Bern Goosen

Bernie was born with cerebral palsy, which affects the motor part of the brain. He is classified as a quadriplegic as all four of his limbs are affected. “Bern”, as he is affectionately known to his many friends, chose not to live the life his doctors said he would, to be stuck with, but broke out of his severely restrictive disability and continues to reach staggering heights.

Quite literally; Bern is the 1st wheelchair- bound quadriplegic to have climbed to the highest point in Africa: Uhuru point, Mount Kilimanjaro! Not once but three times.

Bern was the first physically disabled Rotary Exchange Student in the world and spent a year in America. As an Ambassador he travelled through 35 States in America, doing presentations and talks on South Africa, in particular to schools, colleges, various business organisations and Rotary Clubs.

Bern drove hard at qualifying in the Financial field and worked his way up to hold the position of Group Financial Controller for a listed IT company.

In 2005 he was asked to become the Patron of South African Association for Special Needs Education as it was felt that he could be a role model to the learners in the special needs schools, as he had come through the same system. Other responsibilities of his as Patron is to increase the exposure of children with disabilities to the opportunities available to them if they have the right attitude, as well as expose the corporate sector to the needs as well as the opportunities within the disability sector

As the Patron of South African Association for Special Needs Education he have been asked by the DBE (Department of Basic Education) to assist in their curriculum action plan towards 2014. He has had various meeting with the top management of DBE regarding special needs education. His main interest is in providing technologies through assistive devices to help the disabled person to take is place in an economically active society.