In much of Africa, that question hangs in the air unanswered. Parents are left to search the internet late at night, ask neighbours for rumours, or turn to churches and traditional healers, while the formal system stands largely silent. I am not a therapist. I write as a journalist and educator, and this op-ed is not a clinical guide. It is a policy argument: a call for African governments, advocacy organisations and the African Union to rethink what should happen immediately after an autism diagnosis – and to design systems that make those steps possible. What usually happens in richer countries? In countries with stronger autism policies, the moment after diagnosis is still emotional, but it is not a policy vacuum. In the United Kingdom, for example, families are supposed to receive not only a diagnosis but information about follow-up support: a summary of the assessment, advice about social care assessments, entitlement to financial support, regular family visits, parent courses, and local community resources.
In Canada, public health guidance stresses that once autism is diagnosed, supports and services should begin as early as possible – including speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, behavioural support and training for parents, alongside school planning. In the United States and elsewhere, agencies like the CDC and research bodies such as the NICHD repeatedly emphasise that early diagnosis and intervention are associated with better long-term outcomes in communication, social skills and independence. The systems in these countries are far from perfect – many families still face long waiting lists, unequal access and underfunded services – but there is at least a recognised pathway: diagnosis, information, referral to early intervention, access (however flawed) to funding and school planning. Now ask yourself honestly: Can most African parents expect anything close to that? The African reality: Misdiagnosis, diagnosis, then... silence In too many African countries, including Botswana (based on my interactions with families), the pattern is painfully familiar. A child is diagnosed – often late, after years of confusion – and the family walks out of the clinic with a label, “Autism” but no roadmap.
