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by the local professionals who saw him was what he would‘ never’ be able to do. No one was able to tell me what he could do … no one gave me even a ray of hope.
This led me to go on a search for answers. The search led me to a pediatric rehabilitation hospital in Florida, where I received my first ray of hope. It was there that I learned to see my child, not for what he can and cannot do, but for who he is.
I learned what to expect from his condition, how to support his development and how to advocate for him.
I learned that my little Nathan represents a growing population of children in Jamaica and around the world with this disability and that 1 in 4 children has a serious visible or invisible disability.
I learned that every day parents receive the diagnosis of disability and that like me, they too struggle to find answers.
I learned that the information I gather can be useful to parents and teachers to help them understand and support children with disabilities.
I went through a I remember when period of utter despair. I we were finally thought the diagnosis was a taking Nathan death sentence, and that my son home from the would would have died as an infant. hospital an I became very afraid of leaving him experienced alone, let alone going to sleep. Fear matron told me was my constant companion the best gift I for a long time. could have given my baby was the gift of siblings. She told me that he may be sick for a long time( though she didn’ t explain what that meant, and I didn’ t have the presence of mind then to ask). So, from the first day home, his siblings, though they were 8, 6 and 4 at the time, were taught how to hold him and how to help. This was the best advice I could have gotten, because it helped to create a remarkably close knitted family. We have become such a well-oiled machinery when it comes to supporting and caring for him. This has been instrumental in helping to normalize Nathan’ s childhood and upbringing, even although very few rehabilitation services were available to him in Jamaica.
After the trip to Florida in 2007, I became fully aware of the huge gaps in information and services that existed in Jamaica. I now understood his disability and the possible ways it may impact his growth and development. I learned that he was not broken and learned what to expect from his condition, how to support his development, how advocate for him.
I became very frustrated upon my return when I realized that the services, laws, and mindset needed to help Nathan and other children like him was not present. So, in 2007, I formed the Nathan Ebanks Foundation to bring support to these children and their families in Jamaica. Through advocacy, training for parents and teachers and public education, the Nathan Ebanks Foundation works for participation, inclusion, and empowerment for children with disabilities and special needs.