On Friday April 26th at Safari Hall in Minneapolis – Somali Community members held an amazing event recognizing Somali autism parents and advocates.
There was food, music and iPad that families could win. I was given an award for my advocacy along with other parents that started this journey with me years ago now.
Many community members told us their support and compassion for us. Many of them contributed to pay for the food, banquet hall, iPads and their time which was priceless.
Many parents talked about how hard it was for them to accept autism, the difficult times and journey they had with getting adequate services, the fact there is no Somali agency funded by anyone to help them navigate the complex system of autism services and resources. Hearing the desperation and hardship of my fellow autism moms and dads is what drives me as an advocate. I feel for them. Some of them talked about the medical conditions they got as a result of the stress of autism and lack of support from state of Minnesota.
Many talked about how we lost our first American born children generation to autism and we need to do something so that we don’t lose the next generation. Early intervention only works if parents are told about it and MN state health dept does not. So our families have to suffer because of the neglect of our state health dept. How sad and frustrating is that.
We are very thankful and grateful for this especially to Mariam Egal, Dr. Fahia, Mohamed, Farhio, Saalax, Safari Hall owners, Abdulrahman (flight 13) Anab and Amira.
Thanks everyone for this.
Idil – Somali Autism Mom