Finding the perfect school for your child is never easy, but for parents of autistic children, it can feel downright impossible. Sure, mainstream schools exist, but they might not have the special equipment and support needed for children with autism to thrive.
Speaking to Health for Mzansi, Bongiwe Lee from Pretoria highlights the two biggest challenges in finding an appropriate school for her son as location and affordability.
“It’s difficult to find autism schools nearby, and autism schools are very expensive as 90%, if not 99%, of them are private schools,” she says.
Autism awareness lacking
“My child is currently in school, but at a normal private school because there is no autism school close to my area; the closest school is one hour and 15 minutes away.
“The transport and school fees are around R4800 to R10 000 per month. So taking him to a private school was the only option I had, and I asked them to accommodate my son.”
Bongiwe Lee
Lee adds that autism awareness is lacking in Mzansi, and taking care of a child with autism is very expensive because of the foods they eat, the different therapists they need, and their schooling needs. Thus, she pleads for the government to help meet parents halfway in supporting autistic kids.
Nobuzwe Mthitshana, a special education teacher at the Johannesburg School for Autism, highlights that although mainstream schools exist for autistic learners when kids with autism attend them, they are usually mistaken to be slow rather than autistic due to a lack of knowledge.
“In my teaching career, I also worked in mainstream schools. I later realised when I started working with learners with autism that there were learners like these, but then we thought they were intellectually impaired, so they missed out on getting the right skills and education.
“Especially in rural societies, they are called names because of a lack of knowledge. So being in a specialised autism-specific school, they are better off,” says Mthitshana.
“Autism schools help support learners through visualised teaching methods. We use Makaton signing and sign language specialised for learners with autism. There is also a method called TEACCH. More autism awareness campaigns are needed, especially in rural societies and townships.”
Autistic children need support
While studying early childhood development with Unisa, co-founder of Autism eKasi and Jubilee Centre of Excellence, Joyce Chambers from Pretoria, says she was encouraged to start Autism eKasi after realising practitioners were not trained to observe autism. In one of the workshops, she met her partner, Naomi Mampana, who has a child with autism and together they registered for Autism eKasi in 2019.
“We have knocked on so many doors, even in our municipalities, to utilise the unused schools in the townships as autism schools but our pleas have fallen on deaf ears. We even had a national mark that covered all provinces, and promises were made, but there were still no schools. We have waiting lists for up to three years.
Parents with autistic kids are forced to use private schools, which cost over R4 000. Our townships cannot afford this, so the kids are kept at home. Most opt for homeschooling, and parents resign so that they can look after their children.
Chambers adds that a parent she spoke to mentioned that it’s hard to find autism schools, as you will find that even when you do get the school, the child has to be assessed to see if they “fit” to be taken by the school.
“It’s a game of being patient and keeping an eye out for your child. We ask the government, or whoever is responsible, to prioritise our kids with disabilities in schools. Every child deserves an education; it’s their constitutional right, including disabled kids.”
Joyce Chambers
Advising parents facing the difficulty of accessing autistic schools for their children, Chambers says to keep on going to the district office to see what the delay is. Autism schools are very few, and the process is so long, but in the end, they will be placed.
“Our children are special and can be managed; let’s be the voice for our children. The stigma out there can be cruel; let’s use this opportunity to educate and create awareness in society.”
ALSO READ: Children with autism have nowhere to go in EC
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