In a news article covering a “first-of-a-kind gathering” in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to promote autism inclusion and awareness, the treatment of individuals with autism was described in the following way:
"As there’s limited autism awareness, society often regards those with the disorders as mentally ill or cursed. Persons with special needs are subject to discrimination, stigma and sometimes extreme cruelty. That’s why this inaugural walk was necessary. It’s the first time families could share their stories and challenges and push back against the stigma by creating awareness.”
Source: Swit Salone News: “Sierra Leone Autism Awareness walk highlights stigma and offers hope for acceptance”, 25 April 2024, last accessed: 14 May 2024
In a news article the founder of the Macpherson Foundation described the treatment of children with autism in Sierra Leone.
"‘At Macpherson Foundation, we focus on building communication, social, behavioral, vocational, and academic skills and work together with families to prepare for the transition to adulthood,’ Emmanuel Sahr MacPherson stated. He lamented that in Sierra Leone, families with children who exhibit symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, are often labeled as witches or wizards, and victimized, abandoned, ridiculed, poisoned, drowned, or totally isolated from other children of the same family.”
Source: The Owl Newspaper: “Macpherson Foundation Launches Operations in Moyamba”, 9 January 2023, last accessed: 8 August 2023
An academic article from 2021 suggested that community members are unaware of developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder.
Source: The Journal of Special Education - Morin, K. L., Tomaszewski, B. R., Bauer, K., Blasko, A. M., Enriquez, G. B., Tasik, E. J., & Mehta, K.: “Perspectives on Disabilities in Sierra Leone”, 29 December 2021, p. 154, last accessed: 24 July 2023
News articles quote comments by spokespeople of NGOs and an intergovernmental organisation on attitudes to children with disabilities and autistic people.
"One Family People, a non-governmental organization, which is committed to helping vulnerable children, especially children living with disability, in partnership with the Special Need Education Unit of the Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education (MBSSE), the Ministry of Social Welfare, amongst others, has on Wednesday 16th June, 2021 joined the world to commemorate this year’s Day of the African Child with the theme, 'Accelerating the Implementation of the Radical Inclusion Policy,' which is centered around the slogan, 'We Ring the Bell Campaign 2021.'
The event was held at the Peace Museum, Special Court Sierra Leone (SCSL), on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Freetown and attracted representatives from special need schools, Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI), Sierra Leone Autistic Society, National Commission for Children (NCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Hope International, etc. […]
In her statement, Tanzila Watta Sankoh, the Team lead of the Sustainable and Local Economic Development Cluster at UNDP mentioned that, Article 23 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child mandates State authorities to recognize that a child with mental or physical disability is entitled to a full and decent life.
However, she informed that children with disabilities are among the most marginalized and excluded people in society.
'In Sierra Leone, children with disability encounter daily discrimination in the form of undesirable attitudes, inadequate policies and legislations, which largely prevent them from realizing their rights to healthcare, education and even survival,' she lamented.
She disclosed that the UNDP together with the Ministry of Social Welfare are assessing the Disability Act of 2011 and also working on supporting over 100 PWDs nationwide with livelihood skills and start up kits.”
Source: The Calabash Newspaper: “With Ring the Bell Campaign 2021… One Family People Commemorates Day of the African Child”, 21 June 2021, last accessed: 8 August 2023
“She explained that Autism Voice Sierra Leone intends to end the widespread stigma attached to this condition in the country. […] Speaking to journalists recently, Madam Kandeh said that her organization’s mission is to educate the general public about the condition, give and advocate for support and protection of the individuals within this bracket, and help enhance people and families affected by the condition to live a happy and better life. She went on to say that autistic people ned to have dignity in the society. She urged all and sundry to treat autistic people with utmost respect and to stop describing them in derogatory terms.”
Source: AYV News: “Demand for Better Treatment of Autistic Patients”, 10 January 2020, last accessed: 7 August 2023
"During a sensitization meeting organized by the charitable organization, Autism Voice – Sierra Leone held in Kroo Bay community, participants promised to love and respect people living with this condition. […] In her sensitization message, the co-founder Autism Voice – Sierra Leone, Mariama Korrca Kandeh said: 'I am here to beg you to please stop calling autistic people "fool fool" or "aflahun". They are not fools, neither are they witches or have evil spirits.'”
Source: AYV News: “Giant Step to Care for ASD Patients”, 10 January 2020, last accessed: 6 August 2023
In their 2019 annual report, Autism Voice reported on a Conference attended by professionals where 98% of 40 participants who responded to evaluation forms reported it was their first time learning about autism.
"We provide outstanding autism education programmes through conferences, seminars and workshops. On 11th April 2019, we held our first Autism Conference on the theme: Enhancing Acceptance and Recognition of Autistic People in Sierra Leone. This was followed by three subthemes: Autism: myths and stereotypes in communities, Disability and human rights and Inclusion of persons with invisible disabilities. The rationale behind the conference was to create a platform for families and practitioners to meet commitments and address new and emerging challenges of the autistic community. […] A total of 88 people attended the conference including teachers, doctors, health care and social workers, traditional and religious leaders, police and prison officers and journalists. A total of 40 participants responded to evaluation forms. Out of this 98% reported it was their first time learning about autism.”
Source: Autism Voice Sierra Leone: “Autism Voice Sierra Leone Annual Report – Amplifying the Voices of Autistic People, December 2018 – December 2019 [via Facebook]”, 19 December 2019, pp. 4-5, last accessed: 7 August 2023
In 2017 Stepping Forward UK, The British Council and Disability Africa organised a conference on Pan-African Experiences of Autism, and a report of the conference includes comments from many participants. Dr Muideen O. Bakare, a Consultant Psychiatrist in a Child & Adolescent Unit in Nigeria spoke about the situation in Africa for people with autism spectrum disorders and Mary Penn-Timity, mother of an autistic daughter and co-founder of the Sierra Leone Autistic Society, spoke about her daughter’s experience in Sierra Leone.
“4.6 Current Situation of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Africa, Dr Muideen O. Bakare, M.B.B.S, FMCPsych, MNIM Chief Consultant Psychiatrist & Head, Training and Research Child & Adolescent Unit, Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria
[…]
Negative Cultural Beliefs and Practices
Research findings suggest that etiology of ASD is still being explained by supernatural causes (Bakare et al, 2009b). In Africa, witchcraft, demonic afflictions, evil spirits possession are common acceptable modes of explaining etiology of ASD and other childhood neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). Individuals with ASD and their families are often faced with discrimination and rejection, negative and derogatory comments, further promoting stigma and social exclusion.
To avoid stigma, parents tend to hide away affected children from the society by locking them up in the house. This may lead to late presentation and diagnosis of ASD among African children.
[…]
Inadequate Trained Healthcare Personnel in Africa|
Primary health care workers In Africa do not routinely undergo training in identification of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) such as ASD. The relatively few physicians equipped with some knowledge about NDD are those with specialization in medical fields such as Psychiatry, Paediatrics and Neurology. Inadequate trained personnel contribute to late diagnosis and interventions for African children with ASD.
[…]
Low Educational and Vocational Attainment among Adults with ASD and Community Development
It is a likely trend that children with ASD that had little or no education opportunity are not going to fit into specific vocational ventures as adults, negatively affecting their contribution to general community development. Community perception of stigma also reduces the community inclusion and this reduce opportunity for Adults with ASD to contribute positively to their society.”
Source: Stepping Forward UK: “Pan-African Experiences of Autism: Transforming Rights into Reality, Report of Conference held at: The British Council, Freetown, Sierra Leone, December 2017”, December 2017, pp. 15, 17, 18, 20, last accessed: 8 August 2023
"Parent/Carer Perspective III by Mary Penn-Timity
[...] These are things that have been said about and to my autistic daughter:
Jes is a witch
Jes is a devil child
Jes is bad luck and so deserves to die
Jes should be left in the bush, to be returned back to the devil she came from
Pregnant women should not be around Jes or they would have a devil child like her
Other children should not play with Jes
Jes is a mad person
Jes should be feared, not loved
All because Jes has autism."
Source: Stepping Forward UK: “Pan-African Experiences of Autism: Transforming Rights into Reality, Report of Conference held at: The British Council, Freetown, Sierra Leone, December 2017”, December 2017, p. 36, last accessed: 8 August 2023
The Sierra Leone Autistic Society also includes the stories of two individual children with autism on its website.
“MIATTA’S STORY
Miatta is a 9 year old girl with autism;
due to no diagnostic services her mum did not know what the issue was (ie. What condition Miatta had)
some traditional healers told mum that Miatta was a witch an some said Miatta is a ‘debul pikin (devil’s child)
Miatta’s mum was told to buy some items and that a ceremony will be performed to ‘return’ her daughter back to the ‘debul’
Mum said Miatta was on the verge of been ‘returned’ when she got in contact with Sierra Leone Autistic Society (SLAS) via SLAS’ community sensitisation team.
Today Miatta is in SLAS’s supported school (Browne-Penn Special School) and doing very well; and mum is a strong member of the parent support group.
“FATMATA’S STORY
Fatmata is the mother of an eleven year old son with autism;
Fatmata had been evicted many times from her rented properties due to neighbours pressuring landlords to evict her and her son Bundu.
Bundu has severe autism and the nature of how it manifests causes him to scream loudly, and when this happens in the middle of the night (as Bundu struggled with sleep), neighbours assumed he was either a witch or possessed by the devil.
Fatmata was suffering with depression and told Sierra Leone Autistic Society (SLAS) sensitisation team she was thinking of 'ending it all'; Bundu is now in school and mum received advice through support group which has helped with his sleep issues, etc.
Sensitisation was carried out within Fatmata’s community and for the first time in a long while Fatmata and Bundu have a supportive community to live in.”
Source: Sierra Leone Autistic Society (SLAS): “Stories and Testimonies, Miatta & Bundu’s Story”, Undated, last accessed: 8 August 2023
Stepping Forward UK’s webpage on Sierra Leone gives a broader context on the situation for people with disabilities in the country.
“Sierra Leone remains one of the poorest countries in the world and in 2016 had the lowest life expectancy globally. Almost one in five children don’t reach their fifth birthday. Within this resource-poor context, those with disabilities, including neurological conditions and intellectual disabilities, often face devastating social exclusion, with profound educational and livelihood consequences, contributing significantly to ill-health and poverty.”
Source: Stepping Forward UK: “Sierra Leone”, undated, last accessed: 6 August 2023