Smile A While Foundation Inc

The options are few and far between for Nicola and her son, Badrick. The family lives in St. Ann, Jamaica, a nearly two hour drive to Kingston - often the only place where therapy services are available for differently-abled children.

Badrick was diagnosed with Micro Deletion Chromosome 16 Partition 11.2, which causes developmental delays and intellectual disability. He cannot walk. If he needs to eat, his mom needs to feed him.

“When he was younger, he would get therapy,” Nicola said. “We had to stop because of the distance and challenges of getting there.”

Since Badrick would require multiple specialized therapies, Nicola said it would mean various long distance trips.

“The facilities are not well versed in all the needs so you need to go all over the island,” she explained. For example, the local school will not take Badrick because he’s unable to help himself; he was enrolled in school suited to his needs, but Nicola said that, too, is simply too far away.

This story is all too common, and makes the proper care for a child to achieve a quality life simply unrealistic. When a child is diagnosed, the family works with MICO Care Centre to make an individualized education plan which will include things like: appropriate school placement and supportive agencies to connect parents for resources - but the level of support depends on the family’s location, and corresponding available resources and services.

People with disabilities in Jamaica are amongst the country’s most vulnerable and marginalized, and are thus more susceptible to a range of social ills including poor health, poverty, lower levels of educational attainment and limited employment opportunities (Planning Institute of Jamaica, 2009). A total 30% of children in Jamaica have special needs, according to The Mico University College, yet ''only 313 of Jamaica's 23,000 teacher cohort are trained in special education,” according to Dr. Polly Bowes-Howell (The Gleaner, March 13, 2019).

Our vision is that every differently-able child lives a fulfilling life. To do this, we provide therapy services to neurodiverse children in areas where access to such support is not widely available.

Therapeutic intervention for special needs children drastically improves their quality
of life, yet many children around the world receive at best sporadic care. Children
that can have higher quality of life with therapeutic intervention will regress to a point
of limited functioning if these needs go unaddressed.

Smile A While Foundation creates access to therapy services for children with disabilities on the island through establishing a fieldwork site for graduate students, as well host sponsored therapists on the island for a minimum of 1 week and up to 12.

Our organization will provide two avenues to make therapists available to support people with disabilities in Jamaica.

Prepare 2 Practice (P2P)
This program will establish a fieldwork site for graduate therapy students to complete their pediatric rotation. Therapists will treat children with special needs from ages birth to 18-years-old at the MICO Care Centre in St. Ann, Jamaica. This is a 12-week, full-time field work program that provides housing and transportation for therapists. We aim to host 6 students per semester, in Spring, Summer and Fall.

People Interested in this opportunity must be enrolled in a full-time occupational therapy or physical therapy graduate program, get school approval and pay for plane tickets to and from Jamaica. Housing and a stipend are included for the 12-week stay.

The Sponsored Therapist
This program provides room and board for licensed therapists from the USA to spend a minimum of 1 week and maximum of 12 weeks in Jamaica to work in the pediatric unit at one or more of the Smile a While Foundation partner facilities.

Depending on the child’s circumstance, access to our therapy program will improve the child’s mobility, ability to pursue education and cognitive functions creating an overall positive impact on the family’s life.