Family Deported From Ireland to Africa
December 15, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
16 months ago, Olivia Agbonlahor and her 7-year-old twins, Great and Melissa, were deported from Clonakilty, County Cork, in Ireland, to Nigeria. Great is autistic and, as reported in the Irish Indepedent, he is considered “wicked” and “possessed by voodoo” in Africa.
Great’s autism is simply not recognised due to the common stigma in Africa against autism. “I have to do my best, but it is not easy,” said Olivia.
“His behaviour is getting worse every day — that is the problem. He cannot play with other children. People ask ‘what is wrong with this boy’ all the time,” she said from her home in Ghana.
While the teachers that helped the family when they lived in Clonakilty and Killarney have sent over computer learning aids for Great, there is little else to occupy him.
“The only thing that keeps him calm, that he can stay with when you leave him is the computer — there are some CDs that they burned from Ireland, the special needs assistants for him, to be practising,” said Olivia.
“He can do that for hours but he cannot be doing that all the time, it is not good.
“In Africa they believe that there is something which is wicked about him — that is the problem. It is always the case, there is a lot of stigma. That is Africa, everywhere.”
The Irish Independent notes that there is only a “slim chance” that the Agbonlahors will be able to return to Ireland, after they were ordered to deport by the High Court. The family currently lives on money sent by Olivia Agbonlahor’s husband, who is in Italy.
The Global Autism Project exists to “to address the needs of children with Autism in developing countries, to address the fear that plagues parents of children with Autism where there are few resources, and little or no understanding of Autism.” I am trying to contact them to find out how we might help the Agbonlahors—-and if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments below.
I have been reading your blog regularly for last one year and it’s been psychologically very uplifting for me. My son Anan who is 12 years old with Autism has striking similarities with Charlie and reading your blog has brought lot of changes in my attitude and helped me to deal with lot of challenges.
I wated to share with you that Anan has faced similar challenges in the last 2 years in his school and at home as well. As you have pointed it out that when staff at school sees a tall and strong teenager (Anan is 5′6″ tall and 120 pound, very active), the whole outlook changes and our kids perceive that as well. When the staff reacts to these behaviors (overstimulated, anxious, not sure how to react) with anxiety, fear and lack of understanding, it makes it worse. This is what happened to Anan when he was attending a special ed classroom in a public school (one of the best in CT), his behavior went downhill and clearly they were incapable of handling it with best of their resources (he had 2 aids for him). The point was he did not need 2 aids, he needed understanding (which no one did except his new in the block special aid teacher). So, he was moved to a school which was just for kids with autism spectrum and everything statrted calming down. I need to add though that with things better at school, our attitude and behavior changed as well and things statted falling into place.
I think, now it is time when attention should be paid towards his behavior and try to make things calmer for him and providing him with alternatives to handle anxious moments and avoiding to place extra demands on him. It takes time but they figure it out eventually with everyones help.
Hope this helps.
Thank you for finding stories like this. While we have had our disagreements, I think these stories serve a great purpose.
Evidently Ireland is not the only country that has problems with admitting people with disabilities.
http://media-dis-n-dat.blogspot.com/2008/11/australia-rejects-thousands-of.html
Although the doctor in this story just got an exemption to allow his son with Down syndrome to stay in Australia, it would seem that Australia routinely denies emigration to families with a disabled member.
Joe
Great and his family were deported despite his autism; and many of us hope that it could be the reason his deportation is reversed and he can return. (reverse discrimination if you like)
While the Department of Justice did a terrible thing by not overturning the deportation order; The people in Great’s town of Clonakilty were very supportive and the entire community, along with the autism community worked hard to get this decision overturned.
I am an emigre; and I have to say that the services in Ireland are far superior to what we would be able to access in OZ.
We are lucky though, there are 13 state sponsored ABA schools here, and until the recession I think we had a good chance of increasing that number. Now I wonder what will happen next.
We have to fundraise constantly to support the school we have (Google THE SAPLINGS schools) but every family can do that by choice as the actual education is free.
I hope this model can be replicated world wide, it saves a lot of children from a life of dependence on their parents, and it improves the quality of life for the rest.
I also hope that the next appeal for Great and his Mother and Sister is successful and they can return.
I realise the department is trying to set an example to other illegal immigrants and asylym seekers; Ireland is seen as a soft target.
But Great and others who fear discrimination and bodily harm should be the exception.
Thankyou Kristina for raising this worldwide.
xx
(Did Charlie have a better day?)
I’ve had this family all day—-just keep thinking about how much the family has been through, including separation from their father.
Thank you, CS, and I really mean it. With Charlie’s struggles at school, I have had much to reconsider about the set-up and methodology of his current school. I really mean it, too, in saying that I’ve really taken everything you’ve said to me in consideration, especially as we try to figure out what would be the best school for Charlie.
@lisadom, if there’s more info you have or links, would love to know of them—-and we know someone who used to work at SAPLINGS…… yes, a better day so far, including a visit to the doctor’s just to be sure the bad cold Charlie had over the weekend was nothing “bigger” (like strep).
@Club166, thanks for the link—now I’m curious to find out about how more countries approach this issue.
Joe, in this case, it wasn’t that Ireland “has problems with admitting people with disabilities” but that the family were said to be illegal residents. The mother lived in Ireland with her twin children and hoped that her son’s autism would give them a better chance of being allowed to remain in Ireland on compassionate grounds. They were deported despite his being autistic, not because of it.
The children were born in Italy and I don’t think their father ever lived with them in Ireland. There’s more information about them here.
I hope that the High Court appeal against their deportation will succeed and they can come back home. I don’t like where the article linked in Kristina’s post says that Great is “regressing by the day” and “as his condition deteriorates, it is a constant struggle to keep him calm day after day.” He is struggling in an unfamiliar place with cruel and ignorant neighbours, it’s not him or his condition that is deteriorating but his circumstances.
“in this case, it wasn’t that Ireland “has problems with admitting people with disabilities” but that the family were said to be illegal residents.”
I think this would happen in every country in the world and isn’t particular to just Ireland.