Tobilola Ajayi Is Promoting Inclusive Mainstream Education For Children With Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria

Tobiloba Ajayi is a Disability Management Advocate.

She founded and runs an organization called Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation to promote Inclusive Mainstream Education for Children with Cerebral Palsy in Nigeria.

Cerebral Palsy is a condition that is caused by damage to the muscle control centres of the developing brain during pregnancy delivery and within the first three years of life. Inclusive Education is a system of Education where all children irrespective of disability are educated in the same settings.

Why She Started The Foundation

She started the organization in 2016 after she discovered that children with Cerebral Palsy were being rejected by the school system in Nigeria – schools were telling parents that they could not admit children with Cerebral Palsy.

Knowing that Cerebral Palsy is a common condition affecting 1 in every 90-100 children born in Nigeria, including herself, she knew that continuing to let this happen would be disastrous.

She had an Inclusive Education, and this gave her the tools to live a full life with Cerebral Palsy. She is now on a mission to help children with cerebral palsy in Nigeria have the same opportunity.

What They Do To Support Children, Families And Schools

The Foundation has a 5 pronged approach to serving every family that comes to them.

Each family starts with counselling and then they move on to physical and school readiness assessments, to ascertain what medical and paramedical support that the child needs and what supports and equipment that the child will need to access school.

Next is a referral to medical and paramedical services if necessary.

They then move on to school placement support.

The foundation also offers training to teachers and schools to bridge the knowledge and skill gap of teachers in the classrooms, so that they can effectively teach our children in the schools.

They continue to follow up with each family to ensure that all is working out well and to help solve problems if and as they arise as the children grow.

How Their Work Is Changing Lives

Let Cerebral Palsy Kids Learn Foundation has reached over 370 families directly and thousands indirectly and over 75 of their kids are in mainstream schools today.

They have trained over 400 teachers and trained 20 mothers on Small Business Management Skills so that they can grow their small businesses and earn the income that they need to help their children thrive.

>> The more teachers they train, the more children who will be able to get an education, reducing the number of out of school children in the country.

>> The more children they place in schools, the more mothers who are primary caregivers are able to have the time to earn an income.

>> The more families they reach, the more hopelessness they lift.

>> The more mothers they equip with business skills, the more jobs they create, reducing the unemployment numbers in the country.

>> The more families they reach, the more the correct the negative attitudes and stigma associated with disabilities.

How You Can Support The Foundation

To support their work, you can choose to volunteer with them, donate to help them continue to provide free services, share their messages.

You can also support them by being inclusive in your businesses. Don’t just see people with disabilities as recipients of your charity, but as potential customers, and then be deliberate about the removal of barriers to their participation.