We wish to write to women, those who support and love women, and those who celebrate and uphold positive values we associate with women. Thank you.
We at SEMA work to support and shift systems of oppression that impact people who experience challenges and barriers as a result of being from minority ethnic groups and who are Autistic.
Today we wish to write something to celebrate racialised Autistic women, women who face racism in large and small ways, discrimination due to the colour of their skin, their ethnic background, culture or faith, and even more specifically these women who are Autistic.
Autistic women are often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed – battling the long waiting lists ‘borderline personality disorder’, ‘generalised anxiety disorder’, ‘depression’- too often providing the wrong sign post for us to follow. Stigma and discrimination, lack of understanding and knowledge as well as absence of healthy role models, internalised abelism, have stood in our paths, disabling us yet we are growing and thriving. More and more women are inspiring each other to learn about what being autistic means, what it means for them, and how to support ourselves and celebrate ourselves, without the need for an often gate kept medical diagnosis.
Women who are of a minority ethnic group receive unfair treatment they never asked for. They too often fall through the cracks, or are singled out with acts of racism, conscious or unconscious, costing them their health, wellbeing, livelihoods and/or lives. Whether through a single or many incidents over time, the harm is being done. Racial profiling, unconscious bias, microaggressions all add up, leading to women facing death by a thousand cuts. And yet, more and more women are surviving and thriving, overcoming and working to change this landscape.
Bringing these identities together, challenges can be amplified. ‘Autism is a white man disease’, ‘Black women can’t be Autistic’’ still echoes around in the social fabric. Specific gender norms to ‘be a good wife’ make additional hoops for autistic women to jump through.
Bringing these identities together, strengths can also be multiplied.
We wish to share names of women we honour and a couple of short stories written by Autistic women from Minority Ethnic groups about women from Minority Ethnic groups, some of which may be Autistic.
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”The woman that inspired me into community work was a local Pakistani lady. In the 90’s, a divorcee, Karachite amongst Punjabis, who wanted the kids of the migrant families not to lose touch with their language and culture.
Aunty Nasreen, of Stirling, amongst many other activities, set up Saturday Urdu classes in a local high school. I remember taking part in pantomimes (I was the dwarf Happy), fashion shows and other cultural events and even a weekend stay in Tillicoultry. In the 90’s this was revolutionary!
There is something that connected me with Aunty Nasreen, because out of all the kids she worked with, it was me (and my sister) who took action to live on her legacy through our own charity Al Masaar and create those opportunities for our next generation who were even further from their cultural heritage.
My building community started from my role model. Someone who didn’t quite fit in, but didn’t care about that. She had a vision and purpose and spent her life here doing just that.”
- Sofia Farzana
Founder of Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics (SEMA), Limitless Learners, Al Masaar (now RISE Forth Valley)
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“My grandmother Victoria fled her homeland of Iraq at the age of 36, her youngest son, my father, was only 5 years old at the time (the youngest of 4 children). Since the early 40s, a failed pro-Nazi uprising, pogroms and then a government coup – thousands of years of relative peace for the Jews of Iraq were now over.
In 1961, my family fled and although reaching safety in the UK from persecution central London was far from Baghdad in many ways. Cold, full of strange smells and foods, a new language, social rules and nothing of the life she had by the running Tigris river of her capital, hot nights spent sleeping on flat rooves under the stars. Adjustment was difficult.
Despite her long life in the UK (near 70 years) my grandma struggled to learn English and never got over having to leave her homeland. She suffered OCD and depression severely and when I reflect on it now I think she must have been Autistic. She was a deeply kind and curious person. While most parents and grandparents were telling children off for ‘bad behaviour’ she was asking ‘what is it that makes you so upset?’ Her kind curiosity, earnest and honest way brought love into our family. It is her attitude and her life story that has inspired me in my work and life”
- Olivia Nathan
SEMA member, Minority Ethnic Carers of People Project National Trainer, Singer, Edinburgh Georgian Signing Community leader
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Doreen Lawrence – British Jamaican campaigner and mother of Stephen Lawrence, a Black British teenager who was murdered in a racist attack (1993). Lawrence promoted reforms of the police service and founded the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust inspiring equity for people facing racism. This one woman’s determination for justice held up to account the UK’s largest police force. What followed shaped the anti-racism work we see today, that we strive to build on.
- Maryam SEMA member
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“The Girl in the Mirror
I have known her all my life, but yet she eluded me. I watched her grow and succeed in all that she set out to achieve. From that child that ran off to go and explore school. She didn’t look back. Her innocence I worried about. Her siblings tried to protect her, but she always knew her mind. She just bounced along unaware that she was unique. She thought all were like her. Sometimes she picked up that others were unkind to her but she either kept her head down or walked on. “Their issue” , she said.
She was never a communicator of personal matters, but she knew how to excel in her work. She flew and her career took her to other lands. Family and friends enjoyed her success, until she fell. Then she was alone, fighting. It was how she felt. They didn’t get her. She had now been diagnosed as Autistic. Easier to brush it under the carpet, or make initial enquiries and try to make allowances. That’s enough now. You’ve always been able to do this and that.
Suddenly an outsider of her world, she rebuilt herself and her new world with those who understood and accepted her. Who is she? She’s the girl in the mirror.”
Anon SEMA member
Thank you for reading.