Thursday, 13 February 2014

Sean's new place (autism)

          If you are in my shoes, you will know how it feels like to have an autistic child, especially in his limitation of speech. We have to endure his screams everyday...yes! we face it everyday!!.. Somehow, I have this feeling that tells me, he still can't speak yet at the age of 5 (next year), but the other half of me tells me that miracle might happen if we work harder. This is why we decided to send him to kindergarten/taska, preferable daycare together with normal kids. This is also encourage by the doctor to improve his social and communication skills. Most of the autistic children delay in speech, this is why they like to scream sometimes to get our attention, plus their sensory issues and uncontrollable input into their brain. Screaming is one of the way to release their overloaded outburst from their brain, that's why sometimes it's hard to deal with them.

          Last few days we brought Sean (our 4yo autistic son) to his new taska for normal kids, just want to have a look. FYI, this is the 4th taska that I've been searching for. Previous 3 taska's have rejected him due to his condition. It's ok, we never blame anyone because we understand that Sean needs professional person to teach him. Since we can't find one here, normal school might work for him too. We just have to try.

          Don't get me wrong, I didn't quit him from his EIP and OT classes at Perpikat, Bintulu. I did request for 5 days a week lessons for Sean at Perpikat, but unfortunately they can't afford to do that for they are also lack of teachers and therapists. But I can't let Sean stops here, there must be a way. When you come to this stage, this method doesn't work, you try for another method and move on. Keep on searching for an effective way. You will know which way to choose when it comes to your own child, just go for it. I couldn't believe that there's no taska showing no concern at all, I was right. The last taska excepted him. We are happy. His taska will be started next Monday (17/2/14). By that time, hoping that Sean will be no problem following his new schedule.

          When we have a look at Sean's new taska, his attention was caught by jigsaw puzzles and blocks on the toy rack. The next thing he did was sat down and arranged it piece by piece. The owner of the taska was also there watching him from a distant. Suddenly he spoke out, "This boy's IQ must be very good." My husband and I were just remained silent. I don't know, sometimes we have to assume the worst, can't expect too high. This is not the 1st time Sean has this kind of complimentary, his OT and Speech therapists also said it before.

          I am a proud mom, I should feel this way. However, I can't lie to myself anymore, deep inside my heart I still worry his delay in speech. He still can't make any conversation on his own yet, that's what bother/worry me the most. He still like to make loud weird sound all the time. I guess he must be in his own world. But I always believe that he is a very smart boy. If you are the parents of autistic children, you would never want to give up, you couldn't give up, no matter what happen. The feeling of 'worry' is haunting you everyday. But the parents always know what to do, I believe God is guiding them, this is how I experience it today.

Saturday, 4 January 2014

Sean's Achievements (from the begining till 2013 - Autism)

          Sean was born on 26th January 2010. He was a healthy baby.  We never expected him to have any disorder. However, at the age of 2, we were suggested by a nurse from KKIA to make an appointment with Paediatric Specialist, because Sean didn't achieve most of the milestones. The most important and obvious part was he still couldn't speak, not even a word. Tantrum most of the time and uncontrollable hyperactive behavior. The 1st appointment was on 7th March 2012. Sean was suspected with autism similar due to so many symptoms that matched that disorder. Stimming, obsession towards spinning objects, repetitive behavior, less eye contact, tantrum, hyperactive and etc are autism symptoms that obviously he has. He was diagnosed with Autism on 3rd July 2012 at the age of 2.5.

          I was told by a Doctor that there is no cure for Autism. No medication, no operation.... But only through training that might help him. The earlier the better. He started his Occupational Therapy (OT) class earlier 2013, followed by Earlier Intervention Program (EIP) class. Patience is the most important key for not giving up so easily. There's no such thing as '1 day training and miracle'..no... This is about train him daily as a routine. Every achievements count, no matter how tiny it is, we will never forget.

Achievements:
  • Better eye contact.
  • Better response when we call him by his name.
  • Ability to differentiate objects by it's colors and shapes.
  • Ability to complete jigsaw puzzle
  • 21st June 2013 - HE CALLED ME "MOMMY'..!! at the age of 3 years 7 month (happiest moment of my life).
  • 30th June 2013 - He recognizes numbers and alphabet letters. I taught him numbers by saying 1 to 10 without showing him the numbers. But after a few days, I realized he was much a head then me. He started to point some numbers and says it out...Surprisingly, 1 to 10 and even A to Z. Only after that I notice he learned it by himself from his tablet. lols!
  • Start learning spelling through tablet.
  • He called DD and CHE CHE SHENNA.
  • Start follow simple instruction.
  • Less tantrum
  • Grab pencil in a correct way. After 2 months of daily practices, he finally can draw eyes, nose and mouth all by himself. (thanks to his speech therapist).
  • Surprisingly, he said "thank you" to my sis in law after she handed his tablet to him. lols!
  • 17th December 2013 - 1st 55min fly. Not very perfect at the beginning, he tantrum when we entered the plane. But after that he remained calm till we landed.
  • Before Christmas 2013, I taught Sean to say "SEAN LOVES MOMMY!!". On 24 December 2013 early in the morning, I was awake by him saying out loud, "SEAN LOVES MOMMY!!". Wonderful feeling ever, I'm blessed with this autistic child. Thank God very much.
 Looking forward for a better achievements in 2014. Sean! FIGHTING!!!....