that they can enjoy the same rights as everybody else.

Many children do not have a place to go to learn because there are insufficient special education schools for children with special needs. This means that children who can learn, albeit at a different pace, are immediately marginalised and face a life with little progress and few opportunities. Special Education and Care Centres take care of many children who should ideally be placed at an affordable special school. IDAM 2022 is calling for equal access to education for all children, irrespective of their abilities.
Access to resources like transport impacts every part of a person’s life. A more accommodating public transport system would mean that persons with an intellectual disability can travel to the clinic, go to school or work, and lead a full and productive life.
Access to information in an Easy-to-Read format is also vital to people who struggle to read and facilitates the right to understand information that is important to them.
People with intellectual disability have the right to work but struggle to find a job, because of discrimination against them. They are often overlooked, and their value is diminished. However, with the correct training, people with a mild to moderate disability can do many of the jobs that other people can do – such as; working in shops, factories, gardening enterprises, or the building industry. Training Workshops Unlimited (TWU), a project of Cape Mental Health, is a specialised training programme that trains people with different abilities in work and life skills. TWU advocates for the rights of people with intellectual disability so that they can enjoy a better quality of life.

People with intellectual disability deserve fair treatment and a chance to live a happy and purposeful life. Cape Mental Health calls for the inclusion of persons with intellectual disability and a fundamental mind shift so that they can enjoy equitable access to community life and resources, education, employment, and mental health services.
For more information please visit us at https://capementalhealth.co.za/ or contact the PR and Communications Officer Barbara Meyer at 061 043 1298 or by emailing barbara.meyer@cmh.org.za.
Cape Mental Health is an award-winning organisation, recognised at national and international level for our innovative mental health services to persons with emotional adjustment problems, and those with mental disability (intellectual and or psychosocial). Our mission is to provide or facilitate comprehensive, proactive, and enabling mental health care services in the Western Cape. We are committed to challenging socially restrictive and discriminatory practices affecting the mental health of all people. Our work is underpinned by a commitment to quality, excellence, and professionalism. www.capementalhealth.co.za