They say if Akeem Adesiyan works on your accident ridden car, it would turn new like it never had a crash in the first instance.
So as an advocate of Deaf Entrepreneurship, I needed to fix something in my car and as my custom was, I insisted it had to be a deaf person to deliver the job and then I met Akeem and his friend, Saheed. Of course, I gladly gave them the job!
Born on March 28, in 1983, Akeem attended Saint Benedict's school, Lagos but when his school management observed he couldn’t cope with ‘normal’ school but appear ‘restless’, his dad was advised to to enroll him in a ‘special’ school for the Deaf. Thereafter he became a pupil of Wesley Schools for Deaf and later, State Secondary School, Eric Moore. Today he is holds a diploma in Vehicle Body Building from the Federal Technical College (Special), Yaba, Lagos.
While discussing with him, he tried to express how much he loved his job as a Vehicle Body Builder, (popularly called Panel Beater).
EARnpreneur: How do you engage in discussions with your customers? Akeem: I lip-read (watching the movement of another’s lips) EARnpreneur: What is the one thing you desire the most about your job? Akeem: I really wish to have an oven for baking cars/vehicles after body repairs. I also need other instruments to carry out my work of body building for vehicles especially for accident cars such as Expansion body jack, Hydrolytic jack (heavy) and Body Cramper. Akeem says his dream is to establish a modern mechanic workshop which is comparable to world class.
As work progressed on my car, I engaged him in discussion and wanted to know more about him, then his father Mr Adesiyan, walked in.
Mr Adesiyan, a retired military personnel shared the story of how Akeem became deaf due to a domestic accident occasioned by an armed robbery attack on the day he was born and the struggle to ensure he had an education, the stigma of having a child with disability and much more.
What has been your experience training a deaf child? Was it different from raising other children? Mr Adesiyan: Ah! A lot of patience. We sometimes quarrel and ‘settle’ (reconcile). They can be very difficult to control because they consistently watch your non-verbal cues, by looking at faces, lips etc. Sometimes they feel you are saying something against them but with patience and love, you make them understand you were not abusing them (not back biting). Yes, it was like 85% different from raising a non-deaf child. Able children are usually very easy to control but you need to explain again and again especially if you don’t understand the sign language.
How Akeem became deaf? He was not born deaf. Armed robbers attacked us on our way home from the hospital, the day he was born.They made away with the car and shot me severally. Akeem fell off and broke his ‘head’ while my sister-in-law who had him was trying to escape for safety from the scene of the robbery. The result was a ‘brain’ injury and had to be sutured in several parts of his head (7 times actually) at the hospitals (Military hospital and LUTH, Lagos) where he was on admission for a while. The rest is history but that was how he became deaf.
What gave you the impetus to continue to support his education? I realized that one must not neglect any child. As a child Akeem loved art and used to draw a lot. I took him to Wesley Schools reluctantly with tears but as soon as he resumed, there was a transformation. His technical ability/talents were discovered as soon as he got to secondary school. His name was number three (3rd) on the admission list of Federal Technical College, Yaba.
What advice do you have for other parents of deaf children? They should not neglect any child. What able children can do, handicapped or disabled children do even much more.
What is one thing you desire to see or witness in Akeem’s life or wished he achieved? His marriage and I am glad God did it! In his job, I desire that he promotes the name of the family and business and have a good auto mechanic business.
Did you at any point in life, face stigma raising him? Yes we faced all sorts but we disregarded them all.
So as an advocate of Deaf Entrepreneurship, I needed to fix something in my car and as my custom was, I insisted it had to be a deaf person to deliver the job and then I met Akeem and his friend, Saheed. Of course, I gladly gave them the job!
Born on March 28, in 1983, Akeem attended Saint Benedict's school, Lagos but when his school management observed he couldn’t cope with ‘normal’ school but appear ‘restless’, his dad was advised to to enroll him in a ‘special’ school for the Deaf. Thereafter he became a pupil of Wesley Schools for Deaf and later, State Secondary School, Eric Moore. Today he is holds a diploma in Vehicle Body Building from the Federal Technical College (Special), Yaba, Lagos.
While discussing with him, he tried to express how much he loved his job as a Vehicle Body Builder, (popularly called Panel Beater).
EARnpreneur: How do you engage in discussions with your customers? Akeem: I lip-read (watching the movement of another’s lips) EARnpreneur: What is the one thing you desire the most about your job? Akeem: I really wish to have an oven for baking cars/vehicles after body repairs. I also need other instruments to carry out my work of body building for vehicles especially for accident cars such as Expansion body jack, Hydrolytic jack (heavy) and Body Cramper. Akeem says his dream is to establish a modern mechanic workshop which is comparable to world class.
As work progressed on my car, I engaged him in discussion and wanted to know more about him, then his father Mr Adesiyan, walked in.
Mr Adesiyan, a retired military personnel shared the story of how Akeem became deaf due to a domestic accident occasioned by an armed robbery attack on the day he was born and the struggle to ensure he had an education, the stigma of having a child with disability and much more.
What has been your experience training a deaf child? Was it different from raising other children? Mr Adesiyan: Ah! A lot of patience. We sometimes quarrel and ‘settle’ (reconcile). They can be very difficult to control because they consistently watch your non-verbal cues, by looking at faces, lips etc. Sometimes they feel you are saying something against them but with patience and love, you make them understand you were not abusing them (not back biting). Yes, it was like 85% different from raising a non-deaf child. Able children are usually very easy to control but you need to explain again and again especially if you don’t understand the sign language.
How Akeem became deaf? He was not born deaf. Armed robbers attacked us on our way home from the hospital, the day he was born.They made away with the car and shot me severally. Akeem fell off and broke his ‘head’ while my sister-in-law who had him was trying to escape for safety from the scene of the robbery. The result was a ‘brain’ injury and had to be sutured in several parts of his head (7 times actually) at the hospitals (Military hospital and LUTH, Lagos) where he was on admission for a while. The rest is history but that was how he became deaf.
What gave you the impetus to continue to support his education? I realized that one must not neglect any child. As a child Akeem loved art and used to draw a lot. I took him to Wesley Schools reluctantly with tears but as soon as he resumed, there was a transformation. His technical ability/talents were discovered as soon as he got to secondary school. His name was number three (3rd) on the admission list of Federal Technical College, Yaba.
What advice do you have for other parents of deaf children? They should not neglect any child. What able children can do, handicapped or disabled children do even much more.
What is one thing you desire to see or witness in Akeem’s life or wished he achieved? His marriage and I am glad God did it! In his job, I desire that he promotes the name of the family and business and have a good auto mechanic business.
Did you at any point in life, face stigma raising him? Yes we faced all sorts but we disregarded them all.
*To book an appointment with Akeem please send an email to earnpreneurs@desirehealthinclusive.com
OR
info@desirehealthinclusive.com
