Ms Blessing Dada:

It is definitely a hard question to answer because there is no one-shoe-fits-all answer. From my experience, representation is very important and because I did not have that growing up, I had the choice of becoming that representative or just waiting for the next person to become one. That was the motivation behind my activism when I began around ten years ago.

When it comes to parents, listening to autistic adults is important because people still have this notion that people grow out of autism. I always tell people that you are born autistic and it is not something that needs to be cured or is going to change; it is just how it is going to be. I suggest even just listening to the stories of autistic adults and learning from them because we were once children. By sharing my story, especially with any black parents who may have young autistic children, I hope my speaking out will enable them to know that autism does not discriminate, anybody can be autistic and it is not a bad thing at all.