I need to employ a qualified Principal for Growth Through Knowledge School, a small school situated in Table View specialising in learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The candidate should be familiar with the field of Autism, the education Curriculum, IEP’s and has the administration, professionalism and leadership ability required in a School. The ideal person should understand how unique/individual Autism are presented in each child, with creative, open-minded & holistic practical implementation in using a variety of therapies and educational teaching.
The Principal will be working together with a team of Teachers and the CEO of Autism Western Cape.
This is a full time position. Starting date 1st July 2010. Candidates who have occupied a leadership position in a school, and has a Teacher qualification are invited to submit by email a CV, proof of qualifications and 3 recent references.
What do you assume when you see a white male growing a full beard in South Africa? Is it maybe a new fashion statement for winter or is it in solidarity of the murdered Eugene Terreblanche?
A group of men growing their beards in solidarity to support a fight that’s been going on since 1943. The fight started by Dr. Leon Kanner by identifying a community of people, who are still discriminated against today.
Now these beard growing men are saying NO MORE, standing up for these rights until the BIG day 15 July 2010, when they will reveal themselves. Who knows what this will mean in South Africa? I deem it my duty to expose them.
Do you know the following faces:
The Leader
He’s known as Paul Scott to his friends and family. He has been seen in the Cape Town area.
The 5 year man
He’s know to his friends and family as Adin Van Ryneveld also been see in the Cape Town area.
The UK leader
Known to his friends and family as Ken Treloar. He was spotted in Cape Town, however rumor has it that he went to the UK to grow the movement in North Yorkshire.
The men should not be approached without respect & appreciation for they have committed to grow their beards to stand up for what they believe in. After investigation I found a link to codename “beardbets” where most of their activity takes place.
If you spot, encounter or come across any of these individuals please write you comments on this post and Tweet about it!
It’s our duty to keep a watch full eye over this group of men. They might just change the wwworld for some people.
One of my staff, who’s also a parent wrote this article about their experience with Autism. It reminded me again of the individual uniqueness of Autism. Claire gave me permission to publish this article.
“So it’s that time of year again, Easter weekend has arrived with much excitement for most. For me personally, it’s more of “oh crap” again.
One of the many down sides to Autism and trust me there are many, is that my daughter’s diet is very restricted. A common trait amongst many Autists is that they have certain food intolerances. Their bodies don’t have the ability to digest certain proteins. Foods like casein (protein found in dairy) and gluten (protein found in wheat) are two huge culprits! For Kelly though her food intolerance list unfortunately is more extensive. No two Autists are the same so therefore chances of intolerances being the same are slim. When she eats wheat or diary, her pupils become enlarged, her behaviour unmanagable, does not respond to us and pretty much it “out of reach” for an 18 hour period. These are only external symptoms, internally, damage is being done.
So my little 9 year old girl doesn’t get to enjoy Easter like most children do. My little girl doesn’t get to enjoy Easter egg hunts, eat Easter Eggs or eat Hot Cross Buns. In fact, my little girl doesn’t get to celebrate Easter. Before you go off giving me the drill about Easter being about God and not Easter Eggs let me just tell you, when you are 9 years old, the only thing you give a crap about is the chocolate eggs and the smell of Hot Cross Buns being toasted in the oven. You walk into shops and isles are dedicated to Easter Eggs, most of the time, the isle in which you wait to pay your bill whilst holding the hand of a child big eyed at the feast laid before her which she may not eat.
So a few years later we have started to get the hang of how to make Easter vanish as much as possible. See the thing is we have always tried so hard to not let Kelly feel “left out” in life. An impossible task, perhaps but we give it our best shot anyway. Our choice, sure, our child, our decision to make it a little less painful for her.
So this is the way we celebrate Easter….
Hide the Easter Eggs that belong to our 4yr old NT daughter (neuro-typical = ‘normal’) and make sure she gets them whilst Kelly is doing a fun activity outside.
No Easter Egg hunts at our house.
Easier to hide Easter by staying home than going away for the long weekend.
Hubby and I will buy Hot Cross Buns and eat them at night or at our offices.
Kelly does not get taken to the shops where food is sold whilst the Easter craze is happening.
Good Friday has become just Friday or Fish Braai day at a friend’s house.
Sunday, each of our girls gets given a coco based ‘chocolate’ and no issue is made around why.
Easter Monday has become Lucky Monday – lucky us for not having to go to work today and we survived the no-easter weekend!So whilst you are all sitting with your excited precious little one’s opening their Easter Eggs,hunting in the gardens, faces smeared with chocolate smiles, think of how many children who will not be sharing this joy. This happy time of year that most of us grew up with and took for granted, a tradition regardless, that I cannot share with my daughter.”
This week was the most difficult days in my life I’ve had to face my own reality with Autism. We established additional school for learners with Autism 5 years ago, due to the demand for additional educational service, because the South African Government don’t give a shit about Autism in South Africa.
We established the school to provide for the basic Human Right to Education for all children, not for Kendall but for the rest of the children benefiting from it today. This week the staff individually looked in the eyes and told me “I’m not prepared to work with your child, because of who she is”. Kendall’s unique Autism presents anxiety, self injury, unpredictable challenging behavior and she gets aggressive. We don’t have the answers. We have looked at it in every thinkable way ranging from medication, holistic, therapy to alternative healing methods.
How do you digest the fact that there are nobody who are prepared to love and care for your child other than you. In leaving the school Kendall gave me a hug and a smile, and that’s good enough for me. She don’t have to talk to be able to communicate with me, I know the who’s inside those beautiful blue eyes.
Who other then us as parents will fight for the rights of our children?
I think if Kendall would have a song to communicate her perception on life it would be:
“Hands”
If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we’re all OK
And not to worry ’cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won’t be made useless
I won’t be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear
My hands are small, I know
But they’re not yours, they are my own
And I am never broken
Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn’t steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn’t ever after
We’ll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what’s right
‘Cause where there’s a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing
My hands are small I know
But they’re not yours, they are my own
But they’re not yours, they are my own
I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
We are God’s eyes
God’s hands
God’s mind
We are God’s eyes
God’s hands
God’s heart
We are God’s eyes
God’s hands
Yesterday was one of those “dad’s don’t like to talk about” days. I got emotional and cried like a BIG baby, because I don’t have the answers in coping with Kendall’s unique Autism. The perfect day started with a phone call in the bank, asking us me remove Kendall from her class, because of another attack on the her teacher. The poor dude have the evidence looking like and Adidas add walking around with his three-strip-plasters-scratch-marks on his arms and head. 100 opinions later, debriefing and Kendall was at home with a note in her daily communication book.
Live the life with Autism
I love my daughter toooooo much to consider the easy way out in dumping her in some “home, institution, nut house”, she’s my child & responsibility even if some fuck head’s refer to me as misrepresenting myself as a parent of a child with Autism, because I am not her biological father. The sperm donor’s role is limited to 1 Birthday card in 13 years, so fuck you.
I am writing this post to serve as a wake up call that Autism Spectrum Disorder is not just about the high functioning individuals on the Autism Spectrum. Like my family there are thousands of other families in South Africa struggling with it on a daily basis. Yes, I am pissed off that Government are not taking interest in Autism in South Africa, they have a duty to support families with Autism, but until some “fat cat” child’s is diagnosed with Autism and get off his fat arse to actually doing something for their own child, nothing will happen in South Africa.
Please don’t feel sorry for me & my family, you can do something about it, shout, scream, blog, fart, become the next president, get drunk, I don’t care what you do. I need to get the Autism awareness out there so that other families don’t have to deal with this on their own.
If you want to you can buy a badge in support of April Autism Awareness Month and World Autism Awareness Day (2 April 2010) for ZAR 5 to help me getting the word out there that more than 1% of our population in South Africa can not be ignored no more.
I hash tagged #102010 because of the significance of October 2010 in the life of my family. I learned from Round Table to “Adopt, Adapt, Improve” which has pretty much become my philosophy in life.
10 years ago Kendall our daughter was diagnosed with severe Autism, which was a pretty devastating time in our life. As a family we “adopted” this challenge as a family when we soon realised that there are very limited services available for children with Autism in South Africa.
We had to “Adapt” our life to the change and it was difficult when we realised that Kendall will always be dependent on us as her only support structure in her life. We invested our lives into ensuring that Kendall gets the best. This meant that we lost every thing we owned. I remember times of tutors buying us a bag of potatoes as only food in the house & walking to the shop with a plastic bag with bottles to get money for petrol. This we did based on “emotional blackmail” by private service providers, for gain & hiding behind religion, who casually made statements like: “she will talk within 6 months and will start in a normal school, all you have to do is…” Which naive parent wouldn’t give their life for their children.
We have lived Autism for the last 10 years trying to “improve” the life of other families sharing a lifestyle with Autism. In certain areas we failed horribly, but I feel that we have made a difference even if it’s a very small one.
October 2010 my family will “Adopt” the English lifestyle in the UK. I love South Africa with every drop of blood, however I need to look at what’s in the best interest of my family. I hope that what I have learned I will be able to contribute in a country where Government cares about it’s people, if they will have me.
We will be working our butt’s off until October, with some BIG changes about to happen which will change the face of Autism in South Africa, starting in April (Autism Awareness Month) and World Autism Awareness Day 2 April 2010.
Please “adopt” Autism to help us to “adapt and improve” the lives of people with Autism in South Africa.
“There is nothing magical about change, it is getting up of your ass and caring enough to take the first step to contribute to change on an issue you care about.” – Jody Williams – Nobel Prize Winner – 1997
I received a pretty new brochure for the DA with the slogan “BETTER EDUCATION BRIGHTER FUTURE” which made me very excited that a political party cares about Education in South Africa.
In reading with great interest:
CREATING A SOCIETY WITH REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
The DA’s vision for South Africa is a society with real opportunities for all. This requires quality education for all our children. Improving education is one of South Africa’s biggest challenges, following 15 years of decline in many schools. The DA pledges that, within 15 years of taking power nationally, all children will emerge from schools able to read, write and calculate at internationally benchmarked levels.
TO DO THIS , THE DA WILL START BY GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT
Teachers and officials will be present, punctual and prepared to do their jobs every day.
There will be a special emphasis on reading, writing and calculating in every classroom.
Principals and officials will be hels accountable for improving results through performance contracts with achievement targets for each school.
There will be good text books for each subject in every grade, ready for the start of each year.
Children will be tested for literacy and numeracy at the end of grades 3, 6 and 9.
At the beginning of each year parents will be informed of the standards their children should reach by the end of the year.
There will be support and training for teachers to achieve literacy and numeracy targets, and their administrative load will be reduced.
Principals will be offered specialised school management training.
Effective discipline will be established in schools.
There will be a special focus on attracting, retaining, and rewarding excellent teachers.
Options for higher education will be expanded to include vocational and skills training as well as university education.
Wow awesome vision for South Africa Education, however one small thing missing. Where would learners with special educational needs fit into the future of education in South Africa?
Currently funding for the development of additional LSEN (Learners with Special Educational Needs) schools seems to be non existing. Yes I am looking at this in a one sided as example, because I receive the calls from desperate parents with children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder looking for schools for their children. Current International Autism prevalence statistics indicate 1:158 ranging on different continents starting range from 1:86.
The current educational structure for autism in South Africa cannot cope with the demand with waiting list of up to 2 years.
Organisation working in the field of Autism function on their own financial ability to provide the best, individualised, quality education with dedicated and passionate staff, working their butts of everyday to change the lives of families.
It is time for Government and political parties to acknowledge that the prevalance of Autism Spectrum Disorder is increasing in epidemic proportion globally. Political parties and Government need to act now, learn for Gordon Brown and Barack Obama in taking ownership of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Looking for information on Autism on the DA website resulted in
In order to be fair I did a search for Autism on all the other political parties website and no information available.
I can only therefore conclude that no political party in South Africa care or prioritise Autism in South Africa. On the 2nd of April 2010 Autism groups & Governments around the world will acknowledge World Autism Awareness Day .
I urge you to start looking at the constitutional rights to education of children with Autism in South Africa.
Ok, so why would you want to pay a shit load of money to go and suffer for six days on a mountain? I don’t think there could be any fundamental reason why anybody would take themselves out of their comfort zone, away from their friends and family if there is no purpose.
I work in the field of Autism and deal with the struggle of creating meaningful awareness around Autism Spectrum Disorder on a daily basis in South Africa. People just don’t know and care about Autism and therefore it’s my duty to inform people about Autism to be able to improve the lives of the children and adults in the care of Autism Western Cape.
So what was the Kilimanjaro trek about? The objective to create meaningful awareness by taking Autism to the highest level of priority through the symbolic climb of the highest freestanding mountain in the world and also highest point on the African continent. Turned out that our trek was the first summit on Kilimanjaro for Autism from the African continent.
Have I ever climbed a mountain? No, am I not a fitness fanatic, no, it hasn’t been my life dream to summit Kilimanjaro. I am just a parent with an Autistic child who cared enough to get off my butt and do something in which I believe and care about.
This was pretty much the same attitude of the rest of the Kili crew of 9 members, consisting of another dad, granddad, couple of friends and Sean Wisedale our tour leader and guide, who is the first person from the African continent to summit the 7 highest peaks on each continent. Our Kili trek turned out to be his 11th summit, so we were in good hands.
Are we there yet, I need a smoke!
So, was it tough? The toughest thing I have ever done in my life. Taking one step at a time whilst not being able to breath, nausea, headaches, stomach burning, extremely cold, wet and limited sleep for 6 days. Thinking why am I doing this to myself spinning in your head pretty much most of the time and listing to the dreaded Pole-Pole (Slowly-Slowly) & “Guys we need to keep on moving”
We stayed in contact via some pretty cute technology, Twitter updating our every moment of the trek with Zoopy. We consistently got updated and also chatted to the families back home. Every encounter was very emotional, but at the same time served to keep us motivated based on the awesome amount of support, messages and comments.
The thought of “that’s enough I’m turning back” popped more and more as we went up in altitude, however the constant reminder of why we are doing it superseded all the other stuff. We had to summit, not negotiable. Summit night was the most difficult part with starting to walk to Stella Point (rim of the volcano, yes Kilimanjaro is a non-active volcano) at 11 at night only to reach Stella by 7 the next morning. Frozen water bottles, storm wind, Altitude sickness (Vomiting, extreme headaches, burning tummy, extreme difficulty in breathing etc.) could not stop this group of zombies to get to Uhuru Peak – 5895 m. I don’t know how I got from Stella to Uhuru peak, about a kilometre; I am told I walked like after a bottle of Captain Morgan.
The next I know I saw this sigh, which said, “Uhuru Peak – 5895 m, you are now on top of Africa”. It meant nothing to me at this stage; all I wanted to do is to get off this bloody mountain. It’s was only when I took the small frozen watertight bag out of my backpack, to open the different flags, that’s when I realised what we have done.
We have Put AUTISM on TOP – Kilimanjaro
So what’s next for Jail4Bail in 2010 in contributing to Autism in South Africa by creating meaningful awarness around Autism Spectrum Disorder?
I cannot sit day in and day out listening to all the bullshit from Political Parties and Government alike. It’s time to take a stand against the discrimination against Individuals with Autism in South Africa.
More children will be diagnosed with Autism this year than with Diabetes, Cancer and AIDS combined. Current world ASD population is estimated at 67 Million people, with South Africa estimated at about 600 000 Individuals with Autism.
The Jonas Brothers supports Autism in America:
How can the South African Government ignore the epidemic?
For the last 7 years we have been playing by the rules and regulations of the Departments of Health, Social Development and Education, with very little impact. The Department of Health has negated on their commitment to take care of adults with Autism in South Africa against the grain of what the Department of Health stands for:
In order to improve the quality of health care for everyone in the Western Cape, the Department of Health has committed itself to a long-term strategic plan called Healthcare 2010. This plan aims to reshape public health services in the Western Cape to focus on primary-level services, community-based care and preventative care.
Mission
Our mission is to improve the health of people in the Western Cape and beyond, by ensuring the provision of a balanced health care system, in partnership with stakeholders, within the context of optimal socio-economic development.
Vision
“Equal access to quality care”
The Department remains committed to the vision of providing better health care to communities. The vision of Healthcare 2010, “Equal access to quality care”, has become increasingly significant and consideration is being given to making this the vision statement of the Department as a whole. This vision statement is more consistent with the Departments central goals of accessibility, appropriateness, affordability, equity, effectiveness and efficiency.
One of our projects, named Hurdy Gurdy House has been in existence since 2001, providing a 24/7/365 home for 10 individuals on the Autism Spectrum presenting challenging and aggressive behaviour. The residents cannot be accommodated in any other environment due to the nature of thier difficulties, previously from Alexandra Hospital Psychiatric unit. The residents were moved based on the Dept. Heath’s 2010 Hospital Care plan which dictates the reduction of beds in Government psychiatric hospitals and quality of service provision which is too disgusting to even mention.
3 Years we have submitted funding applications to the Dept. Health Western Cape for financial assistance for the residential care project with very limited or no communication. The lastest application was submitted in Febraury 2009 based on the prescribed procedure.
We submitted reams of paper conforming under the exact format, proving that we need funding to sustain the HGH project or alternatively face the closure of the project as soon as the end of May 2009. We have been following up as a matter of urgency with no joy. Telephonic communication with 7 individual representatives passing the buck resulted in discussion with a lady by the name of Carol Dean & Pat Collis, both requested to put it forward as matter of urgency via e-mail 8 April 2009.
Dear Carol,
Thank you for taking the time for our telephonic discussion. As discussed for the last 2 years we’ve had various discussions regarding funding for Autism Western Cape. Various site visits including Mrs. Marinda Roelofse and Mr Titus and correspondence with Mrs. Pat Collis resulted into our latest application being declined.
The reality is simple, if we do not get funding from your Department we will be forced close Hurdy Gurdy House, currently under the management of Autism Western Cape. We are currently providing 24 hours residential care to 10 residents who cannot be reintegrated to any Government Psychiatric Service based on the Hospital Care Plan 2010.
The project has been running since 2001 and we cannot sustain the existence of the project on our own and parent resources in a very challenging economic environment. Parents are currently contributing R 5000 per month and we cannot increase any fees.
Should we have to close the project your Department will have to take responsibility for the said residents based on the fact that the residents present challenging and aggressive behaviour and CANNOT be incorporated into any other service.
This is a very serious matter, without at least R 300 000 financial support, we will have no choice but to close down the said project by the end of May 2009.
We are currently doing everything in our ability to ensure the existence of the project; however we will not be able to do it with immediate intervention from your Department.
With NO response I attempted again on the 14th April 2009 to establish dialogue:
Dear Carol,
Since my previous mail I have received no correspondence, response or acknowledgement for any of the recipients included in my e-mail dated 8 April 2009.
I have furthermore not received any formal response regarding the application submitted to the Department of Health re funding for Hurdy Gurdy House.
Please advise.
Today I received the formal reply for Pat Collis:
The Metro District Health Services are unable to fund Hurdy Gurdy in this financial year. It is with regret that we are unable to do so. Regards Pat Collis. Should you wish to email me Pcollis@pgwc.gov.za. A formal letter of regret will be sent to your organization.
Sorry not good enough, if you do not have funding available is because you are not competent in your position, because you did not apply to national treasury for budget and how do you justify underspending in your department?
Please tell me what more do I have to do to get the Western Cape Department of Health to take responsibility for the most vulnerable of society?
I have committed to do whatever it takes to make a difference to Autism in South Africa, sitting 74 days in “Jail Cell” :
Jail4Bail
In November 2009 we will be “Putting AUTISM to the TOP – Kilimanjaro”
Putting AUTISM on TOP - Kilimanjaro
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO GET THE GOVERNMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA TO TAKE AUTISM SERIOUSLY?
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