Yvonne Odukwe
Yvonne is a vibrant and bubbly multi-talented professional. She is a Part Qualified Chartered Accountant by profession.
She is also a mother with a child with Autism and has worked tirelessly to change the perception of Autism in the community both at home and abroad. The stigma and blame game associated with Autism is so strong that it prevents families from seeking help for their child and themselves. What makes it hard is the fact that Autism is an invisible disability, so most times people do not know what they are dealing with and resort to various harmful practices or do nothing at all and therefore deny the child any form of a future. This led to the creation of a Constituted Group called Autism’s Hidden Voices group which has links to other groups in UK and other countries including Nigeria where families can be signposted to professionals that can help other families who are dealing with similar issues and create social groups for friendships. The families participate in various workshops, funded activities and are signposted to professionals that can help their unique situation.
Recently, she was part of a current BBC documentary – Autism: “They said bleach would cure my daughter” where she was featured with her daughter to talk about the work she does with families and the issues we face with the work. She was also featured on the Association for Science in Autism Treatment America website and newsletter and commended for her work in building understanding of Autism in the community.