Mother thanks school for accommodating her son
KYALAMI – The mother of a learner has thanked the school for making life easier for her son.
A mother of a child living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who attends Kyalami Preparatory School visited the school to thank them for their outstanding effort to accommodate her son.
Bukelelwa Nciza, who is the mother of Luthando Nciza, visited the school on 20 September to thank them for their help in making her son’s life easier by putting up ramps and building a toilet to accommodate him.
According to the Mayo Clinic’s website (www.mayoclinic.org) symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy include frequent falls, trouble getting up or running, a waddling gait and big calves. There is currently no cure for the illness but measures to improve one’s quality of life like physiotherapy and medication can be used to help control symptoms.
Bukelelwa explained she first heard of the condition was when she mentioned to their doctor that her son had big calves. “I did not know what it meant. I was lucky as the doctor had come across such a condition not long ago.
“He then said because it is very sensitive he would have to run some tests to confirm it to be certain, and after running tests for that condition, they came out positive.”
Bukelelwa said that her son tiptoed and would fall a lot. As his muscles became weaker, he was forced to use a scooter to move around. “But the school has been so supportive of my son, I remember the first year that we found out about this condition, Kyalami Prep always made an effort to accommodate my son.
“[Luthando] has paved the way for other kids with disabilities, because whenever I go to our doctor they get surprised that the school caters for him.
“A lot of the other patients tell the doctors of their struggle with their children’s schools as they do not cater for the kids, and for that I feel so blessed, that is why I am not taking this for granted.”
The school’s headmaster, David Hala added, “From the school’s point of view we have very caring staff and already a year ago they would ask: How are we going to make Luthando’s life a little bit better? Never once did they say we are going to have to call his mom and tell her maybe this is not the right school.
“So we started off small by changing the ramps in the school, building him a toilet, we painted lines and made sure he has access to every part of the school. We also did a little parking spot for him to get into school with his bike as easy as he can.”
Hala added that they have a science lab upstairs and are now planning on bringing it downstairs to make sure it is mobile for Luthando. “This whole issue comes from teachers who want to help him and make him feel like he is part of the school.”
The Midrand Reporter asked Luthando what he thought of the school and their help, to which he replied that he was happy to be there. “I have friends who help me when I need assistance as well as the teachers and that makes me glad.”
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