Written for SA2Eire by a Member
We arrived in March 2019 with our four children. We enrolled them into the local school and they started in September 2019. We always knew that our second eldest son was different, but we never got a diagnosis in South Africa apart from being told that he was autistic.
Three days into starting school, the headmaster called me and asked if I could pop in for a meeting to discuss Cammy. Now, you can imagine as a mother, all sorts go through your head and panic creeps in. I went for the meeting and it was discussed that there were issues with his understanding, and that he was way behind his peers in class 3.
He said that we would need to get a private appointment with a psychologist to evaluate and diagnose him. The cost was anywhere from €500 upwards, which was something we didn’t have. He did mention that all schools are assigned a certain number of allocations to be seen by a psychologist, but unfortunately they had already used all of theirs up. In the meantime, we agreed to put Cammy into 1st class to see how he would cope there.
“It’s the best decision we could have ever made as parents.”
In October I got a call from the headmaster to say that Cammy had been allocated a space to be seen by the psychologist at school. This involved her interacting with Cammy one to one, and then observing him outside in the playground. While waiting for the report, the headmaster had already given me names of special needs schools in the area that might be able to take Cammy, though he could not promise anything. He mentioned one school in particular and made contact with the headmaster there, who said I was more than welcome to visit with Cammy and get a feel for it.
I always wanted Cammy to integrate into mainstream society, but I also had to do what was best for him. Keep him in mainstream and he drowns, or put him into an environment where he would fly?
We visited the school and Cammy loved it. The wait for the report continued, and finally at the beginning of December it came back. I had another meeting with the headmaster and it was confirmed that Cammy had learning difficulties. With this report I could now apply for Cammy’s placement at the special needs school, as they only accept a pupil with an official report.
The new headmaster was so incredibly kind and squeezed Cammy in. He was to start in January 2020. He finished his term at the old school, his class threw him a small leaving party, and he was given gifts by the principal and told to come back and visit often.
January came and off Cammy went to his new school. I can honestly say he has been flying. His confidence has rocketed and his ability is amazing.
This was a challenging time for both Cammy and myself, as he didn’t fully understand what was happening, but it truly is the best decision we could have ever made as parents. The love and support from both the old school and new school staff have been beyond amazing.
I hope this helps someone who may find themselves in my shoes, and gives hope that things really do work out here.
