ESSENCE Black Girl Magic docu-series episode three tells the story of Qaisera Alexis—a 17-year-old who doctors feared would never have a fully functioning life after being diagnosed with autism.
In the seven-minute episode, we meet Qaisera and her parents whose love and guidance helped their daughter overcome both her fear of speaking and water. Today, this amazing young woman is facing both challenges head on, crushing the spectrum that once almost crippled her.
Watch the Trailer for ESSENCE Black Girl Magic Episode Two
“I was bullied in elementary school because of my underdeveloped social skills which resulted from my speech delay,” Qaisera says. Despite these childhood challenges, I was able to overcome my disability.”
And overcome them she did.
Not only is Qaisera eloquent in both English and French, today she’s a junior Olympian synchronized swimmer, a member of the Los Angeles Children’s Choir where she sings classical music and has dreams of becoming a licensed commercial or test professional pilot.
Qaisera’s Black Girl Magic doesn’t stop there either.
She is also working towards her gold award as a Girl Scout; to be able to give back to her community in a profoud and compelling way.
“My gold award idea is to establish a sychronized swimming clinic for girls with special needs. I just want these girls to know that they can do it and they have potential and I realize what a difference the Special Olympics made and all I can say is ‘Don’t give up, you’ve gone a long way and made a lot of progress and you have just as much potential as anyone else.”
Watch the entirety of Qaisera’s compelling story below and be sure to visit Essence.com/BlackGirlMagic for more moving stories of young Black women who triumphantly make their mark on the world.