On Space and Work in Autism
The One with Chioma Nwokolo: Episode 23 (2022)
I bumped into teaching autistic children by accident. And it has been a challenging but beautiful experience for me. I love what I do. It is not a walk in the park. With autistic kids, early therapy is key. These kids cannot communicate their needs normally, so they try to do so through other behaviors that may harm them. Autistic kids teach you to teach them. And they make you fall in love with them. —Chioma (2022)
I met Chioma in secondary school (Federal Government Girls’ College (FGGC) Oyo). We didn’t talk much until after graduation, although I see a lot of her on Facebook doing her thing and being inspirational. Since I shared my experience with Ariife, Chioma has been one of her most loving online aunties. We recently got into a conversation and talked more about what she’s been up to, and I knew she had come on the podcast.
Chioma had her BSc in Economics from the University of Abuja and then went ahead to get a postgraduate education from the Nigeria Teachers Institute, Kaduna. She is a registered teacher with the Teachers Registration Council, Montessori-trained, and has a master’s degree in public administration. She was fully active in the classroom from 2011–2019 and taught a variety of learners from play groups to Grade 5 (neurotypical and special needs)…
