Finding a School Companion for Joshi Moll: Support Needed for a Disabled Student in Wanfried

2023-07-01 11:47:00
HomeLocal Witzenhausen

Created: 07/01/2023 13:47

By: Theresa Lippe

Joshua Moll (10) from Schwebda goes to school in Wanfried. In the summer he will be in the fifth grade and needs a new school companion. © theresa lippe

They are looking for a man with a big heart: Joshi Moll (10) needs a new school companion.

Wanfried/Schwebda – In September, ten-year-old Joshua Moll will start fifth grade at the Anne Frank School in Wanfried. Big changes are coming: new classmates, new school building, new teachers.

Compared to his classmates, however, there is another, really big change for Joshi Moll: Since he has had a movement disorder, a so-called cerebral palsy, since birth, he needs support – this also applies to everyday school life. Joshi is to get a new school companion at the start of the new school. At least that’s the plan.

The search for a new school companion for ten-year-old Joshi Moll is difficult

“Joshi’s current school companion quits to study,” explains his mother, Franziska Moll. That’s why the search for a successor has been going on since April – and it’s proving to be more difficult than expected. “Ideally, we would like a male school companion for Joshi, who will look following him for the next few years.”

It should be a man, since Joshi will soon be hitting puberty and needs help going to the toilet, among other things, explains Lars Winter from Werraland Lebenswelten. The association aims to enable people with disabilities to integrate into social life – in Joshi’s case, regular school attendance.

Some women have already applied for the “man with a heart wanted” job advertisement, but they still hope to find a suitable male candidate. Winter: “I can absolutely understand that, following all, Joshi will soon be a teenager, he shouldn’t be uncomfortable with the new care at some point.”

Joshi Moll’s family launched a call for donations at the beginning of the year because they needed 8,500 for a special suit. The willingness to donate was amazing.

School companion wanted for Joshi Moll: The tasks

The tasks of Joshi’s school companion start before the lesson begins. The ten-year-old has to be picked up at home in Schwebda and accompanied on the bus to school. “He takes part in the lessons alone, he only needs help before and following the lessons with packing and unpacking the teaching materials and changing the classroom if necessary,” explains his mother. The tutor does not need any special training. “I only wish for understanding,” says Joshi, who does not find it easy to say goodbye to his current school companion.

However, the accessibility at Joshi’s new school leaves a lot to be desired. Moll: “The plan was for Joshi to start first grade in the new school building in 2019. An elevator has been installed for this purpose in the elementary school wing.” However, the construction work was massively delayed.

“Now Joshua is in fifth grade, but there is no lift in the wing of the secondary school,” says his mother. Apparently that would have blown the budget. However, the existing elevator is “at the very other end” of the school building. Now the boy gets a classroom on the ground floor, entrances with ramps are created via the emergency exits.

Difficult search for a school companion for Joshi Moll: The alternatives

Alternatively, the ten-year-old might attend the Anne Frank School in Eschwege from September, where the building is barrier-free. Moll: “But we don’t want that. All his friends from Schwebda and his older brother go to school in Wanfried. We don’t want to rip him out of there.”

The option of privately hiring a school companion is not feasible: “If the companion is ill and fails, Joshi needs a replacement. The failed companion would have to be paid for privately by us, and we would have to spontaneously find a replacement. That’s not feasible for us,” explains Franziska Moll. If there is currently no replacement, she accompanies her son to school and works from there. No permanent solution.

If no suitable male candidate can be found, the position will be filled by a woman. Franziska Moll: “Of course, the most important thing is that Joshua has someone to accompany him and that he can go to school.” However, the decisive factor is that the chemistry between the ten-year-old and the new supervisor is right. “It would be nice if we didn’t have to go on the search once more in a year, following all it’s a change every time for Joshi too.”

Short applications as a pdf document by e-mail to: [email protected], Contact: Steffen Koehler, Tel.: 0 56 51/3 35 63 24. (Theresa Lippe)

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