When my son was 5 years old, he was diagnosed as Autistic and ADHD, and then during his school going years his speech therapist diagnosed him also with mixed expressive receptive language disorder.
Prior to the diagnosis he has always been an energetic, loving child. He loved the outdoors. He was born in 2007, back then we were living in the Western Cape.
So when he was around 3 years old we moved back to Johannesburg. So when the time came and I went to enroll him for Grade 00 so we went to a very well known school in Alberton. However, the educational therapist that was sitting in, bluntly informed me "WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ENROLL YOUR CHILD, BECAUSE HE'S AUTISTIC". For a parent and grandparents to be informed in such a manner was one of the most emotional days in my life.
So, a journey started of both very understanding people, but
also people that were not as helpful. A lot of dead ends, but we found a wonderful school, with extremely dedicated teachers.
My son completed his school years at Optim - Ed Learning Centre. In the year when he turned 16 years old, I took him out, and he started taking art classes at an established artist, since 2023.
Though he has basic reading and very limited writing ability, painting has given him a way of expressing his feelings.
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