Our Story:
How Kensio House Was Created
Siobhan Laubscher and Kendal Pietersen met in 2016, brought together by Siobhan's daughter, who had begun Occupational Therapy sessions with Kendal on the recommendation of an Educational Psychologist. Diagnosed at just five years old with Dysphonesia, and facing below-average verbal and non-verbal scores alongside ADHD and sensory processing challenges, Siobhan's daughter found everyday academic life difficult. As a mother, Siobhan committed fully to the recommended support, though it was an uphill road until Kendal helped her truly understand, for the first time, what her daughter was experiencing and how best to help her through it.
At that stage her daughter was still coping in a mainstream classroom, but as she grew older, her anxiety deepened and her marks slipped. Lost among 36 classmates, she began to fall behind. By January 2019, Siobhan felt she had exhausted the resources available within the traditional system. She turned to Kendal, and together the two began laying the groundwork for something new: a therapeutic learning environment where learners of any age and educational need would be welcomed, understood and supported in the way they learn best, free to feel safe and to explore.
Kendal, who had worked with many children facing similar struggles, recognised the need for earlier intervention, more inclusive schooling, one-on-one attention, and practical ways to ease the anxiety so many children carry into the classroom. United by this shared purpose, the two joined forces to build an environment where every learner could develop equally and with purpose. This partnership became Kensio House. KENdal and SIObhan = KENSIO
Kendal Pietersen's work with learners began early: in 2007 she qualified as a Swim SA Instructor, and during her university years opened two private swim schools teaching children as young as six months. She graduated from the University of the Western Cape in 2013 with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy, then spent 2014 devoted to community development in local informal settlements, before completing her community service year in 2015 at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, treating pediatric patients across the burns ward, ICU, general medical wards and multi-disability clinics. In 2016 she moved into private practice in Table View, opening her own practice in Sunningdale in 2018. Working closely alongside her clients' schools, she has become a strong advocate for learner-specific learning and environmental adjustments - the very premise on which Kensio House was founded - and has furthered her expertise through postgraduate training with SAISI and the DBT Institute of South Africa.
Siobhan Laubscher is a qualified Emotional Intelligence facilitator and moderator, holding a Diploma in Applied Psychology from Walden University, a Diploma in Business Management and Financial Accounting, and FSCA registration as a compliance officer. A natural mathematician who has spent much of her career working with young adults and companies, she is passionate about how people engage with others and with themselves. In 2013, her eldest daughter was diagnosed with Dyslexia, ADHD and Sensory Processing challenges - a turning point that reshaped both her daughter's life and her own, and opened her eyes to the gaps in traditional education. It gave her a new purpose: supporting learners who struggle in large classrooms, carry anxiety or stress, or face bullying for being different. She began redesigning mathematics concepts for learners with Dysgraphia and Dyslexia, creating a rule book built around pictures and step-by-step guides, and has furthered her expertise through Cambridge International Education, to obtain her full teaching and school leadership degree as well as the DBT Institute of South Africa as a DBT facilitator.
Siobhan believes no learner or parent should have to fight for a good education. What began as one mother's search for the right support for her own daughter grew, through an unlikely and powerful partnership, into Kensio House Academy for Therapeutic Learning - a school built on the belief that every learner deserves an education shaped around who they are, not despite it.
