Malta Miss World hopefule Natalia Galea opens up over brother’s ADHD struggles

Malta beauty queen Natalia Galea, who represents the islands on 9 March at the Miss World contest in India, has opened up about her family’s stuggles with her brother’s educational problems due to ADHD.

Galea, who this week joined forces with the Malta Trust Foundation on an inclusivity campaign in schools, said she wants to see more kids getting the support they need in schools so as not to fall behind in education.

“Having a brother who was diagnosed with partial hearing loss and ADHD, I have experienced first-hand my family’s struggle when my brother was not belonging in the standard educational system, and all the turmoil we had to go through to ensure his right for education and to financially provide for therapy,” Galea said at the launch of the ‘I For All – Inclusion for All’ project.

“I have chosen to use my platform to bring forward this call for action to stop holding our future generation backwards due to the long-waiting lists for testing and device allocation, and to provide means for non-verbal children to express themselves at the earliest stages possible.”

Galea said the ‘I For All’ campaign will promote inclusion but also spread awareness among the nation to implement inclusion in every circumstance, at work, school and also at home with family members and those with children to educate.

Galea said she shopes she can bring everyone together to spread positivity towards changing perspectives and accepting each other as they are, and help those at risk of social exclusion.

“The project promises to be a bundle of hope and positivity for how people on a spectrum are viewed. ‘I for All’ is a reminder that anyone can make a difference. ‘I too can be kind. I too can lend a helping hand,” Galea said in encouraging the public to join her appeal.

The Malta Trust Foundation, established in 2015 by President emeritus Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, supports children, youths and communities at the risk of poverty and scoial exclusion. Through projects like Villa Bianca, the Malta Trust Foundation offers a home for children who need therapy and for their families to have peace of mind that their children can too belong in a place without judgement, while everyone’s talent can be shared through music and the arts.