Efe Irele foundation fetes autistic kids

For the love of special children who are often neglected in society at festive seasons like the yuletide, the Efe Irele Foundation recently organized a party for children suffering from autism as part of efforts to make them feel loved and part of the society.

Founder of the body, Efe Irele, decided to throw a party and have as many families with autistic kids come together as a therapeutic event for the kids and have parents share ideas on how they have been managing the condition of their wards.

Irele was spurred to start the foundation because her younger brother, Bem, is autistic, and she has seen firsthand the pains parents go through to raise autistic kids.

“Growing up with my brother was difficult, my mother made sure I was proud of my brother no matter what, I took him everywhere I went, but with people, there was always this stigma. This affected him, he does not have social skills, and he does not know what is right or wrong. He could be in a quiet place and start laughing and people tell me we didn’t train him and say many nasty things because they don’t understand. A lot of times I fought, talked back at them but I discovered I couldn’t fight all my life and decided to educate such people instead.

“I knew I was going to start something to create autism awareness and so I began little by little, using my platform as an actress. Today, I am glad to see my dream come to pass. Autism is not something parents should be shy about because when you hide these children, you make things worse for them. They need that interaction, and love. When you hide them, that is when they behave irregularly, throwing tantrums and all the inappropriate behavior, but when you bring them out and they have therapy, it helps them to grow and develop accordingly.”