Winner Of Miss Autism Beauty Pageant, Sarah Bosibori Wants The World To Know This

Sarah Bosibori, pictured above, is a beauty queen with a difference. She has autism, a condition that affects learning, communication and social interactions. Sarah who recently emerged the winner of 2019 Miss autism beauty pageant, held in Nairobi earlier this month wants the world to know some things about autism.

Young men and women with autism were given the stage at Mr and Miss Autism Kenya 2019, an event in Nairobi to promote better understanding of the condition.

According to a report by BBC, Kenya is a country where people on the autistic spectrum are shunned, neglected or even deemed the result of witchcraft.

In a chat with BBC Africa’s Anthony Irungu, the excited beauty queen talks about her condition and what the title means to her. In her words, autism is not a curse but a blessing and she wants the world to know this.

”I have been judged a whole lot of times. I have been bullied in primary school. I have gone through the journey and I have learnt to accept my condition.

The title means the world to me because I am mildly autistic, and this is everything. I am so happy and humbled. I will take this title to my fullest and use it the right way.”

Sarah hopes to use her title to raise awareness of autism in Kenya. She continues:

”I will tell the world that autism is not a curse. It is a blessing. It has been long for me to accept it but now I understand. Especially when I just won this crown, I feel like I can do anything and everything for autistic people.”

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how an individual communicates and interacts with others, how they perceive their environment, among others.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), a guide created by the American Psychiatric Association used to diagnose mental disorders, people with ASD have:

Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people
Restricted interests and repetitive behaviors
Symptoms that hurt the person’s ability to function properly in school, work, and other areas of life.

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Watch Sarah’s speech about her condition below…

Social communication / interaction behaviors may include:

Making little or inconsistent eye contact
Tending not to look at or listen to people
Rarely sharing enjoyment of objects or activities by pointing or showing things to others
Failing to, or being slow to, respond to someone calling their name or to other verbal attempts to gain attention
Having difficulties with the back and forth of conversation
Often talking at length about a favorite subject without noticing that others are not interested or without giving others a chance to respond
Having facial expressions, movements, and gestures that do not match what is being said
Having an unusual tone of voice that may sound sing-song or flat and robot-like
Having trouble understanding another person’s point of view or being unable to predict or understand other people’s actions

Restrictive / repetitive behaviors may include:

Repeating certain behaviors or having unusual behaviors. For example, repeating words or phrases, a behavior called echolalia
Having a lasting intense interest in certain topics, such as numbers, details, or facts
Having overly focused interests, such as with moving objects or parts of objects
Getting upset by slight changes in a routine
Being more or less sensitive than other people to sensory input, such as light, noise, clothing, or temperature

People with ASD may also experience sleep problems and irritability. Although people with ASD experience many challenges, they may also have many strengths, including:

Being able to learn things in detail and remember information for long periods of time
Being strong visual and auditory learners
Excelling in math, science, music, or art.

Photo credit: BBC