Teaching autistic children

By WINSLEY MASESE

What takes an average of a day or two to learn takes autistic children two or four years of consistent training.

Patience is, therefore, one virtue that every instructor of autistic children needs, say the three teachers at Lutheran School for the Mentally Handicapped, Kisumu. The school has 12 autistic children.

Teachers watch over learners in and outside class, says Ms Penina Okwako, a teacher. "We make home visits to ensure the skills taught in school are practiced and to find out how the children relate with their siblings, parents and neighbours, she says. If they find that a child is isolated the teachers work with their families to create a supportive environment.

"During holidays learners who are not tutored at home forget what they learnt the previous term," she says.

But, says Okwako, some parents do not care to find out the kind of help their children need and this hinders their development. Worse some parents hide their children at home because of stigma or live in denial that their children are suffering from autism.

Mr Collins Oyoo, who has a master’s degree in special education, says teachers of children with special needs have to go the extra mile. "We clean the classes to ensure the children learn in a healthy environment," Oyoo says.

The children heavily rely on consistency and any disruption in their routine can easily cause chaos.

"The bell is rung at 10.30am for breakfast and if you change that to 10am, there would be confusion," he says.

For the extra work, teachers such as Oyoo only get a bonus of 10 per cent of their basic salary.

Fight stigma

Mrs Mary Ouma, the head teacher, says the school runs on limited resources. "Our work involves training the learners in school and monitoring how they are faring at home. However, some of them come from far and we are not able to go there due to lack of resources," she says. "We are forced to call parents and pester them to come and collect their children, but at times there are those who are never collected because of stigma and stay in the school," she says.

She plans to hold workshops for the parents or guardians to fight stigma.

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterised by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behaviour.