Riaan Nel

“Riaan has been a learner at the Sonstraal School for the Mentally Handicapped since May 1999. He first attended Prinshof School (for the visually impaired) in Pretoria.

“Previously, Riaan was a child with little or no confidence. In an effort to enforce his rights, he always ended up doing unacceptable things. Therefore, he did not get on well with other people. Since starting with Audiblox, Riaan has developed into a child with more confidence and dignity.

“Riaan only has 2% vision in his one eye. Due to the fact that he still has some percentage of vision, his progress with the reading of Braille writing is slow. He is, however, keen to try and learn new things.

“Previously, Riaan was a frustrated child that could not keep himself busy constructively. Now, he is a friendly and pleasing child. He is helpful and enjoys playing with his friends. He also follows the Brainline system and as his parents, we are able to observe his progress on a daily basis. Riaan passed Grade 1 with an average of 89,6%. He is working hard at passing Grade 2 this year. His average mark for the June exams was 76%.

“Audiblox definitely improved Riaan's concentration. He is now able to remember up to 25 blocks in the Pattern exercise. He knows his multiplication tables, up to the 5x-tables, very well. Riaan can also read 560 of the Audiblox word cards, fast and accurately. (To accommodate Riaan's vision problems, large word cards are used.)

“To Dr. Strydom, Santa, his teacher Ina and all the staff from Sonstraal, a huge thank you! Together with our son, we are now looking forward to the future.”