Dr. Emile Gouws is an internationally renowned disability activist who attends Commonwealth and United Nations high-level meetings. Recently elected as President of the Board of the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL), Dr. Gouws is only the third person to hold this position. Dr. Gouws also serves as the Vice-Chairman of the National Executive Committee of Autism South Africa and currently represents underrepresented groups on the Commonwealth Disabled Peoples Forum. In 2023, Dr. Gouws was nominated for the Commonwealth Youth Award and is the first and only elected member of the Autistic Research Committee of International Society for Autistic Research (INSAR) from Africa. Dr. Gouws has contributed to a variety of international articles and research papers on neurodiversity including a published article in Forbes magazine Japan. He is married to a beautiful autistic woman named Sammi who also is an autism self-advocate. Together they do advocacy on relationships and being married as an autistic couple.
