Ten things I love about Raiyan

1. I love how it’s so easy to make Raiyan laugh. And I’m not talking about mere giggles, it’s those loud cackles that are so contagious, he cheers up the whole house kind of laugh. The number one and always guaranteed way to make him laugh is to play chase with him. From as long as any of us in the family can remember, Raiyan loves being chased. Throughout the 4 years of him growing up and till this day, we still resort to chasing him anytime we try to avoid a wannabe tantrum escalating into a full-fledged one. It’s simply amazing how a genuine laugh can be pulled out almost instantaneously every time and how it never fails to make any of Jeff and my horrible days do a complete 180 turn;


2. I love how he’s just particularly affectionate to people very close to him. I know that may sound a bit selfish but when he plainly chooses me or his dad in such an obvious sort of way over anybody else, I just feel like he does that because I deserve that accolade and attention from him.. And that nobody else can take that away from Jeff and I;


3. I love how he just loves, loves, loves to learn! Even when he was as young as 16 months, he would sit still with Jeff and I and go through a whole book together. Even though he wasn’t able to say any of the words and wallahua’lam, we don’t know whether he understood anything read off the book, but somehow books has just always fascinated the boy. We always thought it was puzzling how he learnt the alphabet and knew how to spelt words before he actually spoke and understood them but that just goes to show what kind of model student he is! I remember every time I picked him up from his old school, he would be surrounded by his teachers where he would be reading his Peter and Jane book out loud for them. And I remember feeling so proud every time his teacher would tell me how “ia ani suka belajar ah”.. Alhamdulillah...


4. I love he's constantly amazing me with the remarkable things he can do like solving wooden puzzles in record time, visually memorising a random sequence of 20 animals in his “my zoo” book, being able to tell a jaguar and cougar apart, playing Big City Adventure and all sorts of computer interactive games that are meant for adults and beating some adults along the way (he was once upset with his Auntie Wen Wen for causing him to lose his game when he asked her to proceed for him hahaha), being able to read anything now (though he doesn’t necessarily understand the words), being able to remember a room and its contents after visiting it again 2 years later, being able to know directions to go somewhere (especially the ins and outs of Singapore Zoo), being able to write the whole alphabet and numbers at 3, ride a bicycle at 4 and many more!


5. I love how he has some rituals that I am grateful for, like when we go to a bookshop, his ritual for the past year is to go to the children’s section, pick out some books to read there and once he’s done, puts them back into the shelf! There was one time, Jeff and I forgot about this ritual and actually wanted to purchase the book for him and it’s so endearing how it took him a while to register the fact that he could have it because he still kept on putting it back on the shelf after he was done with it! So sweet! Another ritual I like is every petang when he’s cycling around the neighbourhood with Alisha and the nannies, he cycles a certain route and would always come back within 20 minutes (I don’t know how he does this as he doesn’t know the concept of time but he automatically just comes back home every time, after 20 minutes).Naturally, being the worrywart parent that I am, I'm happy as this way, I don't have to worry about him wandering off somewhere else and I can be confident he will come back at a certain time;


6. I love how he likes to be clean and organised. So whenever he spills his drink he will get a tissue and wipes it himself..bless..and after all these years, all of his toys are intact and none of them or their parts are lost;


7. I love how he doesn’t have any ill-feeling towards anyone.. I’m generally a short tempered person and I always have been (though now I’m clearly forced to work on that faux-pas whilst trying to raise Raiyan) so regrettably there have been times in the past when I was overly hostile with him but never once did he understood what I was doing and he would still cuddle me candidly straight after..;


8. I love how Raiyan really appreciates anything we buy for him (obviously sometimes he’s over appreciative when those items become “items of the week”). Even now, he will still play with toys and books that we bought him 3 years ago!;


9. I love seeing him get so excited about things he loves to do, like going to the beach, going to jungle gym, going to the zoo and going to the playground. And I know he really, really loves these activities because sometimes I catch him looking through our pictures in the computer of him going to those places;

   
   
10. I love how generally obedient he is and that 95% of the time, he really does listen and does what we tell him to do. I appreciate him switching off the tv when we tell him to, taking a shower when we tell him to, put on his shoes when he’s about to go out, get in his car seat and puts on his seat belt, carrying his backpack and lunch box whilst walking to his class and many many more..
    

There are certainly many more attributes of Raiyan that I love, but then if I was to list some more then it wouldn’t match the “witty” title I followed off Heath Ledger’s (R.I.P) breakthrough movie innit..

All in all, I really do believe in my heart that Raiyan is truly a blessed gift from God and I can honestly say that Jeff and I are very lucky to have him. He makes our life 250% more interesting, he has opened up our minds and hearts bigger and wider than we can ever imagine and he teaches us to appreciate and re-appreciate all the small things in life and he will probably continue to do so till the day we die.

For those parents that may be scared or terrified of the prospects of having an autistic child, please don’t be. Not only is there so much hope for them now (insyaAllah), you will be more than pleasantly surprised at how much an autistic child can really, really enrich and enlighten your life. :D