Pretoria PhD graduate creates Sepedi comms tool for disabled children

TimesLIVE

3 days ago

For many children with communication disabilities, expressing their thoughts, needs and feelings can feel impossible, especially when the tools available are not coded in their language. But one South African scholar made it her mission to change that.
Dr Ngwanamaishe Rahab Mothapo, a University of Pretoria PhD graduate, has developed a communication system that allows Sepedi-speaking children with communication impairments to express themselves in their language and on their terms.
The non-electronic, picture-based tool is specifically designed for preliterate children who speak Sepedi, a language spoken widely in Limpopo. Her work marks the first culturally rooted augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system of its kind in the country.
'It's really about giving these children a voice,' said Mothapo. 'Enabling them to take part in communication, which is a human right.'
Her motivation was deeply personal. Growing up in Polokwane, Limpopo, she had a relative whose son lived with an intellectual disability and struggled to communicate. 'Because we knew our way around him, it was much easier for us to understand him,' she said. It was during this period that she became increasingly aware of a gap in the field.
That experience stayed with her and later shaped her career as a speech-language pathologist and audiologist. When she entered the profession, she found that the resources available to support children with communication needs were not only limited, but also culturally foreign.
'Our profession is very Western-centric. The tools we use, the tests, the assessment frameworks are all based on English-speaking children in Western contexts,' she said. 'That is a problem when you are working in Limpopo with Sepedi-speaking children who can't relate to those tools at all.'
Her research journey began by developing the 222 most commonly used Sepedi words, which she calls 'core vocabulary' words, which laid the foundation of her PhD. Her doctoral study aimed to create a usable system that children could hold in their hands, and use at home, at school or in clinics and 'feel seen' by using it.
Her PhD research, conducted at the university's Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), used a design methodology that places users at the heart of the process. She engaged a range of stakeholders, including teachers, parents, linguists, speech therapists and even adults who had grown up using AAC devices.
'If we don't consider the people who will use the system, their culture, their language, daily lives, then we end up with tools that people abandon,' said Mothapo. 'That is something we see globally with assertive technology. It is not used because it does not resonate.'
The picture-based board contains more than 600 items, grouped by how children use language socially and contextually. It includes:
Greeting phrases and everyday expressions;
A QWERTY keyboard with Sepedi-specific phonemes;
Core vocabulary including nouns, pronouns, verbs and adjectives;
Fringe vocabulary, tailored to specific settings such as playtime or weddings
'The system is intentionally flexible, allowing children, caregivers and teachers to adjust vocabulary according to the situation, whether a child is at school, in a park, or attending a ceremony,' she said.
The board also contains emojis that reflect the reality of children who use it.
Her findings highlighted the importance of dialectical variations. 'Polokwane Sepedi is not the same as Sekhukhune Sepedi,' said Mothapo, adding that teachers and therapists must consider these differences when using the system.
The final product is now being used by some of the schools and families who took part in the research. Mothapo has also shared the tool with the Limpopo education department and hopes it will soon be rolled out more widely.
'This is not something I'm trying to sell. The aim is not to monetise it,' she said. 'Raising a child with a disability is already expensive. Communication should not be a luxury; it is a basic need.'
Her vision reaches beyond Sepedi-speaking children. She hopes her work will serve as a blueprint for other South African languages, particularly those that have been historically marginalised in healthcare and education.
'If this device is going to act as my voice and I'm going to use it to interact with my community, then it must reflect who I am, my culture, my language,' she said. 'Otherwise, it only adds to the isolation.'
To future researchers from marginalised backgrounds, Mothapo offers encouragement and a challenge.
'There is a phrase I believe in: 'Nothing about us without us.' We can't keep letting outsiders define our languages and our communities. Don't be afraid to explore new ground, even if there is not much research already done. Be fearless.'