Autism isn’t the problem, stigma is

Ntibinyane Ntibinyane | Tuesday December 9, 2025 08:00

How many autistic children in Botswana, and across Africa, are hidden away because parents fear what the community will say? How many families struggle in silence, not because their child is difficult, but because stigma makes it impossible to ask for help? And how often do we hear a child labeled “bewitched,” “spoiled,” or “naughty” simply because they behave differently?

These questions force us to look honestly at how we view autism and disability in our society. They challenge us to reflect on where stigma comes from and why it continues to limit the lives of autistic people and their families.

To be clear: I am not a psychologist or a therapist, and my role is not to diagnose or treat autism or investigate its medical causes. My background is in Critical Disability Studies. My work focuses on how societies define disability, how stigma takes root, and how ideas of “normal” and “abnormal” are created, not just by science, but by history, culture, power, colonisation, and public policy.

Through this lens, one thing becomes clear: autistic people (or people with autism) are not abnormal. What is abnormal is how society treats them and the stigma it continues to create around their differences.

Let me put it this way. Stigma is not born from autism itself; it comes from the meaning our society attaches to it. In Botswana and Africa, these meanings often grow from misinformation, fear of difference, or colonial medical ideas that labeled anything “different” as a disorder or abnormality. Sometimes, cultural or religious interpretations wrongly blame families or spiritual causes. Autistic children may indeed avoid eye contact, struggle with loud noises, bright lights, communicate differently, or need strict routines. But none of these behaviors are dangerous or threatening. They are simply differences, misunderstood differences. Yet, because many people do not understand neurodiversity, these behaviors are often misread as disrespect, disobedience, weird, strange or a failure of parenting. This is where stigma begins, silencing families and denying children their dignity.

There is nothing abnormal about autism

One of the most harmful ideas we must confront is the belief that autism is an “abnormality” that needs to be corrected or fixed. This belief comes from what scholars call the medical model of disability.

But autism is not a disease. It is not caused by bad parenting, witchcraft, or vaccines. It is also not a moral or spiritual failure. It is a neurodevelopmental difference. Autistic people (or People with Autism) experience the world differently, communicate differently, and learn differently. That diversity is a natural part of human life.

If we shift our perspective, we realise that the real problem is not the child; it is a society unprepared to embrace difference.

Consider this: When a classroom is too loud, the problem is the environment, not the child reacting to the noise. When a child plays alone or lines up their toys instead of sharing, the problem is not that they are “antisocial,” but that we fail to appreciate different ways of finding joy.

When a child has a meltdown in a busy supermarket, the problem is not “bad behaviour,” but an environment that is assaulting their senses with lights and noise. When a teacher is untrained, the problem is the educational system, not the learner.

When a community excludes a child, the issue is stigma, not autism. And when a person communicates without speech, the problem is not a lack of intelligence, but a world that refuses to listen to anything but words.

What I am arguing here is that people are often disabled not by their bodies or minds, but by a world that refuses to accommodate them.

Indeed, this does not mean we should reject medical support. That is not my argument. Besides, diagnosis and therapies, such as speech or occupational therapy, are very important. However, the goal of support should be to help the child thrive, not to “erase” their autism or the way they see and experience the world.

The fallacy of “fixing” autism

Every parent wants their child to grow up “normally.” We all hope our children will make friends, speak clearly, develop good social skills, do well in school, and navigate the world with confidence. These hopes are natural and human. But the problem begins when we measure autistic children against ideas of “normal” that were never designed with them in mind. When a child does not fit those expectations, families are pushed toward fear, shame, and a desperate search for ways to “fix” what they think is wrong.

The pressure to “fix” a child leads parents toward shame and exhaustion. And worse, it sends a damaging message to the child that they are broken or incomplete. But autistic children (and adults) are not broken. They simply develop differently. Let me repeat this: autistic children do not need to be cured; they need to be understood.

They need environments that make sense to them. They need adults who recognise their strengths, not only their struggles. They need schools and communities that treat them with respect rather than fear. What they require most is a mindset shift, from trying to change the child to changing the environment that excludes or misunderstands them. They need us.

African cultures offer solutions too

Fortunately, we do not have to look far for a blueprint for acceptance. While stigma exists, African cultures also offer powerful tools for inclusion. Long before colonial medicine introduced labels like “disorder,” many African societies understood human difference in holistic, relational ways.

Values such as botho, community interdependence, and collective responsibility can support autistic people in ways that go beyond the clinic and hospitals. Extended families can provide natural support networks, and elders can help reframe differences through cultural teachings rather than shame. A new way forward for Botswana requires us to merge these approaches. We must educate the public to see autism as a difference, not a defect. We must use both the medical model and social/cultural models, recognising that care must be holistic. We must train teachers in our universities and colleges to support neurodivergent learners and develop national policies that organize support for families, so they are never left alone.

We must imagine a child in Tshimoyapula and Mahetlwe having the same chances, support, and acceptance as a child in Gaborone, because every child, everywhere, deserves to belong.

At the centre of all these debates is not theory, not academic arguments, but a child. A child who deserves kindness. A child who deserves to be understood. A child who deserves a world that does not punish them for being themselves.

Most importantly, we must listen to autistic people (or people with autism) themselves. I am of the view that a society that fears difference holds itself back. A society that replaces stigma with acceptance and exclusion with inclusion moves forward.

*Ntibinyane Ntibinyane is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication

at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Canada. He teaches courses in journalism, with

research interests in investigative reporting, digital storytelling, and issues of equity,

diversity, and inclusion in education.