Nandi Madida urges parents to support spaces where neurodivergent kids can be themselves

South African musician and Africa Now Radio host, Nandi Madida, took to social media to share some valuable information for parents of neurodivergent kids.

Madida is married to Grammy Award-winning producer Zakes Bantwini and the couple have a eight-year-old son, Shaka, and a six-year-old daughter, Queen Nefertiti.

The “Organic” hitmaker, who has always been vocal about her experiences as a mother of two beautiful neurodivergent children, urged parents to cater to their children’s needs rather than putting them into a mould.

“It’s so important for us to empower our kids, the wiring of their brains is different and most of the time, this is genetic. It is beautiful when your kids feel accepted and not compared,” she said.

She continued: “I look at my kids and they go to different schools, I always think how someone like myself could have benefited from smaller classes, and whether that means mainstream, remedial or special needs ...

“I just think what would have been more beneficial was to have something more suited to my needs growing up.

“The goal at the end of the day is for someone to have a good sense of confidence, good self-esteem, hopefully also function in the world, but what you don’t want to do is break a child.”

Madida spoke of “ego-driven” parenting, where parents have a certain goal in their mind for their child, however, if the child doesn’t meet those standards, parents tend to think of them as not good enough.

“That does a lot of damage from a self-esteem perspective. Our kids are different, they have different talents, different needs.

“Not every child needs to go to a big, mainstream school ... Some people need small classes in a remedial set-up with more support, some kids need to go to a special needs school, and feel included and have a great experience.”

Madida urged parents to choose a set-up that is conducive to their child.

“Let your child lead, let them help you navigate the right places and right spaces they need to be in rather than having a blueprint as to where they need to be.

“I’m enjoying my kids and all the great things they have to offer, but I also enjoy the challenges ...

“But in all of that I’d love for them to know that they were always accepted, they will always be accepted, that we love them so much through their ups and downs and to support the spaces that they can truly be themselves.”

Watch the full video.

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Madida’s video message received over 14k likes and got people talking about the difficult topic of learning disabilities.

Followers took to the comments to share their thoughts.

“Can we talk about the lack of remedial, divergent schools available for our children. This journey is quite painful not only on the kids but us as parents 😢,” wrote @bo_ntle_s.

@mabongi_k commented: “Load speaker on this subject 🔈… two of my kids went through the most difficult years of remedial but it was worth it!!! Kuyadlula!!!, as our kids grow they begin to learn new ways of learning that is different from their peers; they overcome their learning challenges with age.

“They need patience and support.”

@shenice_andrea said: “Your babies are so Blessed to have you, thank you using your voice to bring awareness & light to this topic✨.”