I decided to place my Pweshes Philosophy on autism on the main blog page as opposed to a link (which I have noticed have hardly been visited lately) because my sporadic "awareness conscience" has been creeping up again lately.
For those who don't know, and this is especially for overseas readers, "autism awareness" in Brunei is only in the sense that some have heard of the term and when they have, it's usually associated with something depressing and sad. Even now, I still find people getting uncomfortable when I start discussing Raiyan and his condition when I'm trying my very best to discuss it in the most positive light.
Naturally, I still think there is a serious lack of autism awareness over here and this is worrying because without an informed understanding, there are parents out there who still choose to be in denial over their child’s potential condition as they are so scared to just hear the words “your child has autism/is autistic.” Because of that, they decide to wait and wait for their child to start talking and for their child to outgrow their tantrums and quirky behaviours, sometimes until as late as they are 6 or 7. It is a scientific fact that early intervention can help these children so it is unfortunate that just because of the fear these parents have, their children may have possibly missed the boat in trying to get the benefits of the early intervention.
I badly want parents to know that autism is a condition that is “part” of the child and just because you hear someone telling you that your child has autism/is autistic, that doesn’t mean that he or she is now somebody different from who you’ve been cradling and looking after from the day he or she is born. It is a “condition” that can be worked upon through the appropriate education and behavioural therapies. I am not talking about giving the child drugs or any other remedy that will make him better overnight. What Raiyan is fortunate to have is an educational programme prepared by the most amazing behavioural consultant and therapists for him to learn to cope better in this world. Through this programme, we also get to witness how incredibly smart Raiyan is too. And yet, he is still autistic but far from anything depressing and sad, that autistic part of him can at the same time be humbling and a joy to observe too.
And for the public and society in general, please, QUIT thinking that autism is a label for a child and that is something that defines the child for who he or she is because I repeat, it is a MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS and condition. Individuals with autism have their own personalities, their own likes and dislikes, their own feelings and there are millions of autistic adults out there who are thriving in this world so again, parents do not need to be so scared of receiving that diagnosis. What is important in these early stages is to try and work on the disabilities as much as the child can handle and of course within our means and just hope and pray for the best.
For those who don't know, and this is especially for overseas readers, "autism awareness" in Brunei is only in the sense that some have heard of the term and when they have, it's usually associated with something depressing and sad. Even now, I still find people getting uncomfortable when I start discussing Raiyan and his condition when I'm trying my very best to discuss it in the most positive light.
Naturally, I still think there is a serious lack of autism awareness over here and this is worrying because without an informed understanding, there are parents out there who still choose to be in denial over their child’s potential condition as they are so scared to just hear the words “your child has autism/is autistic.” Because of that, they decide to wait and wait for their child to start talking and for their child to outgrow their tantrums and quirky behaviours, sometimes until as late as they are 6 or 7. It is a scientific fact that early intervention can help these children so it is unfortunate that just because of the fear these parents have, their children may have possibly missed the boat in trying to get the benefits of the early intervention.
I badly want parents to know that autism is a condition that is “part” of the child and just because you hear someone telling you that your child has autism/is autistic, that doesn’t mean that he or she is now somebody different from who you’ve been cradling and looking after from the day he or she is born. It is a “condition” that can be worked upon through the appropriate education and behavioural therapies. I am not talking about giving the child drugs or any other remedy that will make him better overnight. What Raiyan is fortunate to have is an educational programme prepared by the most amazing behavioural consultant and therapists for him to learn to cope better in this world. Through this programme, we also get to witness how incredibly smart Raiyan is too. And yet, he is still autistic but far from anything depressing and sad, that autistic part of him can at the same time be humbling and a joy to observe too.
And for the public and society in general, please, QUIT thinking that autism is a label for a child and that is something that defines the child for who he or she is because I repeat, it is a MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS and condition. Individuals with autism have their own personalities, their own likes and dislikes, their own feelings and there are millions of autistic adults out there who are thriving in this world so again, parents do not need to be so scared of receiving that diagnosis. What is important in these early stages is to try and work on the disabilities as much as the child can handle and of course within our means and just hope and pray for the best.
I’m sorry, but at this time of better awareness and understanding in other parts of the world, there is just no excuse to not do anything.
2 comments:
Again Pweshes Mama, your writing really inspires me a LOT!! Love it very much. It helps me a lot in my quest of looking for the right words and phrases when explaining people "who" my child and "what" is it with him. I agreed to the fact that awareness is still too limited in our society, some doesn't even know what Autism is, and worst, some doesn'nt even care to understand what it is and just jump into conclusion or believe fully in their perspective without weighing how far true there are.
There are times when i settled to their inappropriate judgement or evaluation as i am too weak to debate or to look for the right words. But at the end of the day, i regretted my foolishness and wish i could turn back time so i can wisely confront them and do my part. As a mother of a child with autism / who is autistic, my contribution in spreading the awareness is really helpful. Knowing how difficult it is, i saluted you guys for doing this for a very long time and never give up!!
Thanks for the guidance and keep it up!
Dearest Mimel, thanks so much for all your support all this time. the very fact that I had reached you makes this blog worth every inch the effort. I am so thankful to have found a mummy like you who has given me hope that someone who was completely unaware before can completely open up her mind literally overnight and have eversince tirelessly worked hard to help her son as best as she could. I can only hope and pray there are more parents like you out there and you keep up the great work too! Mwaaahhss!
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