BY Nkosazana Ngwadla
A Cape Town father has written a book about living with autism hoping to provide insight into the constant battle to belong and never give up.
Mogamad Salie, 51 better known as EM, is the self-publishing author of the book, titled: “Chicken Legs.”
For the first time in his life, Salie took pen to paper and wrote about his life, in the hope that it would bridge the gap in understanding people living with autism. Salie, a father of three, husband, and a qualified electrical engineer, who worked in Switzerland for 15 years, was diagnosed with autism only in his adulthood.
He recalls how as a little boy, he had always felt he was “different” but never gave up, and how he encouraged and supported by his parents.
Salie was also diagnosed with a cervical degenerative disc disease leaving him with constant neck and arm pain, and has been unable to work for a few years now.
He is a coach for Fighterz INC, MMA and Wellness Academy, Mixed Martial Arts, Wellness and Personal training studio and began jiu-jitsu in 1997 in Cape Town. As a child, Salie was always interested in mathematics, patterns and shapes.
In the book, Salie described his life as an infant to age 17, growing up in Cape Town during the Apartheid era, family life and tradition, and says it is an ode to his parents who encouraged him to rise above his circumstances.
“I wanted someone who reads the book to relate, it is not about book sales. My father and mother played a big role in my life and my mother knew how to deal with me, she didn’t know I was autistic, it is somewhat an ode to my mother. It is about how I could not connect or relate with people” he expressed.
Keeping the spirit of never giving up, Salie also has another impressive, and very rare skill under his belt. Fidaah Edries, the Head Coach of Fighterz Inc MMA, said Salie was a skilled MMA fighter: “Yes, he is the head Brazilian jiujitsu instructor at Fighterz Inc. MMA. He is one of the first people in the Western Cape to get a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu. He graded under the Gracie family that founded jiujitsu.”
