MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – To communicate is a basic human right of every person, and also of children and adults with severe disabilities.

There is hope for persons who cannot express themselves verbally, because the AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) Centre at the University of Pretoria has developed a method of teaching them to communicate. One of the teachers in town, Ms Marié, Pienaar completed the beginners and advanced AAC Courses. She was sponsored by a local business.

"There is no need to hide people with severe disabilities away," says Ms Pienaar. "They have the same basic needs as everyone else. For every individual a strategy can be devised to start communicating. That a person communicates is more important than how he communicates."

Children and adults, who cannot communicate with normal speech, need a strategy to compensate for their loss of speech. Any strategy with that effect is called AAC. These strategies range from gestures to picture boards to computers and portable electronic speech devices. The definition for AAC is "the use of less frequently used means or modes of communication (for a temporary or a permanent period) to compensate for the lack of verbal expression in order to facilitate the participation of people with significant communication difficulties in society".

Some basic needs that the child or adult with little or no functional speech would like to convey are I am a member of society, I need to express myself, I need to ask questions, I need love, I need to be shown respect, I can learn to discipline myself, I am eager to learn and I can learn.

The AAC strategy is in line with the South African policy and the 1997 white paper on integrated National Disability Strategy. The policy boils down to viewing disability as a human rights issue, and therefore structuring all policies around people with disabilities in such a way as to include them in all spheres of life, instead of the traditional shunning or pitying of disabled people.

"People with normal speech tend to make decisions on behalf of children who cannot express themselves verbally. That is wrong. That child has the right to communicate. The course taught us methods of teaching the child to communicate. We will teach the child to exercise a choice of food by using the real objects, for example a choice between a few boxes of cereal. Later we will replace the object with photos and still later with line diagrams," explains Ms Pienaar.

Ms Marié Pienaar would like to hear from volunteers who are interested in helping children and adults who cannot express themselves verbally. She can be contacted on Tel 082 202 0292.