Interventions for ASD… Do we listen?
Recently there has been a call for public comment for Autism South Africa to take a stance for or against a certain type of intervention. As a national body supporting thousands of families and people on the spectrum I feel that this is a question we cannot ignore, but it goes beyond whether A;SA should... Read More
A first for Mahikeng! Training of Master Trainers on the World Health Organisation’s Caregiver Skills Training programme for autism and related disabilities
Most children with autism and other developmental disabilities live in low- and middle-income countries; however, disability-related services for these children and their families are often lacking. To address this need, the World Health Organisation developed a Caregiver Skills Training programme (WHO CST) for caregivers of young children with developmental disabilities. This programme is specifically designed... Read More
Stakeholder Engagement Feedback from the Regional IMFAR at Stellenbosch
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT FEEDBACK REVIEW: On the 7th of September 2017, an autism stakeholders’ engagement was held before the SA-ACAPAP conference at Spier, Stellenbosch. The purpose of this engagement was to invite all interested parties to collaborate and contribute towards a more unified focus with regards to establishing what the priorities and goals should be over... Read More
UNICEF | Disability-Inclusive Education Sector Planning | Technical Round Table
Recently, our director, Sandy Usswald, was invited to Paris by UNICEF to be a part of their Technical Round Table on Disability Inclusive Education Sector Planning. Below are some of the details about what was discussed during the round table. Countries present were: Kenya Ghana South Africa Vietnam Nepal Ethiopia Fiji Cambodia The purpose... Read More
PLAY AFRICA LAUNCHES SENSORY PLAY AREA FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM DURING WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH
Promotes every child’s right to play with play space created for children with disabilities, families Ribbon Cutting Event Friday, 20 April 2018, 10:45am. The Gateway School in Rumsig, Roodepoort JOHANNESBURG (18 April) – Play Africa announced today the launch of its new Sensory Play exhibit, a unique hands-on play environment created especially for children with... Read More
PLAY AFRICA LAUNCHES SENSORY PLAY AREA FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM DURING WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS MONTH
Promotes every child’s right to play with play space created for children with disabilities, families Ribbon Cutting Event Friday, 20 April 2018, 10:45am. The Gateway School in Rumsig, Roodepoort JOHANNESBURG (18 April) – Play Africa announced today the launch of its new Sensory Play exhibit, a unique hands-on play environment created especially for children with... Read More
Newspaper Craft Group – East London
There’s a newspaper craft group which meets every Saturday at Sinethemba School for Autism in East London. This group, however, is comprised of young adults, all of whom have autism. The group was started when Antoinette Bruce Alexander, Autism South Africa’s Regional Development Officer for the Eastern Cape, mom to an 18 year old young... Read More
Special Knead Cafe – Kyalami
Kim Rundle’s daughter is 21, has autism, is semi-verbal, dyslexic and cannot read. Many of you may read that, and be immediately confronted with thoughts of feeling sorry for Kim and her family. No need to pity the Rundle family. Instead, Kim has tackled the differences in her daughter head on, and decided, with two... Read More
School Placement Process
It’s coming up to the end of the year, and we are getting many frantic phone calls and emails from parents regarding school placement for 2018. So, we have put together a how to guide for getting your child into an autism specific school. For starters your child will need to have received their diagnosis... Read More
I am a self advocate, but I need your advocacy too.
Retha Faurie is a blogger, sometimes-writer of Sunday school lessons, and a bored admin clerk. She was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 35. She would love to get any job freelance or full-time – in writing instead. They say I am an autism self advocate. They may be right: After all, I write articles... Read More