closing ceremony of the second Autism World Congress, Cape Town
2 November 2006
"Autism exploring new territories"
National Director of Autism South Africa Jill Stacey,
International scholars and specialists in Autism Spectrum Disorder,
South African professionals and specialist in Autism,
Educators,
Parents,
I would like to congratulate Autism South Africa for organising this second
World Congress of Autism International.
We are impressed by this gathering of eminent scholars and dedicated
researchers and professionals in the various disciplines that deal with
diagnosis, treatment, and management of education and support for individuals
with autism spectrum disorder.
I recognise the exceptional role played by parents of affected individuals
in providing enlightenment with regard to knowledge about autism spectrum
disorder as well as the unselfish love and dedication that only mothers and
fathers understand and never tire of providing.
To see specialists and scholars from over 15 countries, demonstrates the
commitment towards facing the challenges that autism spectrum disorder poses to
the global community as a whole.
From presentations made during the past three days, as well as interviews in
the public media, it has emerged very clearly that autism spectrum disorder is
indeed a "hidden disability". This explains the small number of institutions in
the country catering for children with the disorder.
Because autism spectrum disorder, to a large extent, unlike the commonly
known sensory disabilities such as blindness or deafness, manifests itself in
unconventional social behaviour, it often leads to negative reaction,
stereotyping, censorship and rejection in the environment of the affected
individual. Aggressive behaviour and flouting of social conventions, such as
saying sorry or staying interested in the conversation of people around us, all
has serious negative effects in the schooling environment of a learner.
The learner with autism spectrum disorder is vulnerable in early childhood,
especially at risk during the teenage years, and may remain vulnerable even as
an adult later in life.
Yet, I am told that the typical characteristics of a young person with
autism spectrum disorder set them apart as potential candidates for certain
professions, because of their meticulous attention to detail, their love of
animals and not people and their particular tendency to keep an open mind.
The majority of sufferers, therefore, if diagnosed early, and exposed to
appropriate treatment, support and education, stand a chance of not only
leading productive lives, but also of making a meaningful contribution to
society and humanity in general.
The theme for this congress is "Autism Safari, Exploring New
Territories."
The rich information that has been shared and deliberated upon with passion
over the past three days adds to the body of knowledge that already exists on
this subject matter. The research findings give credence to certain theories
and dispel certain myths.
This is well and good!
The challenge that remains is information management and information
dissemination. It is the outreach programme that Autism International needs to
explore to reach the average undiscovered autism sufferer who is vulnerable to
rejection and possible expulsion.
How much of information shared this week will reach the thousands of
learners who are estimated to suffer from autism spectrum disorder?
How do we manage this information so that it serves the lives of those
affected positively and enable them to take their place in mainstream
society?
How much knowledge about the condition is built into the professional
training for education, health and social welfare students in institutions of
higher learning the world over?
How much information and support is routinely made available to parents to
enable them provide support with homework, with social skills, with life skills
in general for children?
South Africa is a young democracy. It is a developing nation. It is a nation
with a mission to reverse the effects of our divided past. It is a nation
seeking to promote a culture of inclusivity. It is a nation in a process of
supporting social cohesion and unity in diversity among all its citizens, young
or old. It is with this background in mind that we seek to support the
development of strategies to assist parents in attaining early diagnosis and
identification of conditions that impact on the development of the child.
This cannot be achieved by the education sector alone.
As a matter of fact, the health sector has to join hands with the education
and social development sectors in moving towards new frontiers in coping with
autism spectrum disorder.
There are seven schools in the country for learners affected by autism
spectrum disorder.
Building special schools is a costly exercise. I believe we have children
with autism spectrum disorder in some of our 390 special schools that cater for
other disabilities. We have children with autism spectrum disorder in our
private schools! We have children with autism spectrum disorder in our
mainstream public schools.
The Department of Education is currently engaged in field testing inclusive
education practices that ensure learners with disability are able to access
quality education in schools closest to their homes.
While the sample where this trial is being conducted is miniscule in
comparison to the number of public schools in the country, every province is
involved in the programme. This will ensure that the norms developed from the
research findings are suitable for application to the entire system.
Over 4 750 teachers, school management teams and school governing bodies
have been trained on the draft strategy for assessing learner support needs in
schools. Over 4 000 educators have been trained on the draft guidelines for
ensuring inclusive learning programmes that take into consideration the diverse
needs of our learners.
Over 30 district based support teams have also taken part in the training
mentioned above.
The challenge is in ensuring that every district in the country possesses
the expertise to ensure that autism spectrum disorder does not go undiagnosed
and untreated among learners in our schools.
In February 2006 the Minister of Finance approved an additional budget of
over R140 million to the provincial treasuries for the programme for
recapitalisation of special schools. This allocation was made so that over 66
special schools would, in the next three years, be upgraded in terms of
infrastructure. Transport would be provided so that learners who have to travel
long distances to attend special schools would continue to have access to
education.
The programme for strengthening special schools is aimed at ensuring that
special schools are not neglected.
The appointment of school counsellors to serve a cluster of schools will
indeed complement the work of the district-based support teams as well as
ensure that the services offered to learners and educators are integrated.
Opportunity for research of this transformative process abounds. Contextual
issues may differ from Denmark, Norway and India, but the challenges posed by
Autism for the child, the teenager and the young adult who is trying to
integrate into society are similar for all.
In closing, it is important to state that our history of discrimination and
exclusion has created a challenge for Autism South Africa. You need to consider
ways of supporting and informing families that may be totally uninformed and
that deny affected children support that could enhance their opportunities in
life. Given our key role in African affairs, you could also consider links in
Africa and the development of working relationships with similar organisations.
Specific attention should be given to rural based communities as they have
often been left behind in terms of support for learners facing barriers to
learning.
I wish you all a safe journey as you travel back to your countries, and as
you begin preparations for Mexico 2009!
Issued by: Department of Education
3 November 2006
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za)
