Date: 02/11/2006
Source: Department of Education
Title: Pandor: Autism World Congress
Address by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor, MP, at the closing ceremony of the second Autism World Congress, Cape Town
"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)
Source: Department of Education
Title: Pandor: Autism World Congress
Address by Minister of Education Naledi Pandor, MP, at the closing ceremony of the second Autism World Congress, Cape Town
"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)
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