Pretoria - “Through good and bad, I will support my son.” These were the words of Dora Makgato whose 11-year-old son suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Makgato said she did not notice anything wrong with her son when he was in the first and second grades, but only when he was in Grade 3.
“Educators never called me in since my son started school, but when he was in Grade 3, I was called in and told about his poor performance and slow pace, compared to his peers,” said Makgato. She said she then paid much attention and became more involved with her son’s home work.
“From the homework I picked up that my son could not read words fluently, he omits words when he reads, and writes the small letter B as though it’s a D,” she said.
But that was just a few of the things her son struggled with.
Deputy chief education specialist, Paulinah Ntuli, of Tshwane District 15, addressed parents and teachers about disorders at Kopanong Hall in Soshanguve.
Ntuli said parents tended to shy away from accepting that their children could not cope academically. Such behaviour added to the number of children dropped out of school and resort to self-hate.
“Important as matric is, not everyone who completes it will be successful. There are plenty of things like skills development that can help one to make a better living,” said Ntuli.
A child had to first be identified by the teacher. Then the district conducted screening and an affected children would then be transferred to special schools.
Thabo Mphela, principal of Tlotlompho Primary school in Ga-Rankuwa, said he had only one classroom for pupils with special educational needs (LSEN). It has 20 pupils. “Teachers from our school based support are trained to manage the children until the age of 12. Then they are transferred to special schools. I have witnessed a positive outcome from that classroom.”
Mphela recalled a read-aloud campaign at his school and pupils from LSEN class participated. “I was so impressed with their spelling improvement. This did away with the stigma that they were slow and different from other children.”
Mphela said nothing pleased him more than witnessing the confidence the pupils gained when they’d achieved something. It boosted their self-esteem and motivated them to conquer, he said.
With only 20 pupils at a time in a one LSEN class, and more than 20 waiting to be screened, Mphela said he was worried that the challenge could do great damage. The district office was aware of the challenges , he said, but certain time consuming screenings had to be followed.
After thorough research around Pretoria schools, together with the Health Department, Phetolo identified a strategy to educate society about these silent barriers and providing a solution to them.
Phetolo is a production and projects organisation offering innovative solutions to change the lives of the deprived, while Edbook – an educational social network – provides those at schools, universities and drop-out students with learning opportunities and develop skills.
Kgomotso Seoketsa, of Phetolo, said: “It is critical to establish a general perception that living with learning barriers and ADHD is not the end of one’s life. It is the beginning of identifying and allowing their hidden talents to come alive.”
Pretoria News