Turffointein mother advocates for justice for autistic children
With her flag proudly raised high, a Turffointein mother of an 18-year-old autistic son observed Autism Awareness Month by walking the distance to raise awareness.
With April being Autism Awareness Month, Paulina Bakualufu went out of her way to raise awareness about people and children with autism throughout the world.
Paulina, founder of Autism Zone Hope and mother of an 18-year-old autistic son, Joshua Mawete, recently observed Autism Awareness Month on April 8.
On a quest to raise autism awareness, the Turffointein mother walked from her place to The Glen Shopping Centre and walked around Bassonia Shopping Centre with her flag raised high.
According to Paulina, not many people know about autism and the issues affecting autistic children.
“April is Autism Awareness Month and I refer to it as ‘Justice for Children with Autism in Africa’, because many children with autism in Africa do not attend school due to the lack of awareness regarding the spectrum,” she said.
She said in Africa the problem is that there are not enough special schools for autistic children and the available schools are costly.
“Several parents cannot afford to send their autistic children to those schools. Every child with autism in Africa has the right to be educated and to get proper healthcare,” explained Paulina.
An autistic child, according to Paulina, cannot cope with being in one place for a long time and in crowded and noisy spaces.
“When going to public hospitals with our children, we have to be in the queues for hours on end and children can’t cope to be in that space even for 30 minutes. When you explain to the staff at health facilities, there’s nothing that they do to help. The child will then be hyper and start screaming. As parents we decide to just leave the facility,” she said.
She said health staff should not let an autistic child be in the queue for many hours and that they should promptly serve the parent before the child ‘starts to act up’.
“My message is that there should be justice in everything for autistic children and there should be enough schools in our communities for children with autism. Once educated, autistic children can greatly contribute to society and in the communities they live in,” Paulina said.
