Zekwande Mathenjwa is a nonspeaking teen that is fighting for the rights of nonspeaking South Africans; he shares a powerful open letter for World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month.
Pretoria, South Africa (09 April 2023) – April is World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month and Autism South Africa, is working hard to change lives in our beloved country. Recently the organisation shared what they are doing to celebrate the month. Part of the information they sent, included open letters from young people who are advocating to be seen and heard.
In South Africa, autism is often overlooked and support is lacking. Autism South Africa is campaigning for equality, acceptance and opportunity. This month, they hope to raise awareness about autism so that people who are diagnosed, can be better supported.
Awareness of what neurodevelopmental disability is, also helps people better understand those around them. Over the next month, we will share a series of articles to help raise much-needed awareness in South Africa.
Zekwande Mathenjwa is a nonspeaking autistic teen and founder of the Zekwande Foundation. He is adding his voice to the cause through this open letter. Zekwande is passionate about the rights of nonspeaking individuals and his open letter challenges the way people think. He founded the foundation in 2020 and is working toward uplifting nonspeaking, autistic people in South Africa.
“In this country, our nonspeakers are segregated, dismissed, judged by their outsides and invalidated by ableist “professionals” and “authorities.”
The worst part of this is that it means they are denied access to the very things that would enable them to stand up for their own rights. This is a human rights crisis on a level equal to that of apartheid.
We are all humans and we all have equal rights, regardless of skin colour, social status and disability. If people continue to condemn us as intellectually deficient, then we will continuously be denied access to our basic human rights. I am a nonspeaker who was once deemed as cognitively deficient.
I am not.
The medical and educational systems that are currently in place for us have not been selected by us. When will our government and policy makers start listening to us? Not just to me, but to other nonspeakers who have escaped our society’s shackles of silence? We need to see a change.
Related Story
We need a revolution.
I urge anyone who is reading this to restore themselves from the brainwashing that was instilled in them since childhood. Changing core beliefs is hard, but it will lead to a beauty of equality, equity and freedom. We deserve to be heard; we deserve to be seen. Take your directives from nonspeakers and be prepared to rebuild systems for us from scratch.
We overcame discrimination in our country in the past and we will do so again”. – Zekwande Mathenjwa – Nonspeaking Autistic Teen. Founder of the Zekwande Foundation
You can support Zekwande’s efforts by visiting the foundation’s website here. He shares his story in a short biography video which we have shared below.
by 