Episode 23: A Conversation with Morenike Giwa Onaiwu on parenting on the spectrum, upbringing, advocacy and so much more!!

Published: Sept. 17, 2020, noon

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In this episode, Mor\\xe9nike and I have a great conversation talking about a wide range of topics from parenting to educating those around us about autism, from self awareness and advocacy to the intersectionality of culture, gender, race and autism and how it can impact diagnosis and finding the best supports for each individual.\\xa0



Mor\\xe9nike Giwa Onaiwu is an educator, writer, public speaker, parent, and global advocate. A proactive, resourceful professional and disabled woman of color in a multicultural, neurodiverse, serodifferent family, Mor\\xe9nike, who is American-born to immigrant parents, possesses undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Relations and Education. She is passionate about human rights, justice, and inclusion.

She is involved in various social justice advocacy endeavors including HIV awareness, learning via technology, research, gender, disability, and racial equity and other issues. A prolific writer, Mor\\xe9nike has written for and/or been featured in numerous blogs, abstracts, magazines, books, and other platforms, often drawing from her personal experiences as a late-diagnosed Autistic adult woman, a person of color, an Autistic parent of Autistic and non-Autistic children, and a survivor of intimate partner violence. She is also involved in several projects in addition to her advocacy and writing; notably, she is one of the editors (along with Lydia X.Z. Brown and E. Ashkenazy) of a groundbreaking anthology on autism and race as well as a co-coordinator of the Fund for Community Reparations for Autistic People of Color\\u2019s Interdependence, Survival, and Empowerment.

Currently balancing her roles as a faculty member at a state college and as a doctoral student in an educational leadership program, Mor\\xe9nike considers herself a \\u201clifelong learner\\u201d who is constantly growing and changing, hopefully for the better! She considers her wonderful children (biological and adopted and all of whom have various disabilities) to be her greatest accomplishment.

She can be contacted by making a direct appointment at MorenikeGO.youcanbook.me and/or by emailing her at MGO@morenikego.com

(^This is derived from my \\u201creal\\u201d bio. For a more casual/\\u201dfun\\u201d/informal version, visit my About page.)


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