Mrs. Yasser, a 46-year-old mother and her intellctually disabled 20-year-old Habiba after interviewing the mother in "The Right to Live" organization.
Vidana the writer of the story "Patients With Intellectual Disabilities And Their Obstacles", Habiba an intellectual disabled young girl and Dunia Ganem, the writer of the story "A Mother of a Mentally Disabled Girl.
Dealing with Disability: A Mother’s Journey
Every mother dreams of her daughter’s big night from the moment she realizes that her little jewel is on the way to life. But for Azza Said, it is a different story. The 46-year-old mother forced herself to abandon that dream with her now 20-year-old daughter, Habiba.
Habiba suffers from mental disability.
For the past 18 years, Azza has raised her growing girl as a baby; Habiba will never get a chance to be a grown up because of intellectual disability. The mother gave up her dreams of having an educated daughter with an established career the moment she found about her daughter’s illness. Instead, Azza dreams couldn’t bypass Habiba’s ability do simple tasks such as walking and talking.
“When I first found out it was a shock,” says Azza, “however, the shock didn’t last long, as there is no one else to care of her, but me. Getting her to talk was my biggest challenge, as her only way of communication back then was screaming and self- injury.”
Habiba was two and a half years old when her family found out that she was intellectually disabled. They didn’t see this coming because Habiba was born healthy.
Habiba usually bangs her head on the wall and screams whenever she needs something. Azza said that sometimes it is very frustrating not being able to communicate with her daughter or helplessly watching her harming herself.
Mental Disability
According to the World Health Organization, 20 Percent of young people suffer from mental disability around the world.
Intellectual disability is a mental disorder that affects personality, actions and psychological functioning. It is usually caused by a disorder that happens either during of after pregnancy.
“Habiba’s concerns right now involve playing and having fun, she is like a baby girl who wants to play all day,” says Mohsen Mohamed, Habiba’s medical consultant and the supervisor of the Psychology department in the Right to Live organization, a charity in charge of helping the disabled in making their life easier and more joyful
With the help of organizations such as the Right to Live, mentally disabled adults get the chance to learn how to engage with the outside world. They also learn skills to help them become more productive in the workplace, which can subsequently have positive effects on their psychological and emotional wellbeing.
The Family
Having a mentally disabled kid does not only affect the parents, it can also affect the rest of the family. Siblings of the mentally disabled may suffer the most, as they often feel left out and constantly seek their parents’ attention. This is because the disabled child usually gets the parents’ full attention.
Azza said it was hard at the beginning to get Habiba’s elder sister, Yosra, to accept her and, above all, look after her. Thankfully, that’s no longer the case. “Yosra didn’t recognize how her sister is important until Habiba and I traveled one time to see her father and left her here with her grandmother,” said the mother.
But Azza other daughter, Sarah, can’t, until now, come to grips with her elder sister’s disability. Habiba often complains about her younger sister bossing her around; telling her what and what not to do.
According to a study on depression in mothers and fathers with children with intellectual disability, 45 Percent of mothers with mentally disabled children suffer from depression. For Azza this was the case at the beginning when she first knew that her daughter is intellectually disabled. However, Azza never gave up on her daughter or thought of abandoning her at any point in time.
As a parent, it was Azza’s duty to hold the family together and help Habiba get along with her sisters.
But Azza explained that she fears for Habiba’s future in the case of her passing and hopes her daughters would volunteer to help their disabled sister. “Now I can be there for her, but tomorrow I might not. So she should help who is going to take care of her after me,” said Azza.
Among the challenges Azza has to deal with on daily basis is getting other family members as well as friends to accept her disabled daughter. Habiba is sensitive toward her disability and often feels offended from the way people treat her. “She knows she is different, and doesn’t like it,” said the mother. “I don’t allow people not to accept my daughter; and if so, they better not accept me as well,” added Azza.
Although Habiba is often a burden on the family, her mother assures that they consider her a blessing and that they love her and accept her the way she is.
By: Dunia Ghanem
The Right to Live Association, one of the biggest organizations that help induviduals with disabilties in Egypt, was established in 1992.
Right to Live Association Location
1 El Hak Fi El Haya Street Sheraton Heliopolis,
Heliopolis Cairo, Egypt
11799 P.O Box 22. Sheraton Heliopolis
Mr. Mohsen Mohamed is one the Consultants and Supervisors of the Psychology department in Al Hak Fe Al Hayah Organization.
In the interview he talks about two of the cases in the organization, Habiba and Omar. He also explains the difference between the cases they have in the organization and defines in details the meaning of an intellectually disabled person. He also talks about the importance of supporting intellectually disabled people in our community.
Habiba is an intellectually disabled young girl.
She is 20 years old. She lives with her family in Cairo. The interview is with Habiba's mother. The mother is sharing her daughter's story and the challenges they face in their everyday life.
By: Dunia Ghanem
By: Dunia Ghanem