Social exclusion and stigmatization of people with disabilities

Children and young people with intellectual disabilities in Ghana are mostly discriminated and marginalised in the society. Many parents of such children feel ashamed — it is a widespread belief in most of the Ghanaian communities that disability is caused by evil spirits or it is seen as a punishment from God. The social stigma is often extended to the whole family. Few of them have the opportunity to live a descent life with the necessary support and education.

A lot of people also do not have basic medical and biological knowledge concerning the occurrence and heredity of disabilities which causes many baseless fears and avoidance of disabled persons.