School Schmooool

“School”..

Sigh, I don’t know about you but my memories of my school years are not exactly something I like to ponder over so much. And I’m talking about the time right from primary school through to secondary school (that period awkwardly thrown in with all the teenage angst as well) down to my university years. I can’t pinpoint the reason of my unpleasant stance against the education system that I went through onto one thing but I think more than anything else, it was because earlier on, things taught to me were basically spoon fed or forced upon that when I reached university I was completely lost. It took quite a large part of my adult life so far to start thinking things for myself and believe me, I am still learning to do that as we speak.

But before I thought I can bid adieu to that experience and the system completely, cheng cheng cheng--I have to go through it all over again with Raiyan but only now I anticipate it to be doubly hard because of the way Raiyan is! You know how difficult it is to tell an autistic child what to do!

So Raiyan finally started Year 1 this week. Luckily, Kerri planned for an “easing in” programme that started 3 days before school actually started so we can slowly and gradually introduce Raiyan (and the other LL boys who also go to ISB) to his new class and new environment altogether. It was a real blessing for us to have done that for Adek because on the first day of easing in, Adek had a tantrum for at least half an hour. Of course Sharina and the rest of us employed the “ABA ignoring” method and Alhamdulillah Adek was okay in no time and was happily playing away with Raiyan and Fadhil at the playground. [And reports have it that he has been fantastic in school this week too, Alhamdulillah].

Come Wednesday (the first day of school), we were all understandably anxious to see how Raiyan will be like. We tried to give some tips to the teacher but at the same time was scared that it might actually overwhelm her if we gave too much.

So far so good, except for some social hiccups along the way that we really need to work on with him.

In particular, Raiyan (being his egocentric self again) likes to call out to the teacher out loud during times when he’s not supposed to. This is naturally disruptive for the rest of the class so it’s really important for us to work on this with him constantly. Actually, Jeff and I would LOVE to work on this as even at home he is forever calling out from across the room when Jeff and I are busy talking or busy doing anything really, and he would call out repeatedly until his wants are met.

Another social skill he has to learn about is the fact that he is not going to get what he wants all the time. We have to explain that other people can say NO and in fact in life, people would say NO more than yes (and sadly, I think everyone can confirm this is more so when you are a child).

We also have to remember that there is going to be more academic stuff in the year 1 curriculum like more maths and writing so I have to make more effort to do that together with him at home too. On a good note, we will insyaAllah be officially moving in our new house by next Friday so hopefully Raiyan’s home school/therapy room will be ready by next week which will make it easier for us to do school work in. But in terms of him doing it in class, Jo who supports him in class half the time is confident that Raiyan will be able to manage, but of course with the right support.

Well, it has only been 3 days and already we know what we have to work on more (and they are a lot!), and especially those in the social skills side. I keep reminding myself to not get disheartened by it all because hey, school was never great for me too so there’s nothing new about this now is it? I just hope I can make the experience a million times better for Raiyan than it was for me by giving him the right support and to make the school experience fun, which is something I am surprised to learn is a luxury some lucky people actually got!