Johannesburg, 03 May, 2022 / 11:30 pm (ACI Africa).
The recently published book, “Embrace difference: The journey of an African mother with her autistic son”, is about personal experiences of living with a child with autism, the author of the 10-chapter book told ACI Africa in a recent interview.
In the interview, Laurentine Lolo Atah Nkamankeng highlighted some of the challenges she has faced in bringing up her autistic son as an African mother, including stigmatization, negative stereotyping, and judgment that stem from a lack of knowledge and education.
“This book is about my journey as an African mother bearing the joys of motherhood against the challenges of living with an autistic child,” Ms. Nkamankeng told ACI Africa during the April 25 interview.
The Catholic motivational speaker in South Africa who hails from the Central African nation of Cameroon said that “misinformation about people with special needs leads to stigmatization” and that autistic children in Africa are “often attributed to witchcraft”.
The book is a resource to families with children who experience an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), she said in reference to her 105-page book that was published by LANSM Publishing.