Rucian is a happy Grade 5 learner at Jan Kriel School. But in his short life, he has been through deep water. Rucian suffers from Treacher Collins syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects the way his face develops. Although not curable, the symptoms can be managed with reconstructive surgery, hearing aids, speech therapy and other supportive aids.
Rucian underwent facial reconstruction at a very young age and was also diagnosed with severe hearing loss. This caused a delay in his language and speech development. He was able to attend Carel du Toit school at Tygerberg Hospital for grades 1, 2 and 3 and was transferred to Jan Kriel School in 2024.
Previously withdrawn, shy and quiet, he is now very popular. He has made good friends and participates in all sorts of sport activities. His teacher, Tania Japhets, mentions that Rucian has started speaking-up and participating more in class, despite struggling with language skills. To help with this he receives intensive therapy from Tanja Abrahamse, one of Jan Kriel's Speech-, Language- and Hearing therapists.
Special attention is given to concepts and subject specific terminology as these difficult words do not fall within a child's normal frame of reference. A new computer program, Symwriter, uses symbols to help with word recognition and is used at Jan Kriel School to support teaching languages. Tanja also monitors Rucian's hearing aids and keeps in touch with Tygerberg Hospital's audiologists for support.
In July 2024 Rucian’s mom, Avigale, passed away after a long illness. Suddenly, they are on their own and Rucian’s dad, Rudi, has to take over new roles and tasks. It's not easy and they moved to live with Rucian's aunt for support. A psychologist and social worker at Jan Kriel both help where they can. Fortunately, Rucian can make use of Jan Kriel's student transport, which takes him daily between his home and the school.
“Jan Kriel School is great, we could not have asked for better. Rucian's language, speech and academics have improved. More than that, the staff supports us in so many other ways. Recently they accompanied him to an optician and also paid for his new glasses after the old one broke. Even requesting assistance with the new SASA registration was not too much to ask. Our family is eternally grateful to Jan Kriel.” - Rudi
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