Reading and Writing Solutions (RWS), a literacy non-profit organisation, held a talk on autism and a workshop on dyslexia, at the Athlone Stadium conference hall earlier this month.
At the autism talk, on Tuesday March 5, Vera School for Autism staff Charnel Schoonhoven, Jana du Toit and Mohammed Yacoob spoke to about 120 people including representatives from special-needs schools, Autism Western Cape and preschools as well as families of children with autism. The dyslexia workshop followed on Thursday March 7.
“It was very encouraging to see so many parents, grandparents and other family members of autistic children attending,” said RWS founder Jeff Paulse.
“As an organisation, our core focus is on reading and literacy improvement training workshops. However, having encountered many autistic and dyslexic learners at schools, we decided to focus on autism and dyslexia.”
Yvonne Dempers, 66, said she had attended the talk to learn how she could assist her daughter whose 4-year-old son is autistic.
“Although my daughter and her family live abroad, my husband and I still wanted to understand the condition and to learn more about it. Before my grandson, I did not know anybody who is autistic, and if it doesn’t affect you, you don’t know the dynamics around it. I found the workshop so enlightening.”
Contact Mr Paulse at 082 216 2460 or paulsejeff@gmail.com for more information.
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