Grief, Fragmentation, and Reclamation

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Gouws, E. (2026). Grief, Fragmentation, and Reclamation. African Journal of Neurodiversity, 1(1), 199-229. https://doi.org/10.36615/0egq2e48

Publication date: 29 Sep 2026 Added to AutiHub: 7 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Emile Gouws *

Abstract

This autoethnography explores my journey as an educator and advocate for autism in South Africa, instigated by the deeply personal transformation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through four interconnected stories – ‘A world on the brink’, ‘Loss and fragmentation’, ‘Teaching through pain’, and ‘Reclaiming identity’ – I reflect on how grief, resistance, and the process of reclaiming identity have reshaped my life and professional practice. The study employs Kübler-Ross’s (1969) model of grief and Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development to analyse the profound effects of my mother’s death on me during the South African 2020 national lockdown. At the same time, my experience of teaching neurodivergent students online illustrates how personalised support and engaged families helped reduce anxiety, build resilience, and enable a shift from grief to renewed purpose. These narratives connect my personal trauma to the broader systemic challenges in supporting neurodivergent learners in South Africa. The study highlights how adversity acted as a catalyst for stronger advocacy and more inclusive education practices, in alignment with the post-pandemic imperative to ‘build forward differently’. It reflects my scholarly commitment to advancing disability studies and educational equity within under-resourced Global South contexts, contributing to life-writing scholarship on neurodivergent grief and identity reclamation.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 17 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
39
With a DOI
27
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
12
3 / 39 (7.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
13 / 39 (33.3%)
References with detected author names
26 / 39 (66.7%)
Without detected author names
13
Without a structured title
12
Without a stable identifier
12
References with raw author names still to review
13
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
65
From DOI or external metadata
65
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
17
19 / 65 (29.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 46 / 65 (70.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
7 / 65 (10.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 7 / 19 (36.8%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 7 / 65 (10.8%).
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