Inspired by her two autistic sons, Kamla Mohammed is pursuing her Master’s Degree in Special and Inclusive Education all with the hopes of helping children with special needs as well as their parents forge ahead.
Mohammed said her work will allow families to navigate a path that can be daunting.
In an interview with Guardian Media on Wednesday, 37-year-old Mohammed said her journey of empowerment was one she knew all too well and she was committed to helping others conquer their challenges.
Seventeen years ago, an expectant Mohammed had high hopes for her boy.
She said, “As a first time mother, you have all these dreams about what school he is going to go and so many dreams—I’m going to take him to swimming classes and he is going to take martial arts—that was the whole vision.”
Mohammed would, however, go from overjoyed to overwhelmed shortly after Aleem’s birth.
“When he came into the world I didn’t realise, I lacked knowledge of autism. I had never even heard the word before and eventually took him to his paediatrician who said, Ms Mohammed, something is not right,” she said.
Further checks and doctor visits confirmed that her boy was autistic and on the moderate to severe spectrum.
The news would alter the course of her and her family’s life, according to her.
She said, “I saw all the things I wanted as a parent disappear before my eyes. It was hard to hear. I cried every day. Within the first year and a half, I sank into a depression.”
At the time, Mohammed said the challenges of accessing information and support about autism seemed an insurmountable hurdle.
“No one is telling you what to do and that is where a lot of doctors, paediatricians, teachers and others drop the ball. You are supposed to start with your parents first. If you empower parents, then they can help their children and that is when I began embarking on my own research,” she said.
Mohammed explained how, through the years, her once hopeful idyllic life for her boy would be shattered by society.
Fighting back the tears, she said, “I’ve been insulted in public, people would say, oh you can’t control your child lady, I don’t know why allyuh does bring out these children. They should stay home. I’ve been told that to my face. There was one time a woman insulted me in a maxi. I didn’t have a car then and I was travelling with Aleem and he was having a meltdown. The woman said allyuh young girls don’t know about children, you all can’t even make good children.”
When Mohammed and her husband welcomed their second boy into the world, who was also diagnosed with autism, instead of being overcome with fear and panic, she became further motivated to make a difference.
She said, “I need to do something for them and before I leave this earth. I want to make it a much better place for my children and to make it a better place, I need to educate people—I need to tell them.”
Mohammed said she was now inching closer to obtaining her Masters Degree in Special and Inclusive Education.
She said, “I’m going to start my school in my home. I am not only going to do academics, but also teach them life skills - you need to teach children life skills.”
Mohammed, a primary school teacher, said learning lessons from her boys continue to be her biggest blessing.
“Honestly, they are the reason I am alive because there were times I thought I don’t want to live because the pain was so bad, they are my greatest teachers and they save me,” she said.
World Autism Month is celebrated in April and Mohammed is calling for more special education teachers to be placed in schools for early identification of children with autism.
“As a primary school teacher I’ve seen so many children go through the system un-diagnosed. Getting children diagnosed should be up front. You know how many parents don’t know they can go to a clinic or hospital and get their child diagnosed, so there is a need for me to be done, even introduce screenings at schools,” she also said.
