My Colour is Blue

Referral Process

State

If you visit the day clinic they will refer you to Tygerberg or Red Cross Children’s Hospital. If you see a GP they can suggest you contact Tygerberg Hospital or Red Cross Children’s Hospital or see a paediatrician, or make a referral via the VULA app. Here you can still decide if you want to follow the referral process of the State or go Private. If you stay in the system the team at Tygerberg or Red Cross will help with the application for a SASSA grant and to go onto the school placement list at a Government funded school. 

However, an appointment with one of the teams can take up to a year or two and placement at a school can take about the same time. Currently, about 90% of the families in the Western Cape are following this process.

Note: If you do go through the hospital, be prepared to have patience and lots and lots of patience. It can be tedious. For each department, you have to open a file, even when you already have one.

A note on the waiting list for the government schools: If your child is on the school placement list-  when they phone you for the assessments and follow-up assessment – go! Why? If you don’t go, they take your child off the list.

(UPDATE OCT 2023- Tygerberg’s Neuro-developmental Clinic only see kids between 0-6yrs. Thereafter, for any re-assessments (to be done every 3-4 years) it has to go via your local clinic’s psychiatry department. If the local psychiatry department cannot help, they can refer you to Red Cross DCAP, but only if you were originally seen by Tygerberg)

Private/ Medical aid

If you see a GP and you have medical aid, they will refer you to a paediatrician or Neuro-paediatrician and Psychologist/ Psychiatrist. They might suggest some private schools or can also assist with placing your child on the school placement list.

If your child is older and already in school, the teacher might suggest you take them to an Educational psychologist. The psychologist will suggest therapies like an Occupational therapist or treatment, depending on any other needs. Most Autistics are treated for other conditions like ADHD, OCD, social anxiety and behavioural issues, etc. because there is no “treatment” for Autism. Unlike families on the low-income scale, families with medical aid might not qualify for the SASSA grant, but you can claim any expenses in regard to your child’s Autism from SARS.

Ideally, for the most comprehensive assessment, it needs to be a multi-disciplinary team of a neuro-paediatrician, psychologist, speech therapist and occupational therapist, and it needs to be done over a two-week observation period. If your child only got a 45-minute screening interview with a psychologist or specialist, don’t despair, the school your child is referred to will have a multi-disciplinary team that will observe your child for that two-week period to assess whether placement at their school is appropriate. If not, they will refer you to the appropriate school.

Here is my list

• Deidre Strobel Audiologist and Speech Pathologist
• UCT Autism Research(i) – They have a waiting period for joining their research program and they work together with the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
• Dr Jonda Kerner(i) – Developmental Pediatrician, gave the diagnosis of Classic Autism and referred to an Educational Psychologist, Carey-Lee Vermoter at the Kenridge Health and Wellness Centre(i)
• Jelly Beanz Inc(i) – Social worker Edith Kriel

• Tygerberg Children’s Hospital (021 938 6549/ 4538) and Red Cross Children’s Hospital(i) (021 685 4103) – They will first set up a hearing test after which you will be referred to the Developmental Center. We saw Dr Cilla Springer at Tygerberg Hospital.
• Dr LD Carew(i) – Child Psychiatrist at Christian Barnard Memorial Hospital
• Dr Louise Lindenberg(i) – Biomedical/ Integrative medicine specialising in Autism and ADHD
• Nutripaeds(i) – Nutrition
• Neurodiversity Centre(i) – the more expensive option to Autism Western Cape. Dr Henriette Saunders(i) and Dr Adri Van Der Walt assist from there.
• Prof Pieter Fourie(i), also practice at Optima Rust en Vrede Hospital in Stellenbosch(i)

These are all mostly in the Northern Suburbs side of Cape Town, there are actually many more Specialists in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town.

Areas of Concern

Now our areas of concern or struggles might be different from some one elses, it is not the same for everyone.

The major concern for us was, the one that started the journey was Speech or the lack of further development. Then came eating. Eating is actually a big one because without getting in the required nutrients to grow and support brain function, things can get pretty hairy very quickly. Autistic people have issues with eatnig and food.

Behaviour is also a big thing with parents and society. You don’t act like a “normal” person. So, sometimes the autistic person is “taught” how to act more “normal” – how to speak, how to socialise. Many Autistic people have sensory issues which cause them to having stiming behaviours, for them it is normal, but for others the hand flapping, vocal noises and repetitive motions can be overwhelming.

Day-to-Day tasks. Tasks like brushing teeth, brushing hair, washing and going to the toilet.

Sensory Issues: Our son is Sensory SeekerAre constantly in search of ways to arouse their starved nervous systems. Often hyperactive and impulsive, they are frequently labelled, either correctly or falsely, with ADHDTooltip content(i). No, this does not mean he seeks attention, it means that he is craving more input to his senses than normal. Even though he might be a sensory seeker, he also has some Tactile DefensivenessOur sense of touch. It protects us from danger and helps us identify different objects in the environment. A child may overreact to ordinary touch experiencesTooltip content(i), Vestibular DefensivenessOur sense of movement and balance. It tells us where our head and body are in relation to gravity and other objects and supports our vision, posture, emotions, and coordination skillsTooltip content(i) and Oral DefensivenessOur sense of smell. The gustatory system is our sense of taste. These systems work together to identify scents and odours. They are strongly linked to our emotions and memoryTooltip content(i).