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A minimum of 10% of all children have neuropsychological challenges.
The fact that most families in South Africa do not have access to early diagnosis and treatment for neurodevelopmental problems in their children is going to create the biggest public health crisis, says Ben Truter, a clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Neurodiversity Centre based in Durbanville.
Truter was the speaker at a fundraising event held by the Neurodiversity Foundation at D’Aria on 13 April.
It included a wine tasting of D’Aria wines and an auction presented by the entertainer, Cathy Specific.
The foundation is a non-profit organisation that supports children who present with early symptoms or problems across different aspects of childhood development.
These include challenges in general development, social relatedness, language and communication, attention, activity, motor coordination, mood and sleep.
With branches in Franchhoek, Durbanville, Somerset West and Worcester, the Neurodiversity Centre was founded in order to provide multi-disciplinary assessment, support and intervention to children, adolescents and adults presenting with neurodevelopmental needs and challenges.
Neurodevelopmental differences
“Children with neurodiversity problems who have not been identified, will end up in the prison pipeline or destitution pipeline. They will not have opportunities if not identified early. About 10% to 15% of our population will have brains that experience the world differently," says Truter,
“The foundation has taken on the immense task to test millions of people in the country. The international standard for neurodevelopmental screening is two years of age. However, there are no statistics to use to allocate funding for autism. The problem with neurodevelopmental differences are that they are invisible,” Truter says.
