She wouldn’t accept ‘no’ for an answer

SUZANNE BELLING

PHOTOGRAPH BY SUZANNE BELLING

Pictured: Ilana Gerschlowitz… expert on autism.

“We took him to a neurologist, who diagnosed him with autism and basically told us there was nothing that could be done. ‘Goodbye and good luck’, she said,” Ilana told Jewish Report.

“I didn’t believe there was nothing to be done. When somebody tells me ‘no’, I hear ‘maybe’,” she said.

Setting aside her successful law career, Ilana embarked on intensive research into autism and discovered the Centre for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) in the US. “My husband and I took it in turns to fly to America, where we consulted with top experts and seven years ago brought Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) to South Africa.”

With the help of CARD, seven years ago Ilana founded the Star Academy (Martin, an accountant, works there nights) with three branches in Highlands North, one in Pretoria and works with the sub-Sahara countries of Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.

As director of the Star Academy, she was chosen as the Country Winner for South Africa – as well as the SADC South Winner in Education and Training: Private Sector – for Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government.  Ilana was honoured with the accolade at the annual CEO Global Awards Ceremony held in Johannesburg recently.

The Star Academy’s arm has extended to Tembisa on the East Rand, where Ilana trains students in ABA and has fundraised extensively to keep the outreach programme going.

“Twenty years ago maybe one child in 1 000 was diagnosed as autistic. Today one in 48 has the condition. There is genetic susceptibility, affected by certain environmental toxins such as water, food, air, antibiotics and vaccines and other factors.

“We call autistic children the yellow canaries of the planet – a warning to the population that autism is on the increase. It is vital to have the diagnosis early in life and consult a biomedical doctor who has been trained in this protocol.

“There is a road to recovery – some children will not fully recover, but with the right medical educational intervention in the form of ABA, children will become functional and independent members of society.

“The important message of ABA is that it has evidence of over 30 years of published research.”

Instead of emigrating, as other might have done, Ilana decided to deal with autism on her doorstep. Her academies have one-on-one facilitators and some of the children recover sufficiently to be placed in regular schools.

“According to the Constitution, children with disabilities have the right to be included in mainstream education. Every one of our facilitators is a board certified autism technician, who holds a behavioural interaction certification council qualification.”

When the children are ready to enter the mainstream school system, they are accompanied to classes by their facilitators.

Ilana stresses the necessity of empowering parents and professionals and says successful outcomes regarding their children can even lead to autistic children going to university and getting married.

Previously autism-related illnesses were divided into categories including progressive development disorder and Asperger’s, but now all are classified under DSM V in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. There are three areas – language and communication, social relatedness and stereotypical behaviour.

ABA is an intervention which assists in learning skills such as looking, listening, imitating, as well as complex skills such as reading, conversing and understanding another person’s perspective.

On receiving her award, Ilana dedicated it to autistic children around the world for their bravery, labelling them as the true winners of society.