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Autism awareness.
Despite raising autism awareness, stigma and discrimination remain significant challenges for individuals with autism. Parents of children with autism have criticised the government for moving at a snail’s pace to recognise and educate society.
This was revealed at an autism awareness campaign led by the Family of Neuro-developmental Disorders Foundation in partnership with Autism South Africa and the Mahikeng Provincial Hospital in North West. This as April marks World Autism Month.
According to parents, many children with autism face rejection in their communities because of a lack of knowledge about the condition.
Parents of children living with autism attended the event and shared their experiences, highlighting the emotional, social, and financial challenges they face daily, caused by a neurodevelopmental condition.
“He started walking late. He started walking when he was one year and seven months, and at that time, I thought that it was just delay in reaching certain milestones. But when he got to grade 1, that’s when he was diagnosed with autism. The diagnosis came about when the teacher started isolating him because he was not performing like other kids. It was not easy. It was very difficult because I didn’t have enough information. I didn’t know where to turn to and whom to approach when faced with challenges” a parent comments.
The founder of the Family of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Foundation Lesego Lorekang, says the goal is to reduce stigma, encourage early diagnosis and ensure families that they are not alone.
“They are trying they do have certain initiatives that they do. But it’s not enough for instance, creating awareness around autism or neurodevelopmental disorders. You hardly see posters especially around our government facilities, where they talk about autism. You hardly see initiatives like this. I was expecting that because April is autism awareness month, government should be up and arms doing the awareness, going into communities talking more about autism” Lorekang elaborates.
[WATCH] April marks Autism Awareness Month. Today’s focus is on early intervention, supporting students with autism, and building inclusive communities with Educational Psychologist Nomsa Radebe, Founder & CEO of Neo-Psych Services. pic.twitter.com/oNsk5QbSaq
— SABC News (@SABCNews) April 5, 2025
A pediatrician Dr Tumelo Leew advised parents about the symptoms of autism.
“It generally affects the child’s ability to communicate, to interact socially as well as a child’s ability to process sensation. So, you also have the child having challenges with behaviour for instance, they can be having repetitive actions that they keep doing, or when they feel that they are overwhelmed. The child might end up doing something called stimming,” Leew explains.
Autism South Africa’s Dineo Mosiane believes awareness campaigns are still a work in progress.
“There is still a lot more that needs to be done. People still do not know what autism is. I still get calls from people shocked about what it is. Or we go to a community, and we want to run an autism awareness, and people don’t come because primarily they have never heard the word autism,” Mosiane says.
The awareness campaign continues throughout the month, with calls for more resources and education around autism, particularly in communities not well served.
VIDEO | Addressing Autism Spectrum Disorder misconceptions
