15th November 2020

St. Lucia native shares her journey raising a child with Autism

By Annasha Martin

Born in November 1981, Annasha Martin who’s maiden name is Severin was raised in the town of Saltibus, in the south of the island. The daughter of Verona Severin and Andrew Henry, she attended primary schools Satibus Combine and Morne Du Don Combine and later went onto Entrepot secondary school.  After finishing secondary school Annasha went to Sir Author Lewis Community College the southern campus to study Business Management. Following her graduation, Annasha found a job in the tourism industry at Hyatt Regency which is now called Sandals Grand. Her final job before migrating to

Canada to join her mother was at the Hewanorra International Airport with CDSL airport as a check-in agent.  

Once in Canada she continued her studies in the Travel and Tourism industry at Centennial College and work in that industry for a few years before being hired by one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies as a call center agent. Due to her dedication and hard work Annasha was promoted to the position of Manager after only 5 years of working for the company. Fast forward a few years to 2011 and Annasha decided to start a family got married and had a beautiful little girl named Shayla. This beautiful little girl, 8lbs 3oz was Annasha’s ultimate joy. 

It wasn’t until at 18 months Shayla started to show signs of regression and after a series of visits with various specialist, she received a diagnosis of moderate to severe autism. 

Although this was so devastating to Annasha and her new family she was eventually able to “move beyond the diagnosis” into the woman she is today. In the Special Needs community, she as many others, is known as an Autism Mom, a title she wears very proudly.  In order to give back to that community her and her husband co-founded Shayla’s Voice where she serves as president. Shayla’s Voice is an online website for the Special Needs community with a list of service providers and resources to make their journey in raising a special needs child much easier.  In addition to that she hosts her own Shayla’s Voice Youtube channel , has a Caribbean Facebook group to help other families with special need in the islands, she’s a Foster mom, Vice President of the Durham Foster Parent Association and a successful real estate investor, and she’s just getting started.

In Annasha’s most recent visit back home she was so happy to see, that autism awareness was widely represented across the island where people were now using the correct terms and she was extremely proud to bring Shayla to see the island of her birth knowing that special needs awareness was continuing to grow. 

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