John-Paul Horsley was born in Accra, Ghana, in 1978. Raised and educated in America and England, John-Paul was a high achiever in his school days.

After leaving education, John-Paul turned his attention to the music industry, and put together one of the UK’s most successful urban music groups, called “Big Brovaz”. Through this vessel, John-Paul was able to enter the entertainment industry, featuring in Hollywood movies, and creating award winning documentaries.

In 2008, John-Paul had his first son, Richard-Michael. John-Paul noticed issues with his sons development, but was under the impression that his son was “globally delayed”. When Richard-Michael was 15 months old, the Doctors began to suggest autism could be the reason for Richard-Michael’s developmental delays and deficiencies.

While going through the diagnosis process, John-Paul realised that when he was growing up, he had many of the symptoms his son was now displaying. Delving deeper, John-Paul left the music/entertainment industry behind, and focussed all his attention to the condition of Autism, in hopes he could help his son, and other families going through an autism diagnosis.

When Richard-Michael received his diagnosis and autism was confirmed, John-Paul became a teacher, specialising in teaching children with special educational needs. John-Paul has helped many non verbal children find their voices.

After a long teaching career, John-Paul moved into the healthcare sector, working at the Royal Bethlem Hospital in London, at the National Autism Unit, where his speciality was working with autistic adults who have other mental health conditions as well as autism.

John-Paul has contributed on a book called “Educational Psychology Perspectives on Supporting Young Autisic People” which was released on April 21st 2022. John-Paul has now written his autobiography called “Reaching Richard” which will be released in April 2023.

John-Paul is now a proud father of 4 sons, two of which are on the autistic spectrum. John-Paul has a real knack for getting through to autistic people in general and would suggest that this comes from his own experience with autism.

John-Paul was diagnosed with autism in 2017 at age 37.

Whitney Hammel Anny is the co-founder and executive director of Autism Compassion Africa, an NGO in Ghana and 501c3 nonprofit in the US. She has over 15 years of experience directly working in the field of autism and applied behavior analysis (ABA). She holds a Master of Education Degree in Severe Special Education from Simmons College, and completed two additional years from University of West Florida to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Whitney is also certified as an International Behavior Analyst (IBA). Her work has included international dissemination of ABA across the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, India, Ghana, and Nigeria working with families and schools to create best outcomes for autistic individuals. She is also a founder of Autism Compassion Services, an ABA company based in Seattle (US) where a significant portion of the proceeds come to support the work of Autism Compassion Africa in Ghana and Nigeria. Whitney is a mother to two young busy boys and lives in Prampram, Ghana with her family.

Ms. Camille Proctor is the mother of a teen son and adult daughter.
In 2008 shortly after her son’s second birthday, he was diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. As she searched for support services for her family, she soon realized a disparity in the Black community. In 2009 she founded The Color of Autism Foundation to support African American families with children on the autism spectrum. The Color of Autism Foundation is a US Non-Profit (501 c3) organization committed to educating and assisting African American families impacted by autism spectrum disorders. She is an in-demand speaker on autism, neurodiversity, and family. She’s facilitated conferences in the US and Internationally. A 30-year marketing veteran, Camille has also served as a diversity and inclusion advisor for television and film. Camille is a board member of the Behavioral Intervention Certification Council, where she serves as secretary. BICC is an independent and autonomous governing body for the Board-Certified Autism Technician (BCAT) & Board-Certified Autism Professional (BCAP)certification program.

Lanre Duyile is a professional Behavior Analyst and Entrepreneur. He is the President and CEO of Behaviorprise Consulting Inc. and Behaviorprise College of Business and Health Studies, Toronto, Canada. With almost 20 years’ diverse experience in business and developmental services, Lanre operates two (2) day program facilities for people living with developmental disabilities in Ontario, Canada. He works in collaboration with Government-funded agencies in Ontario to create and implement evidence-based behavioral treatment and supports to improve the lives and learning of people living with developmental disabilities.
Lanre is a board-certified Behavior Analyst, is a sustaining member of the Ontario Association for Behavior Analysis (ONTABA) and a member of the Association of Professional Behavior Analysts (APBA), and an approved provider of behavioral services in Ontario. Lanre co-authored an article on the Treatment of Pica Disorder, 2018 published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurodevelopmental Disorders.

Solape Azazi is the Executive Director & Founder of Cradle Lounge Special Needs Initiative, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness, acceptance and inclusive learning. She is a wife and mother of 2 boys, one of who was diagnosed with ASD at the age of 3.

Dr. Ade specialises in special care dentistry for children with Autism.

Dr Awe is from Osun State, Nigeria. He moved to the United States as a teenager and attended The University of Texas where he majored in Nursing. After graduation, he worked for 6 years as an emergency room nurse before returning to dental school at the University of Maryland. While in dental school, special needs was close and dear to his heart and so he sought out opportunities to volunteer at several special needs events. At these events, he completed comprehensive exams, cleanings, fillings amongst other procedures. After graduation, he decided to further his education and specialized in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Meharry Medical College. He is currently in his final year of residency and continues to work closely with special needs patients to provide optimum dental care. His top priority is the well-being of his patients

Bukola Ayinde is the Founder of Diary of a Special Needs Mum Initiative under P4:13 Foundation. She is a lawyer, storyteller, a film producer, a disability inclusion advocate and a social entrepreneur.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws degree and a masters in Managerial Psychology. She started her career as a litigation lawyer before moving on to become a Training and Development Consultant.
Based on her experience as a mother of a special needs child, Bukola has become a voice for families who have children living with disabilities in Nigeria. She is passionate about inclusive education and disability inclusion. She is also the author of Naked and Not Ashamed, a 40 day journal of her experience as a special needs mum and five other books.
She has written many articles in several National Newspapers as well as an online magazine, Bella Naija on disability inclusion. Bukola has produced two documentaries (to promote inclusive education in Nigeria) and a short film on mental health of parents with special needs children titled, Mindshift.
Bukola is a passionate and prolific speaker who engages the government, schools, religious centers on disability awareness and management. She has organized several programs to facilitate disability awareness among students. She has also coached and mentored over a hundred mums with children living with special needs.
She lives with her husband and two lovely daughters in Lagos, Nigeria.

Joy Ovioije Adeniyi, holds a bachelor’s degree in Mass communication from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria and master’s degree in Education (Innovations in learning and teaching) from the University of South Wales United Kingdom. She is also a certified International behaviour analyst (IBA) following the completion of her board certified behaviour analyst (BCBA) course sequence at the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), USA.
Joy’s love for Applied Behaviour Analysis is stemmed out of finding out that ABA is a science with an evidence based approach backed by several years of research with success stories to tell and share. This is basically her reason for embarking on an awesome journey of becoming a certified behaviour analyst as well joined the Autism Compassion Africa team as a clinical consultant in Nigeria.
Clients in Nigeria are confident that their children’s wellbeing is of paramount interest to us as we help them to gradually achieve their milestones towards living independent lives, so that their lives go beyond being ‘cared for’ to being valued for who they are as humans.

Dr. Muideen Owolabi Bakare is presently the Chairman of Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorders Initiatives (CNDI), a Non-Profit Organization registered in Nigeria that is committed to the objective of promoting physical, social and mental well-being of children and adolescents in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Dr. Bakare is a trained Psychiatrist practicing in Nigeria. He is a Chief Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Child and Adolescent Unit of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria. He has participated in impact conferences like World Psychiatrists Association (WPA) World Congress, International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), International Association for Child and Adolescents Psychiatry and Allied Professions (IACAPAP) on various subjects relating to Childhood Neuropsychiatric Disorders in Africa. He has contributed impactful research in the subject area of Childhood Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Bakare was a Member of the WHO Extended Peer-Review Group for classification of Intellectual Developmental Disorders (IDD) for ICD-11. Dr. Bakare was also part ofthe Delphi Panelists that contributed to the rounds of Grand Challenges in Global Mental Healthinitiative. He is the Secretary, WPA Section for Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability (SPID). He finds interest in History, Biographies & Child Physical and Emotional Development.

Remi Olutimayin got into voice directing because he predicted the wave of talent coming into Nigerian animation, knowing that no animation industry rises above the quality of voice directing.
Remi Olutimayin has been a copywriter, producer, magazine editor, and banker, and is invested in creative talent development writing, and voice acting.
Remi Olutimayin is an autism self-advocate.
Remi Olutimayin is the founder of Voice Acting Africa, a group dedicated to developing voice talents of African descent.
In 2010, Remi Olutimayin was part of the Our Own Area animation crew that started the new wave of Nigerian animation. 2022, he directed the TNC audio series Love, Music, & Dreams

Mrs. Beauty Kumesine is the founding Director of Blazing Heart Autism Center (BHAC) and Azbekum Foundation.

She has over 15 years of experience in managing children living with childhood developmental disorders and in particular has skills and knowledge on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and related disorders. Beauty is a passionate public speaker and an advocate who speaks from her heart and to the hearts of her community and families for the identification, rehabilitation and inclusion of children with Special Needs, ASD and other related developmental disorders within the Nigerian society.

She has organized annual walks, road shows, free breakfast dialogues, seminars and workshops for this cause and has spoken on different corporate platforms on Autism, Inclusion, Advocacy and the way forward for Individuals with ASD. Through her effort, several schools in Rivers, Bayelsa and other South-South States and its environs have setup Special Needs Units to provide and ensure inclusive educational settings for children with ASD and other additional needs.

Beauty Kumesine seats as director and advisor on different boards and does her bit in capacity building for her community and has successfully single handedly managed the affairs and run Blazing Heart Autism Center for 13 years and counting. She is willing and ready to do more for parents and children she comes across with partnerships and collaborations and any means rightfully legal.

She consults for hospitals and schools on special needs and how to handle special needs cases and has archived many certifications and recognitions locally and internationally with recent awards by Leading Ladies Africa as one of Nigeria’s 100 most Inspiring Women and one of Nigeria’s 50 most Inspiring Women by under the Business Day Women’s hub Publications.

Beauty is a fellow and an alumni of LEAP Africa and has competencies and certifications from various international credentialing bodies.

Dr. Oladipo Sowunmi is a consultant emergency psychiatrist with the Neuropsychiatrist Hospital Aro, Abeokuta. His interest in emergency psychiatry include child and adolescent emergency mental health care, emergency psychoactive substance abuse treatment, genetics and emergency mental health ethics.

Kanyeyachukwu Tagbo-Okeke, a 12-year-old art savant living with Autism.  Kanye started painting at age of six and has been recognized globally in the creative art world leading to him becoming a recipient of numerous local and international awards. 

At a period when Autism spectrum disorder was (and still is) relatively unknown by the general public, parents and even teachers, Kanyeyachukwu now 12 years old, has through art surmounted numerous odds bringing a story of “hope” and raising a voice for kids all across the world that have been denied the adequate love and care they deserve from their families, teachers and caregivers. 

Amongst his list of achievements includes:

At the tender age of 8, he was honoured by the Arc Duke and Arc Duchess of Austria with The Flame of Peace Award, an honour reserved for members of the diplomatic corp. and leaders who have used their position(s) to foster global peace and unity. He remains the youngest awardee till date to be so honoured.

Kanye is the youngest artist to have Exhibited at the prestigious New York art Expo USA , Art Vancouver Canada and Miami Spectrum USA.

She is a young self-published author of books of different genres.

She owns and manages a blog called “An Inclusive Kind World” that focuses on Autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disorders.

Having a neurodivergent brother encouraged the habit of advocating for neurodivergent acceptance and inclusion in society. She presently owns a blog called “An Inclusive Kind world” where she speaks on Autism and government, society, and family’s role in pushing for awareness and inclusion. 

Toyin hopes to stop all stigma against people with disability from the home, society, and government and provide homeless shelters in Nigeria.

Akinyelure Abimbola is a certified occupational therapist. He is registered with the medical rehabilitation therapist board of Nigeria, A member of the Occupational Therapy Association of Nigeria, a member of Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group, and a member of the World Federation of Occupational Therapy.

He has more than 15 years of experience working with special needs children. He has received several awards for his longstanding and dedicated contributions to the Nigeria Autism Community and the field of Rehabilitation. He is a CMD certified trainer: Basic Management Development Training. He graduated from Manipal University India.

Tagbo and Silvia Tagbo-okeke are the founders of the Kanyeyachukwu Autism Society (KAS), an organization dedicated to assisting in the spread of autism awareness in Nigeria and beyond. The KAS foundations vision is developed to reduce discrimination and achieve wider acceptance and inclusivity of Children living with Autism in the larger society

They are also the proud parents of Kanyeyachukwu, a gifted child living with autism.

Tagbo and Silvia Tagbo-okeke are the founders of the Kanyeyachukwu Autism Society (KAS), an organization dedicated to assisting in the spread of autism awareness in Nigeria and beyond. The KAS foundations vision is developed to reduce discrimination and achieve wider acceptance and inclusivity of Children living with Autism in the larger society

They are also the proud parents of Kanyeyachukwu, a gifted child living with autism.

Paul Okeugo is an experienced sales and marketing professional, business manager, and entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of success working in FMCG, telecoms, software OEM, and the media and entertainment industry. Paul has held several senior sales and marketing positions in FMCG and telecoms business including the British American Tabacco, Nokia West Africa, and Microsoft to name a few. He is the founder of Chocolate City Group, now partnered with Warner Music Group, one of the most respected brands in the music industry.

Esther Sule Okeugo – is from Kaduna state Nigeria.  She  holds a Bsc in Business administration and an MBA from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria.

Esther worked for many years as an Account Officer at the Nigeria Reinsurance corporation where she served for seven years before becoming an entrepreneur and an Autism advocate due to the diagnosis of her son Zizah .

Esther is involved with numerous groups and communities which advocate for autism awareness and special needs. She is the founder of Haven for Autism a foundation that seeks to provide safe spaces and vocational skills for children living with autism.  One of the foundation’s first events was the highly successful debut art exhibition for her son Zizah okeugo , – titled “Eidetic impressions” in partnership with Terrakulture and the Pure soul’s foundation .

Amanda Budge founded Multikids Africa, a Ghana based NGO, in 2014 to find solutions that will address the critical conditions many children with disabilities are living in. She is the co-founder and Head of Multikids Inclusive Academy, the first inclusive international school in Ghana, established in 2010. 

With 30 years of experience as an educator in special needs and mainstream settings in the UK and Ghana, she believes that effective inclusive education offers opportunities for all learners to celebrate their achievements and make a positive contribution to a more tolerant and compassionate society. 

Good teachers are essential to close the gap between poor and good quality inclusive education and good teachers need to be able to include children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). She and her team of teachers and therapists, want to share helpful strategies for engaging learners with diverse needs and helping them to be successful in the classroom.  Multikids Africa offers paediatric therapy services to other schools and families.

Viktoria Oliver is 18 year old. She is a licensed flight attendant. She has interest in criminal investigations and aspiring to become a lawyer in the nearest future. She spends her free time drawing and reading. She has an 8 year old brother living with Autism

Alex Oliver is a 16 year old, gradute of secondary school. He spends his free time playing Minecraft and has a particular interest in coding and technology but aspires to become a pilot. Alex has a brother living with ASD.

Zizah Obioha Okeugo, a 13-year-old visual artist diagnosed with Autism. He spent his early years as a non-verbal introverted child. After his diagnosis at age 4, he underwent constant therapy in speech development, motor skill development, and several emotional control techniques to help him blend into a neurotypical world.

He discovered art and music and began to use these to engage with people and express his thoughts and emotions. Today, Zizah draws, paints, and plays the piano by ear, earning himself the monicker @eideticboy.

Oluwaseun P. Olaniyan is a Media Creative, Radio/TV Host, Event Compere, Conference Facilitator and a former Adjunct Member of Faculty at the School of Media and Communications of the Pan Atlantic University.