10-year-old beats the odds of ADHD

The 10-year-old was born with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and only used sign language to communicate until her life took a turn for the better when her vocabulary improved and she started talking at the age of six years.
Today, the Poplar Academy pupil is making strides in the public speaking arena. She recently won the school’s major speech competition.

Karjol also gave a motivational speech during a parents’ open day at her former school, Flutterbys where her speech, “My 10-year journey around the sun,” brought parents to tears.
Her mother, Edlin Naidoo, said it had not been an easy journey for her and Karjol’s father, Preven. “At times we had to explain to her why she could not attend the same school as her sister.

“It also broke our hearts when she would cry to participate in plays at her sister’s school. She could not sit still even for a second,” she said.

Sharing her story with the paper, Karjol said, “When three years passed and I never said a word, my parents realised that something was wrong as I used a lot of sign language.

“I went for every therapy there was on earth until the doctors put me on Ritalin as I was uncontrollable and would scream and throw things around.”

“My parents had a hard time finding a school for me as no school wanted to accept me until I went to Flutterbys where Natalie told my mom to stop the Ritalin and developed a good foundation for me. It was here that I stared talking and making sentences.”
When asked what career path she wanted to take, Karj, as she is affectionately called by her family, said she wanted to become a veterinarian.

“I love animals very much and in the house I have two dogs, Penny and Maya and a parrot, Polly. I want to be a vet so I can help animals.”

“I did a video on which I speak about the heartlessness of rhino poachers and how much we needed to do as a people to save them,” she said.
Preven said parents in the same situation as they were in should not lose hope as there is always a solution.

“As a parent, it’s only second nature to want to do anything humanly possible to help your child, but my advice is to do your research.”

“There are many ‘therapies’ out there that pretend to offer the best services and if one is not careful, a lot of money can be wasted and you can end up seeing your child as a burden financially.”

“The bottom line really is that if your child is born with the condition (ADHD), do not be discouraged as there is hope,” he explained.