A Parent’s Journey with Autism

September 18, 2025

The Silent Song: A Parent’s Journey with Autism

Raising a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is often an emotional, psychological, and financial struggle.
For many African parents, the weight is made heavier by stigma, cultural misconceptions, and isolation.
Beyond the sleepless nights and endless hospital visits, there is the quiet burden of judgment—the whispers that erode confidence and the shame that forces families into silence.
This is the reality of Mr. and Mrs. Kosuni.

Their third child, Amara, was once a lively chatterbox. Her laughter carried through their home, her words weaving joy into every corner. But when she turned four, her voice disappeared. Instead, she began to hum softly, almost constantly, spending hours arranging little stones in careful, repetitive patterns.
At first, doctors reassured them: “She’s fine, just a late bloomer.” But as the silence deepened, so did their fear.

For Mum Amara, the shame was unbearable. The community whispered that her daughter’s silence was the work of a curse or an evil spirit. The stares, the gossip, the sideways glances—they all cut deep. To protect her child, she withdrew from the world, keeping Amara hidden. But isolation brought no relief, only guilt. Every night, the question haunted her: “Why am I having this difficult child?”

The Kosunis’ home became a quiet battlefield of unspoken grief, anxiety, and exhaustion.
Then one evening, Mr. Kosuni spoke words that changed everything: “We cannot live like this anymore. We cannot hide.”

For the first time, they chose courage over fear. They decided their daughter’s story would not be written by shame or by gossip. Mum Amara began to see her child’s constant humming differently—not as a loss, but as a new kind of song.

A song of resilience. It's a song of love. A song of hope for a future they would face, hand in hand, together.

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