At the age of 4 Nico was told he was not normal by a pre-school teacher; she had me called in to tell me he was a disturbance at the pre-school. I knew Nico was a very busy child, but it never bothered me as he was healthy and very normal to me.
Well, I took him to a GP and we ended up at a brain specialist who diagnosed him with brain epilepsy. At the age of 7, I sensed the medication (Epilim) was making matters worse and decided on a second opinion. Here I was told I have a perfectly normal child who suffers from hyperactivity syndrome. Nico was put on Ritalin and away we went.
Ritalin quieted him down, making him less of a disturbance, but it did not help with the actual concentration or his school work. It was a real heart sore story; teachers would get me in the supermarket telling me what Nico did and what he did not do. Children from these families disliked him and made fun of him. One teacher put donkey ears on him and made him stand up on his table so that all could have a good laugh at him. Yes, there were tears and so much pain. It felt like we were outsiders. Living in a small town made matters worse. At one point I was called in by the principal and teachers and in the office I was questioned about Nico’s behavior. One teacher even said, if Nico were her child she would sell everything she had to find out what was the matter with him. I would tell this to the Dr and he would just shake his head at their ignorance.
One night 13 years ago while watching TV there was a program presented by Dr Strydom himself. It covered dyslexia and learning problems. It went all about Audiblox. My husband and I were thrilled, jotted the telephone number and contacted Dr Strydom. Two weeks later we had our Audiblox.
Now started the long process of disciplining ourselves to 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. It was hard at first to get into a routine, but once that was overcome we started to enjoy that time together. Nico was 8 years old when we started.
Nico later had to go to Bloemfontein as he still was not coping in a mixed class of Grade 3-5 in one classroom. The Dr said we would have to make a plan. So we had to put him in a boarding school 400 km away from us with no one willing to do the Audiblox with him. But we let him do Grade 5 over.
Thank God a year later we transferred to Kroonstad from Elliot. Nico was now back at home and we started with the Audiblox again and continued until the end of Grade 7. We also stopped the Ritalin at the age of 14, and suddenly Nico started to grow and for once all looked well. The Dr said once he reached puberty things will also change.
Nico will be 21 in March and is a salesman for a dynamic company and much loved. Nico has compassion for people and is a great person. If I was not looking at that program that night 13 years ago, I do not know what the outcome would have been. Audiblox made a difference in our lives and believe it or not we both have sentimental value for Audiblox. We often think back of the heart sore caused by ignorant people and would love to go back and show them what Nico is today. But then again, why? We know and that’s all that counts.
Thank you Dr Strydom.
Kind regards
Noël van der Merwe