VseA, as I like to call it, is the result of my daughter’s autism. It is both a blog on social media platforms (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc.) and an on-the-ground association. VseA was born from the desire to help parents of autistic children—special parents like me—to believe that anything is possible, to support those still in denial in accepting their child’s disability, to share my experiences with other parents of autistic children, to create a mutual support network among these parents for national and international advocacy, and above all, to break the limitations associated with our children’s disabilities.

The concept FOR SPECIAL PARENTS comes from the fact that, as parents of autistic children, we are warriors, lions and lionesses—people capable of finding solutions to help our children move forward. We are courageous, bold parents who face incredible adversities day after day without ever giving up. I am happy to say that as parents of children with special needs, we inevitably become special parents ourselves.

I want to revisit the idea of breaking the limitations tied to our children’s disabilities, which is the essence of VseA. The reality is that when you have a child living with a disability like autism—especially in our African cultural context—people assume that child’s future is over, that they can never achieve anything except being a lifelong burden. As a result, they believe there’s no point in investing in that child, and sending them to school would be like throwing money away.

VseA has taken on the crucial mission not only of dismantling the defeatist and fatalistic mindset that plagues parents of autistic children—the belief that our children can never amount to anything—but also of making them realize that our children possess incredible gifts, talents, and abilities. It is our duty to discover and highlight these qualities.

To do this, we must start by SEEING OUR CHILD DIFFERENTLY—that is, looking beyond their disability.

I admit that launching such a project was not easy and still isn’t always smooth sailing, as we are still in the early stages and forging our path. But I firmly believe that with God’s help, we will succeed.

None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t had a daughter living with autism or if I hadn’t managed to transcend this disability. If it could happen for me, it’s clear that your destiny can also unfold through your child’s situation…

This text is an excerpt from the book “BEYOND DISABILITY” written by ARLETTE SALINE MBIDA.

We invite you to read the next article: “ANTICIPATION“.