Nura Aabe is a Somali born mother who has lived in Bristol for 25 years, who set herself the mission of challenging and changing the often negative and misleading perceptions of autism. When Nura’s oldest son Zak was diagnosed with autism, Nura had not heard of autism, a condition that has no word to describe it in the Somali language.
Despite the challenges of stigma and social exclusion, Nura decided to change her social network so that she could help her son. Nura founded the community organisation called Autism Independence that supports marginalised families affected with autism. Since then she has been pioneering raising awareness of autism in the Somali community using a powerful mix of theatre, education and research.
