Somali-American mother gives voice to her community on subject of autism

From the intro to a story in the Star Tribune in Minneapolis:

Until a few months ago, Idil Abdull (pictured with her son) avoided taking her 6-year-old son out in public.

She worried that strangers would stare at Abdullahi, with his angelic face and gap-toothed smile, and wonder: "What's wrong with him?" She even tried to hide the truth, that he has autism, from her own family.

She's not hiding anymore.

Abdull, 36, was one of the first parents to sound the alarm that a surprising number of Somali-American children were enrolled in autism classes in Minneapolis. More than a year ago, she started calling local, state and federal officials to raise her concerns, and wouldn't take no for an answer until the Minnesota Department of Health agreed to investigate.

Last week, the department confirmed that the number of Somalis was higher than expected in those classes, though the reason is still a mystery.

If this turns out to be a true cluster -- a larger-than-normal outbreak in one group -- what's happening in Minneapolis could have global implications, providing clues to the mystery of autism itself.

So far, the Health Department says it doesn't have the data to prove that.

But to Abdull, it's "a good first step."

For months, the divorced mother from Burnsville has worked feverishly behind the scenes to raise awareness about autism in the Somali community, all while guarding her privacy. Now she's stepping out of the shadows. She and a friend have co-founded the Somali American Autism Foundation (http://www.saafmn.org/) to help families cope and prod the government to do more research.

"Idil has been the voice for the voiceless," said Anne Harrington, former head of the early-childhood autism program in Minneapolis, who helped bring the concerns to light. 'If it wasn't for Idil being this initial and persistent voice, this issue would not be where it is today."

Abdull, who fled Somalia as a child, said she'd never heard of autism before her son was born in 2002. At first, he seemed perfectly normal.