Disabled teen’s fulfilling life

Local resident and mother of two, Mathabo Pule is not letting her son’s disability get in the way of him living a fulfilling life. In fact, she said, she is giving him the best experiences that life has to offer.

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Mathabo’s son, Chine, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy after part of his brain didn’t get enough oxygen. He’s currently in a wheelchair and relies on his family for help in most of his daily tasks. Speaking to the Herald in an interview, Pule said although she always hoped her son would be fine as he grew up, she and her family have since accepted his condition.

“Since he was born, we always had hopes that he will walk. We always thought he is still young and that children develop differently. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way for him. We noticed that he could not walk and we started taking him for physiotherapy. While that helped to a certain extent, we eventually had to come to terms with his disability and accepted him for who he is. We don’t see nor treat him any differently. Eighteen years later, he is doing well and we are all in a good space,” said Pule, who added that Chine is passionate about technology.\

His younger brother, three-year-old Khanya Pule, loves spending time with him and loves offering a helping hand. He fetches the remote for him to change TV channels and also charges his phone among other things.

She added the journey to raising the young Chine has not always been easy but that she was and still is surrounded by an amazing support structure, including her life partner Mandla Kumbula.

“Raising a child with disabilities is not easy. I still get questions from people asking me what I did for my child to turn out this way, implying that this is my fault. What they don’t understand is that their words have an impact and that my son’s condition is not a genetic disease,” said Pule.

She urged community members to be more understanding and sensitive in their approach, not only towards children with disabilities but also towards their parents as well, as they too face challenges they may not want to share with the public. To emphasise this point, Pule hosted the You Are Not Alone conference at the Randfontein Golf Club on October 29. The event was meant to raise awareness regarding some of the challenges faced by parents raising children with special needs.

“In my journey of raising my disabled 18-year-old son, I realised that most of the time people focus more on the kids with disabilities and forget about the parents raising those kids. That is why we decided to host the event. We wanted to have a platform where parents can come together and share their experiences of raising children with special needs and table some of their challenges as well. We also wanted to just reassure them that we are walking the journey with them and that they should never feel alone,” said Pule.