Nothando Dube is a Zimbabwean currently pursuing a PhD at the Centre of Augmentative and Alternative Communication at the University of Pretoria. Nothando was orphaned at a young age and despite extreme financial hardship, completed her A levels. She obtained a government bursary and completed a bachelor’s degree in African languages. She then went on to teach in rural schools in Zimbabwe. Her passion for inclusion in education grew as she noted the number of children with disabilities who were out of schools and had never had any access to education. Children with disabilities are still hidden away in homes and cannot advocate for themselves. She received a scholarship to study for an MA in Special Educational Needs and Inclusion in the United Kingdom.
While Nothando is aware that the national policy environment in Zimbabwe limits the participation of children with disabilities in education, she is also acutely aware that, for children with disabilities, a major barrier to participation in education and society is the lack of communication modalities.
She saw that communication technologies for children with disabilities are unaffordable and inaccessible to many families in Zimbabwe, and decided to explore the effects of low-cost augmentative and alternative communication strategies such as the Picture Exchange Communication System for children with developmental disabilities. She is committed to training various communication partners, with a specific focus on siblings, as a pathway to building communication strategies for children with disabilities. Nothando believes that giving children with communication disabilities a voice will enable them to participate more actively in society and advocate for their rights.
