Grade 9, Rand Girls’ School
A world where you and I are equally treated. That’s all I ever wished for. I grew up in the city of Johannesburg with my busy but caring parents.
Growing up I always noticed how autistic kids were hidden from the outside world as though they did not matter. “This is so wrong,” I always thought to myself. From a young age I had this recurring dream. A dream to promote equality between everyone despite our differences. My parents were very supportive of my goals but this one in particular they disapproved of it. They would tell me, “Sphe, this is nonsense,” or “You are not Nelson Mandela, my son.” But I didn’t care, I would do it either way.
At school I had an autistic friend, Benjamin. Ben and I had been best friends since we were in Grade 3 and now we were doing our matric together. He hated noise with murderous passion, as well as crowds. I expected people to respect that, but for some reason his autism made him a target for bullying. I never let that get to him, but I saw him hurt. One day during P.E. class our silly classmate Thabo thought it would be funny to blast music very loudly in the class. I saw Ben get uncomfortable and start biting his lips. In anger, I lost control and smashed Thabo’s speaker on the ground. That act landed me in trouble, but I didn’t care.
After that day Ben got super quiet and less energetic.
After days of watching Ben slip into sorrow and depression, I found out that he had committed suicide. This hurt me because we had always dreamt of attending University together, yet he had silenced himself for eternity.
This loss motivated me and right after high school I started my online autism zone where autistic people could share their struggles and how they overcame them. I shared Ben’s story, and it touched the hearts of many. It was then that we decided to stand up to bullying. To become a voice for the autistic. We later founded an organisation called Autism Zone.
Soon our non-profit organisation gained popularity. But we remained with one motive, to assist autistic kids and spread awareness. We visited schools and started to spread awareness and promote equality. Soon we gained funds and used them to give autistic kids free admission to special schools. This later turned into a helping hand where everyone in the community could gather and share motivation with each other. A place where we could contribute to help those in need without judgement. We later held community gatherings to promote equality. A safe space for all, where you and I are equally treated.