SEMA: Neurodivergence, Race, and the Fight to Be Seen

Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics (SEMA) with Sofia Farzana

In this episode of The Ripple Effect, we step back and make space for a conversation that deserves full attention.

Fraser speaks with Sofia Farzana, co-founder of Scottish Ethnic Minority Autistics (SEMA), about the lived realities of navigating autism at the intersection of race, culture, and systemic inequality.

From late diagnosis and burnout to barriers within public services and within communities themselves, Sofia outlines the urgent need for change, not just in awareness, but in how support systems are built, funded, and delivered.

This is a conversation about:

what happens when people aren’t believed how systems fail those they were never designed for the weight of masking, stigma, and survival and the work being done to create culturally competent, lived-experience-led support

SEMA is working across Scotland to train public services, support communities, and build long-term structural change but the demand far outweighs the resources currently available.