‘Graeme' was a problem in the classroom – he was quite violent. Autistic, as it turned out.

It's not his real name, but we will call him Graeme. And what he did, unwittingly, was cause a major career shift for a Tauranga man, which in turn became a calling, a life's work and, which this week, earned him a national academic accolade.

Angelo Morehu, an inaugural Kupe scholar. Photo: Bruce Barnard

'Graeme certainly showed me I had a gift in that I was able to teach him one-on-one,” says Angelo Morehu of Ngati Pikiao descent. After two years working with students with social disabilities he realised the next step was to pursue a career in teaching.

But it was a teaching career with special discipline, empathy and focus. It was also serendipitous because this week Angelo joined a select band of academics, one of only 30 inaugural recipients of a Kupe Scholarship for Māori and Pasifika High Achievers.

'It's a bit overwhelming. I just didn't think I was that interesting.”

He's a little bit more than ‘interesting' because the Kupe blurb talks of people of 'Maori or Pasifika descent who are outstanding role models and who will make important contributions to their communities as future teachers”.

Kupe scholars will also 'strike out for far horizons and chart new territory in their quest to succeed”.

Angelo, 37, has already fulfilled some if not all of those criteria, because in a previous life he was a flooring contractor. That was before he became a teacher aid, before he took ‘Graeme' under his wing and before he started a masters in teaching and learning at the University of Waikato.

'My work is with students who have social disabilities, atypical personalities. We are talking ADHD students, Aspergers students.”

As he did with Graeme, Angelo helps those students understand their difficulties in an academic environment. Angelo has his own privileged perspective of children with learning disabilities as 'one of my own children, five-year-old Eraihia, is autistic.”

The Kupe Scholarship covers course fees, and that's a blessing for a family man. It provides a study allowance of $15,000, professional mentoring and assistance with job search.

'I will be quite truthful, it will enable me to focus on my career rather than worry about what's in my children's lunchboxes and whether there's enough petrol in the car to get to University, to get to work.”

How do you manage that with a brood of six kids? 'You just do it.”

Angelo maybe a smart, considered and driven academic, but his research can be a bit dickey. When he applied for the Waikato University, course he thought it was 'just over the hill, 30 to 40 minutes away.” It's a lot further – more than 100km, an hour and a half, and commensurately a lot more expensive. 'That was a serious drain on the pocket and time.”

But a Kupe Scholarship will make life more manageable for Angelo, his wife Yolande and all the little Morehu. Then the Kupe scholar offers up some of his own interesting ‘neuro science', his own opinions on the prevalence of autism.

'There's a growing need with more and more children on the spectrum.” And he blames food, bad food. 'I think it has everything to do with quality of food in their lunchboxes. The disability has always been there but it's becoming more prevalent because of the food they are eating.”

There were another five other Kupe Scholarship recipients from Bay of Plenty: Stephen Moli of Gate Pa, Nikola Patrick of Otumoetai, Richard Apanui of Omokoroa, and Rebecca Jaram and Jade James of Opotiki.