“Shaun is the reason for all of this, without him the 100+ children who have benefitted from Flutterbys would never have had the opportunity to grow and thrive. Shaun was diagnosed at 18 months with Autism and is what would be categorised on the severe end of the spectrum. His parents were told to rather institutionalise him and not expect him to attain much, this included ever taking care of his personal hygiene or speaking.

Shaun’s parents refused to accept the doctor’s advice and began the journey to get him whatever he needed to reach his potential. In 1999 Autism was just beginning to be understood and therapeutic approaches were in their infancy.

I began working with Shaun as a part time job in 2003 and this little 4-year-old stretched me beyond what I thought was possible. The methods of the day didn’t work, and quitting was not an option so Shaun and I battled our way through day after day.

I spent hours at night trying to figure out how to reach him or teach him a new skill, until I finally began to trust him to guide me. Our relationship is a bond like no other I have in my life, often silent it is felt and sensed even now with us living on two different continents.

I also had the privilege of working with some very forward-thinking therapists and his parents who would not take ‘its not possible’ for an answer. When he reached school age and we couldn’t find a suitable environment for him, I was simply told ‘make a plan’.

‘Make a plan’ became my motto, but not without my parents who gave up their property for me to open a school, my husband sacrificing his career to ensure the kids have a well maintained safe learning environment and the most inspiring team many of whom whose life experience includes overcoming learning challenges, has grown into a family and community beyond my wildest dreams.’

Shaun was at Flutterbys for 16 years and by the time his parents were transferred to the USA he was catching the Gautrain to and from school. Shaun is 21 now and we regularly communicate via WhatsApp, YES!! he can read, speak and take care of himself. He graduated high school and now has a job in the catering industry.

And once again as far away as he is, he is pushing me to do better, he would not have had the opportunities he has now if they had stayed. The resources available to the special needs community there are far in excess of what we have here.
So what do we do? WE MAKE A PLAN. I will never accept limited resources standing in the way of my kids thriving and Flutterbys is proof that the spirit of UBUNTU, the spirit of our people can make it possible, but only if we work together as a community. 

Flutterbys is my heart and my soul, every child is as dear to me as if they were my own. I have shed many tears and had my heart crushed many times only to have be uplifted by a first word or a little face beaming with pride at accomplishing something new.

People with special needs should hold a special place in society, spend an hour here and you will witness what it is to be human, what compassion and tolerance is, what perseverance and courage are, what acceptance and love is.

They are here because we need them because they teach us more than we know and they change the world. Einstein did, Bill Gates did, Stephan Hawking did. And so did Ludwig Van Beethoven, Ray Charles, Cher, Tom Cruise , Walt Disney, Thomas Edison , Whoopi Goldberg , James Earl Jones, John Lennon, Marlee Matlin , Isaac Newton , Richard Pryor , Theodore Roosevelt , Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Vincent Van Gogh, Stevie Wonder, Dan Aykroyd, Hans Christian Andersen, Benjamin Banneker, Susan Boyle, Tim Burton, Lewis Carroll, Henry Cavendish, Charles Darwin, Emily Dickinson, Temple Grandin, Daryl Hannah, Thomas Jefferson, Steve Jobs, Michelangelo,, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Jerry Seinfeld, Nikola Tesla, Andy Warhol, Ludwig Wittgenstein……..”

Natalie Jamieson Engelbrecht