In November 1998, Arno, who was then in Grade 0, was tested for school readiness. Although, according to his teacher, the tests showed that he was ready to go to Grade 1, she nevertheless suggested that I should take him to an occupational therapist, just to make sure that his muscles would be developed adequately.
The occupational therapist assessed him for two hours and suggested that he should see her for an hour every week because his muscles had indeed not developed adequately. She recommended that, in addition to the vitamin supplements he was already taking, he also had to take extra magnesium, calcium and zinc. Arno attended occupational therapy from November 1998 to August 1999.
The therapy consisted of an hour at the therapist every week and homework that he and I had to do. As a result of the homework he got at school there was no time during the week to do the occupational therapy homework. We had to devote the whole of Saturday mornings to the occupational therapy homework. Arno did not like this at all because the other children in Grade 1 had started playing rugby, and he could not because of the homework.
At the beginning of August 1999 the occupational therapist was satisfied with his progress and the therapy was discontinued. She promised to send a report to the school and to our GP — however, she never did.
In July 1999 I received a letter from the school suggesting that Arno should attend speech therapy to help him to read and write better. This would be quite convenient, the school said, because the speech therapist worked at the school and could see him at the school immediately after school hours. I contacted the speech therapist and made an appointment to see her. She explained how she would go about helping Arno, and also told me what to do at home to help him. For the rest of the year Arno attended speech therapy. I never received any report on his progress, only accounts that we now had to pay ourselves because the occupational therapy had exhausted our medical aid.
Arno was very unhappy in Grade 1 and every day complained of headaches and stomachaches when he had to go to school. His teacher complained that he was a disturbance in the class and moved his desk right up to the blackboard so that he would be separated from the rest of the class. Now Arno was even unhappier. I went to see the teacher in an effort to clear up the problems. Suddenly I started receiving positive feedback from her and suddenly it was said that his work had improved — and he was promoted to Grade 2.
Arno was happier in Grade 2. He and the teacher got along better and she had no problems with his discipline. It was recommended, however, that he should receive remedial education twice a week. When the rest of the class went to the school hall, he had to go for remedial education, and he also received extra homework. The teacher also recommended that he should read a lot. We bought storybooks and borrowed books from the library. I spent all my free time to help Arno with reading, but he hated it. By this time I was quite despondent because I was doing so much extra work with him without seeing any improvement. Arno battled with reading and writing and especially with comprehension tests. When he finally succeeded with great difficulty in reading a passage to the end, he had no idea what he had read. However, he was promoted to Grade 3.
Throughout his Grade 3 year Arno continued to receive remedial education. I devoted as much time as possible to his reading and writing. Many times I was in tears behind a closed door because I felt that I was doing everything I could to help Arno and yet I saw no improvement. He still had great difficulty reading Afrikaans, his spelling was atrocious, not to mention his reading and spelling in English. He was virtually totally unable to read, write and spell English. The other children mocked him, saying that he was stupid. Nevertheless, Arno was promoted to Grade 4.
In Grade 4 he did not receive any remedial education any more and had to start writing exams. Because he had such difficulty with reading he could not learn by himself. I had to read his work over and over to him and ask him questions to prepare him for examinations. After the first term his teacher said that Arno had really serious problems and that she did not expect him to pass at the end of the year. By this time I was so desperate that I had no idea how to help him.
During June 2002 a lady at our church asked me how Arno was doing at school. I told her how desperate I was and that I did not know what to do, and that I wished somebody could tell me what was wrong with him, whether he perhaps had some illness or perhaps dyslexia. She referred me to Dr Jan Strydom.
I made an appointment with Dr Strydom. My husband, Arno and I went to see him and I told him that he was my last hope because I honestly had no idea how to help my child. Dr Strydom assessed Arno and told us that his reading and writing were very weak and that he was a very unhappy child. He recommended a three-day course for Arno and me during the July school holidays. Here for the first time I was introduced to Audiblox and I was very impressed. After the three-day course Dr. Strydom prescribed a program that I had to follow with Arno, one hour per day, four days per week.
At the parents’ evening after the holidays Arno had been on Audiblox for about four weeks. His teacher wanted to know what had happened to him, because he had made a complete about-turn. His reading and writing was already better and he had started to take part in group-discussions in class — a thing he would never have done before. He had started putting up his hand to answer questions — another thing he would never have done in the past. According to her his self-confidence had also improved considerably. My husband, Arno and I were all beside ourselves with joy at this positive feedback and it spurred Arno on to follow the Audiblox program with renewed enthusiasm.
We continue to see Dr. Strydom once every two months. Arno’s teacher then gives a report, which is positive every time. It is clear that Arno continues to improve every week. Dr. Strydom is very happy with Arno’s progress. Every time we see him he adjusts his program to a higher level.
At the end of Grade 4 Arno received a very good report. We were overjoyed. All subjects on the report were indicated as having been mastered, some as having been mastered on an above average level. The previous year the subjects were indicated as having been mastered or not having been mastered yet.
For the time being we intend continuing with Audiblox to the end of this year, as there is still room for improvement. Audiblox is not covered by the medical aid, but for us as parents it was worth every cent. I thank Our Heavenly Father that Dr Jan Strydom and Audiblox had crossed our path.
Mrs. van Rensburg
Gauteng
(Letter translated)