Alisha broke out in an allergic rash this morning so we rushed her to Ward 2 (but not before giving her piriton first) to get her checked out by the doctor. Raiyan also came along since we were planning to watch Horton Hears a Who later that morning, if Alisha's rashes went down, which Alhamdulillah it did.
Whilst all of us was waiting for a new bottle of piriton at the ward, Raiyan independently made his way to the playroom which he clearly remembered from the last time he got admitted (you can read about it in this post). Following him, we all entered the room and happily stumbled upon what seems to be a mini-party equipped with party hats and group singing of nursery rhymes (which of course both Raiyan and Alisha were so iski over, courtesy of listening to this in the car for the past TWO months):
Of course it was no surprise that Raiyan started singing along, much to the delight of the teenage girls leading the sing-a-longs.. And of course as his mother, I was thrilled to see Raiyan getting really positive attention from others, who were clearly oblivious to the fact that he is actually "different" from other children.. instead they kept going on about how clever he was and kept asking him for an encore performance. Jeff and me thought because this is Autism Awareness Month, we should let in the information about him having ASD. Needless to say, they were all really surprised to hear it. One's reflex initial response was actually "Really? But he's so clever?" to which I responded "autistic children are clever..." Then I was pleased to hear another girl saying "Yes, they are, but they just have their moments!" Yes very true!!
Then out of nowhere, one of the girls said that I seem familiar and asked if the blog our unique raiyan was mine... I had to chuckle and say YES and TA-DAAAHH this is THE Raiyan!! Hehehe..
Turns out that they are a bunch of a PTE students who are learning child psychology and in particular about autism!!! And the sweethearts were at the ward 2 playroom VOLUNTARILY on a SUNDAY just to entertain the children there.. so sweet kan? I was more especially happy to hear about them wanting to learn more about autism so of course I didn't waste time to tell them that April is World Autism Awareness Month and they should be on the look out for a number of campaigns to be organised by autism organisations in Brunei and the rest of the world.
If any of you girls are reading this, it was sooo lovely to meet you all and have a chat with. Jeff and I really really appreciate all the attention you gave to Raiyan and your genuine interest in autism. Also, if I didn't say it enough this morning, how in awe I was that you guys took time out from your Sunday morning to play with the children and also with all the efforts you made in entertaining the children.
Oh and hey, I saw some of you taking pictures with Raiyan.. I would love it if I can have copies cos I really want to put them in here if you don't mind. Email them at riana.aji@gmail.com please!
Hope to meet you girls again nanti! Keep in touch ok! And keep up the good work! The Children needs you!
3 comments:
That DVD is soooooo familiar. I bought it for Melly, my youngest niece and it was her bedtime DVD every single night for AT LEAST 6 months :p
Hahaha ok Melly reaaallly loves it huh! Even more than Raiyan and Alisha! What I realy like about the Baby Genius range is that they throw in an audio cd as well, so we listen to that in the car! Im getting sooo sick of listening to it saja pulang.. hehe
omg. hello hello :D i was the girl that said you look familiar. hehe. it was nice meeting you and raiyan. on the same week i was learning autism for psychology and the same week i found your blog. coincidence much. i was really happy i get a chance to meet a raiyan, especially on the same week that i told almost everyone about it. parents, my psychology teacher, cousinsss, friendss.... HEHEHEHE. and, Alhamdulillah raiyan have improved so much. i watched the video of your daughter and raiyan more than once, more than five times i think. their so adorable!
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