Rynhardt Olivier

“Since his early childhood, Rynhardt had a speech deficit. At the age of 5 our visits to numerous occupational and speech therapists started, where he showed little progress.

“For a period of 2 years, Rynhardt attended the aid class of 2 different schools, where he also made little progress. It was recommended that he be transferred to the special class at Nylstroom Primary School. He attended this class for 18 months, until this class was discontinued at the end of 1999.

“At this stage, Rynhardt was already 11 years old, but still unable to read even a sentence from a Grade 1 reading book, without sounding out every word first. He also had no comprehension of what he was reading.

“The school wanted to place Rynhardt back into mainstream education, and with his age group. This would have meant that he would have been placed in Grade 5. He was, however, unable to read and therefore definitely would have made no progress at all.

“At the beginning of January 2000, a friend advised me to place Rynhardt in the Sonstraal School for the Mentally Handicapped, where he started with the Audiblox program. It is now a year later and he has passed Grade 1 on the Brainline system with an average of 94%.

“Rynhardt enjoys reading and he has already read 19 Grade 1 reading books, without having to sound out every word first. He also has comprehension when he reads.

“The Audiblox program changed Rynhardt from a shy child into a confident and spontaneous child. The program definitely improved his concentration, as well as his self-discipline.

“Rynhardt is able to remember up to 90 blocks in the Sequencing exercise and 36 blocks in the Pattern exercise. He can also read 535 words of the Audiblox word cards. His average for the June Brainline exam was 82%.

“Rynhardt is really happy at the school and as his parents, we are grateful that we have finally found a program, which he can benefit from.”