Getting a diagnoses for autism can be an uphill battle, but one education centre in Witteklip hopes to help local little ones.
Lescha Casper and the team of Feed the Mind Preschool Centre look after 35 children daily. The centre, which opened last year, has two classrooms that aim to expand their services to include learners with special needs.
Looking for a support system
Casper, a special-needs educator, met Tenya Mathewos and her son Nanti (6) a few years ago after Tenya’s husband started a spaza shop.
“I met the family and saw Nanti was a bit different,” she said. “I had trained at Siyabonga and had learned of autism and suspected he was on the spectrum.”
After asking Tenya a bit more about Nanti’s behaviour her suspicions were confirmed. The family is from Ethiopia and Casper says part of the challenge of getting Nanti the help he needs is the language barrier between locals and Mathewos. “It is difficult for her to understand the jargon that goes along with autism. Even family back home have shunned them because they see Nanti’s autism as a stigma.”
After four years of helping Nanti get a diagnosis and to get on the right medication, Tenya says Nanti is easily upset, so simply getting through the day is difficult. “He is getting bigger and stronger so keeping him calm is important,” she says. Casper says her biggest aim for Tenya is to connect with other parents who have autistic children so she can have support.
A centre of empowerment
Mind Children’s Education in Africa, the NGO Feed the Mind Preschool Centre emanates from, was started in 2017. Its chairperson Sango Abale says despite challenges Feed the Mind is making a difference in the community.
He said: “Aside from the centre we feed around 75 residents in the community twice a week. We rely on donations and gather funds, but we hope to grow and get a bigger property to do more.” Abale says working with children, creating sustainable, long-term upliftment, is his passion.
“We want to help improve the living conditions of the community and empower them. We believe no child should be left behind without an education.”
He believes the team’s work with the Mathewos family and others with the same struggles will help the community. Casper in turn says Feed the Mind hopes to open its doors to more children in need.
Awareness is key
April is autism month, and Casper says awareness is key to helping families get the support they need.
“Too often the parents don’t understand their children have a real, learning challenge,” she said.
“They simply think the child is difficult or naughty when they don’t answer or listen to instructions. I know of parents that get so frustrated with their autistic children that they hit them because these parents don’t have the skills to communicate with them. In some cases it turns into abuse.”
Casper urges parents to keep a close eye on their little one’s development and go to the local clinic to start the process of getting assistance if they suspect their children are on the autism spectrum. In Nanti’s case this is severe autism as he does not talk, does not like to be touched nor deals well with new and unfamiliar surroundings. “He can’t sit still and always wants to move around and touch things,” Mathewos pointed out.
Casper says traits to look out for are: difficulties in learning to crawl as a baby; avoiding direct eye contact; having severe tantrums; eating certain foods only because of the texture.
More help needed
Casper says more local educators, health professionals and volunteers need training to handle autism.
“The clinic so often tries to treat the physical problems. Although it tries to help, patients such as Nanti who need psychological care have a hard time getting what they need. References need to be made to specialist therapists and it is a long process.”
Specialised education is also few and far between, says Casper. She says locally, the Karitas Special School and Siyabonga Care Village can accommodate cases, but it is not enough to meet the need on the West Coast. In the meantime, Casper and her team aim to help any Witteklip residents who may need their help.
