St Catherine mother builds special-needs shadow teaching firm from family court struggle

A personal battle to obtain money for her children has grown into a business focused on better outcomes for youngsters with disabilities.

Anita Anderson, who founded Anderson Child Management Company, says her path has been guided by what she lived through as a parent, by her faith, and by a steady resolve to help other households.

She has four children. One has lower-end autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Those circumstances pushed her to create and copyright a family support receipt book meant for family court use. The booklet lets parents document court-ordered maintenance payments officially — a tool she designed after difficulty getting support from the father of two of her children.

A troubling scene she saw at the family court shifted her focus.

“Right away I looked on and I was distressed by how he responded to the child and I say to myself children need to be treated better,” Anderson said.

Though she had never run such an event before, she put together a parenting seminar and brought in trained professionals as resource persons. That work pulled her further into advocating for children.

She remembers dialling, by mistake, a visually impaired mother whose 12-year-old son had urged her to come to one of the seminars. From that link came an invitation from the Jamaica School for the Blind to accompany two visually impaired pupils enrolled at high schools in St Catherine.

“I was asked if I could shadow these students and I accepted without knowing where the resources would come from to finance the programme,” Anderson revealed.

She paid transport costs with funds set aside for her own child’s schooling, while church volunteers helped the students.

“After this was complete, I wasn’t sure what was next for me, so I was at home when the Lord spoke to me and said, faithfully you have sown and faithfully I am going to bless you with shadowing children.”

A refused United States visa application proved another turning point.

“I wasn’t disappointed that I didn’t get the visa, but I questioned God, and the same night after the disappointment I felt a touch on my shoulder. Thinking it was my significant other, I got up, but he was sleeping,” she stated.

“This time I heard a voice saying ‘Wake up and start writing, get your pen and paper’,” she said, adding that she was reluctant to get up, but the voice told her, “If you wait you will not remember in the morning.”

That night, she says, led to the launch of Anderson Child Management Company.

Only three years on, the firm supplies shadow teachers for more than 13 special-needs students in 13 schools spanning St Catherine and the Corporate Area, and has 13 specially trained employees on staff. It also runs a three-month certification covering shadow teaching, customer service, and sign language.

“I am passionately about this programme, when it comes to me serving children and family, especially those with special needs, I am proud of me obeying the calling to do this, not just my obedience but my giving heart.”

She added, “For me it is not just about money but service and satisfying our clientele. It’s beyond money.”

Caregiver and geriatric services have been added to the company’s offerings. Anderson aims next to open an overnight daycare for children with special needs and to start a foundation that awards scholarships to students from low-income families.