Kojiq's World

Bedwetting

2011-10-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

Kojiq was properly toilet-trained at age 6. It is one of the most challenging things we've had to do todate. Because an autistic child has no control over his body functions, and cannot relate the 'gotta go' feelings with his body function. Further, he cannot vocalize how he feels, and wouldn't understand why his mom screamed at him when he simply 'let go' on the living room carpet.

AlhamduliLlah his mom succeeded in toilet-training him within a period of six months. Yes, six months! It was imperative to do so, as he was starting school the following year, and he must at least know how to tell his teacher when he needs to go to the toilet. Plus, we were running out of diapers - the kid's diapers couldn't fit him anymore, and the adult diapers were too big for him (even the S size).

However till now, occassionally he would have an 'accident' in his sleep. Pelik jugak, sebab biasanya dia akan terjaga dan masuk ke toilet sendiri atau kejutkan mak dia. Kenapa plak sekali-sekala jadik 'accident' atas tilam?

Bila fikir2, baru kami perasan. Selalunya kalau dia kencing dalam tidur, maksudnya siang tadi mesti dia dah kena marah kaw-kaw dengan someone close to him. Kadang-kadang dia merajuk, tapi biasanya kita tak perasan pun sebab budak autism tak pandai nak tunjuk emosi. Maybe bedwetting is a tension-release mechanism ke? Anyone out there have similar situations?

OKlah since kita dah faham, so kita takde la marah2 dia lagi, cuma tegur je to make him understand he must always shee-shee in the toilet only. Tapi dah 2 malam ni dia asyik ter-shee-shee je, first night sbb kena marah ngan papa dia, second night sebab kena marah ngan speech therapist dia sebab tak fokus dalam kelas. Yang jadik mangsa - adiknya Enysh yang tidur sekatil - pepagi bangun dengan pakaian lencun, tapi bukan air kencing dia sendiri. Eeeewwwww....!

An Update...finally!

2011-10-02T09:59:00.001-07:00

Much has happened for the past year and a half, since my last post. Not all has been rosy, but plenty of happy moments nontheless.

Rasanya baru saja aku cium dahi adik aku dan ucap 'good luck' masa dia disorong masuk ke delivery room. Diam tak diam, Kojiq pun dah 8 tahun usianya, dan Enysh adiknya dah 5 tahun. How time flies! Ayong jugak yang masih perasan dirinya muda hehehe :-)

Anyway.

Kojiq is no longer on the ABA programme. Sayang sungguh, coz masa tu yg paling banyak improvement. But we had to discontinue, mainly because it got so expensive :-( His therapist was coming 3-4 days a week, and the consultant once every fortnight.

Total expenses for Kojiq's therapy (Kindy, ABA, Speech and Occupational) came to about RM2,500-3,000 a month! So we had to do the next best thing - cut down on his ABA hours to 2-3 times a week only. But I guess the therapist wasn't too happy about it. Yelah, itu periuk nasi dia, kan? Then start la buat hal, datang lambat or tak datang langsung walaupun ada appointment, which later on she admitted that dia dapat client baru, anak tokay apa ntah, yang mintak dia datang 5 kali seminggu. So dia tarik diri from Kojiq.

Kojiq's mum cried buckets and actually pleaded with her to stay, but she was adamant to leave, saying something about commitment. We were so disappointed, and Kojiq's mum never quite get through to finding another ABA therapist. Later on bila ada terserempak masa pegi seminar, dia lari-lari. Kitorang pun buat dek je la, tapi aku tau hati adikku memang terguris, dia rasa disisih dek minah tu sebab duit. Tapi itu benda yang diluar kawalan kita, kan?

Anyhow, Kojiq's mum took a 6 months no-pay leave, semata-mata untuk toilet-train Kojiq sebelum dia mula bersekolah di sekolah biasa (Kelas Khas). Banyak saat yang frustrating, memang susah sangat nak toilet-train budak autism, nanti kita bukak topik lain on that.

AlhamduliLlah, settle semuanya sebelum Kojiq mula sekolah. Tahun ni Kojiq dah 8 tahun, darjah 2 jika sekolah biasa. Tapi di kelas khas, mereka diletakkan dalam kelas mengikut kebolehan, bukan umur. Kojiq sekarang dalam kelas pertengahan. Tapi di Kindy, dia dah mula masuk kelas akademik beberapa bulan lepas, syukur sangat! Maksudnya belajar membaca, mengira macam budak lain, tapi pada kadar yang sangat perlahan la.

Aku sendiri dah mula nampak tanda-tanda kematangan Kojiq berbanding dulu. He is less restless dan kadang2 lebih well-behaved dari adiknya Enysh! Kalau pegi ke mall pun, dia dah tak berlari macam dulu, in fact tak perlu pegang tangan dia all the time bila berjalan di tempat public. Dia juga dah mula initiate interaction, having short 4-5 words conversation. Dan dia juga dah boleh bermain bersama dengan Enysh, walaupun selalu gak la diorang me'lepuk' each other bila berebut mainan.. like other normal kids, alhamduliLlah.

OK, will write more soon, insyaAllah. Till then, thank you for reading (ada ke orang baca???), semoga Allah memelihara kita semua di dalam baraqahNya!

Real-life Lesson

2010-01-10T09:10:00.000-08:00

We had breakfast at a fastfood restaurant today - at Enysh's request. Ewah budak kecik ni, baru 4 tahun dah pandai pilih tempat makan!

Anyway, as we were getting our food, Angah & Kojiq went to get the chili/tomato sauce at the sauce counter. Yeah, it's one of those restaurants with the pump sauce dispenser. Kojiq was making a fuss about pressing the pump, and then ran off to our table on the other side of the restaurant, with Angah following suit.

Just as they passed by one of the restaurant staff, he said to Angah "Can I give your child a spanking?"

That stopped Angah in her tracks. The insolence! Angah responded with "Mind your own business and never interfere with my family!" They exchanged a few more words, during which Angah realized his speech sounded a little peculiar, slurry. So she just shrugged it off and we sat down for our meal.

The restaurant Manager happened to pass by our table, so we mentioned what her staff had said to Angah. We weren't upset or complaining, but rather Angah said "I hope he doesn't go around saying that to more customers." Guess what she told us then? "Oh, please don't mind him, he is autistic."

Well.

Our guess was, he was used to hearing people say that about & to him. That's why he repeated it to us. A person with autism doesn't really have the "mean" streak, but rather is incapable of identifying whether his conduct is socially acceptable or not. But he will remember what people do to him, and will repeat it to other people. He doesn't know that by suggesting to give Kojiq a spanking, he has offended us. But he probably associated Kojiq's making a fuss with his own experience when he used to make a fuss in the past.

The lesson? Do not treat an autistic child with violence (verbal included), because he may grow up to accept that violence is normal, and so he in turn will unwittingly act violent to other people.

An Update On Kojiq

2010-01-09T10:47:00.000-08:00

Wow, couldn't believe my eyes when I opened this blog. Dah setahun rupanya takde apdet. Teruk la, kan? Huuhuu! I'd like to say that I've been too busy, which actually is true. But the real culprit is.... Facebook! Must release myself from the evil claws of Facebook, so that I'll have more time for blogging!

Anyway, much progress has been achieved by Kojiq for the past few months, largely due to a home therapy programme we've signed up for, called the ABA Home Programme. More about this program and the wonderful therapists conducting it, later.

In my last post, Kojiq was spelling 3 and 4 letter words, but the letters were pronounced phonetically. Hence "G" is pronounced "gi", "C" is pronounced "keh" etc. But now, he pronounces the alphabets correctly, and can spell letters endlessly. However, we are not sure how well he is really reading.

Angah seems to think he is sight-reading. As in, he will pronounce a group of letters like a word that he knows which closest resembles it. For example, he knows "mouse". So if he is asked to read out the word "house" or "mouth", he would probably read both those words as "mouse".

So we test him all the time. While on a drive, we ask him to spell and read billboards. At the mall, it's signages. Even while waiting for food orders, we ask him to go through the menu. He doesn't get it all right, of course. His speech is still not 'solid'. But AlhamduliLlah, I think he actually is reading, not merely sight-reading. How else was he able to read "Dolce Gabana", "delivery" and "Taiwan" correctly (almost)? Not in one sentence, of course (lest anyone thinks I'm talking about cheap imitation of designer goods made in Taiwan... hehehe!)

He is also communicating more, and will actually call out to the person he is talking to. He is also using simple sentences, and not just utter single words. For example, he used to say "water!" if he wants a drink. But now if he sees me drinking something interesting, he will say "Ayong, I want Pepsi/kopi/teh susu". Hmmphh, kalu aku minum air kosong, takde plak dia mintak :-P

TV is of course, any kid's favourite. He watches Playhouse Disney with his lil bro most of the time, fav show being Word World. Hey, aku pun suka Word World! It's amazing how they manage to shape any word into the object it represents. He can spell simple words from the show from memory, like "sheep", "duck", "slide" etc. Other favs are Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Agent Oso, Dibo, Dive Oly Dive and Chuggington. But for some reason, he will always flip channels to catch Mr Bean (live) on other channels. Methinks it's because aside from Mr Bean being funny, he is also learning facial expressions from the show. Adeeehhh....

He loves music! Cuba teka, what's his fav? Everytime masuk kereta, he will insist on putting on this CD, sometimes dok repeat a particular song that he likes, sampai naik juling mata kitorang dengar. Tak dapat teka? No kiddies music CD. His current fav is Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" CD, and he tries to sing along jugak, even if just a few odd words here and there.

Counting, already into hundreds. He can count upwards, downwards and in tens. He can read numbers, of course. And recognizes colours. His vocabulary has expanded a great deal too! He is able to communicate his wants and don't-wants.

Me : "Do you want rice?"
Kojiq : "I dowan!"
Me : "Do you want to eat?"
Kojiq : "Yes!"
Me : "What do you want to eat?"
Kojiq : "I want eat hotdog!"

And that's how we always end up at fast-food joints during weekends *sigh*.

Oh well, any achievement deserves some kind of reward, eh? :-) Tapi takleh selalu, detrimental to both his health and my pocket mah!

Tak Suka Sayur

2008-12-29T09:05:00.000-08:00

Kojiq is a 5 years old kid with a 10 years old body size. Well, at least that's the size of clothes he's wearing la *sigh*. The thing about kids with communication problem is that they may not be much aware of their body functions, so they don't really know when to stop eating. But then, actually this is not exclusively their problem only la. Kita sendiri pun kekadang dah kenyang, tapi masih nak melantak lagi kan... hehehe :-)

Kojiq started out as a very very picky eater. Dulu cuma nak makan bubur kosong saja. Kalau ada secebis pun bawang goreng ke ikan ke dalam bubur tu, dia takkan makan. But the therapist taught us how to introduce new foods to him, and it works so well, now we can't get him to stop! Haila!

Now he eats a variety of foods, and he likes hot stuff. Makan nasi, selalu nak ada sambal. Oh, dia sebut 'sum-bel' (huh?). Tekak melayu okkay :-) Problem is, he's OK with carbs and animal proteins, tapi taknak makan sayur, sebab tu ler gemuk kot!

But I guess, masalah anak taknak makan sayur ni, biasalah kot? He loves Subway sandwiches, and that's the only time yang dia akan makan sayur 'coz Mama dia doesn't let him pick out the veggies from the sandwich. Lagi satu, fruits pun dia tak suka, kecuali oranges.

Camana nak tarik minat dia makan sayur and fruits ye, any tips?

He Really IS Spelling!

2008-12-23T16:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, lama sungguh aku tak apdet blog ni... kebizian melampau uols...

OK sah, memang Kojiq dah mula kenal huruf dan belajar mengeja. It's really good to watch him sit at his little desk, flipping over pages of his ABC book and spell some words. I haven't been in touch with the kiddies world lately (I don't have kids of my own) so I don't know the current syllabus used.

If I remember correctly, in kindy, we were made to memorize the letters ABC, thereafter baru start spelling. And there's confusion all around for us bilingual kids, because the same spelling words will always sound and mean differently in Bahasa Melayu and in English. Can you paint your house using a feline? The simplest word - CAT- is already confusing mah!

Anyhow, Kojiq is spelling most words phonetically (eh betul ke ayat ni? Aku main blasah je hehehe). That's how khinzir is spelt 'pi-ah-gi' and not 'pi-ai-ji'. So as Kojiq goes through his books, we can hear him say 'keh-eh-ti', 'keh-oh-wa' and 'gi-oh-ah-ti'. Ada paham ka incik? That's cat, cow and goat la :-)

But occassionally he forgets some letters, or rather, dia malas nak pikir, dia mula la melalut. Atau mungkin ke dia sengaja sebut melalut to entertain himself? We don't know, but it's so darn funny. Kitorang gelak golek-golek bila dengar dia eja 'cow' cegini : keh-'oh-o-yo'-'mm-hmm'. Adeh laa.... mana plak datang 'oh-o-yo' ni??? Pastu dia punya 'mm-hmm' tu bunyik cam hero hindustan hahaha :-))

Is He Spelling?

2008-11-09T21:42:00.000-08:00

I really really think Kojiq is progressing a lot lately!

Semalam, tengah duduk-duduk depan tv, Kojiq belek buku 'animal picture book' dia. Tetiba dia unjukkan buku tu pada aku, ada gambar haiwan pada mukasurat kanan dan nama haiwan tu pada mukasurat kiri.

Kojiq : "Pi-ah-gi, pig"

Aku ingat aku salah dengar. Aku suruh dia ulang. Dia sebut sekali lagi, lepas tu dia campak buku dan lari kepada Wan dia. Aku hulur buku kat dia dan Wan pulak pujuk dia cakap lagi sekali.

Kali ni, dia tunjuk huruf tu satu demi satu sambil kata, "Pi-ah-gi, pig"

Kitorang terperanjat giler sampai tak terkata, he is obviously spelling a word! Tak kisah la walaupun word pertama dia nak eja kat kitorang tu... err... kurang semenggah... hehehe :-D

Apple & Orange

2008-10-29T02:45:00.000-07:00

A few days back, Kojiq did something that surprised us all.

There was a plate of fruits on the dining table. Kojiq picked up an apple, showed it to me and said "apple". Then he put the apple back on the plate, and pointed at an orange and said "oghen".

We felt like crying! He actually initiated a conversation with us! That was the first time he did that with us. Usually it is a case of a response towards our words, if and when he decides to respond la. Finally, finally, he decides to initiate. This is like a humongus step for him!

He probably learned all that at kindy. We have yet to chat with his teacher this week, for sure we will update her on this progress.

So happy! :-D

WORKSHOP @ NASOM

2008-10-20T22:24:00.000-07:00

From my mailbox :-

Dear Sir/Madam,

CREATIVE INTERACTIVE SKILLS WITH CHILDREN AND ADULTS ON THE AUTISTIC SPECTRUM, WEDNESDAY TO MONDAY, 12 TO 17 NOVEMBER 2008
BY DR. SUE JENNINGS
YASMIN COLLEGE: 12-1, WISMA MENJALARA, JALAN SS7A/62A, BANDAR MENJALARA, 52200 K.L.

We are pleased to advise that The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) will be organizing a workshop, "Creative Interactive Skills With Children And Adults On The Autistic Spectrum" on 12 to 17 November 2008 by Dr Sue Jennings. The workshops will be held at Yasmin College, 12-1 Wisma Menjalara, Jalan SS 7A/62A, Bandar Menjalara, 52200 K.L.

Please find attached herewith the event brochure for your attention. As seats are limited, we would appreciate if the registration can reach us by 29 October 2008.

Please do not hesitate to contact us at Tel: 603-7710 4098, Fax: 603-7710 4149 or Email: secretariat@nasom.com.my if you need any further information or assistance. We will be happy to assist.

We look forward to seeing you.

Thank you,

Regards,
Esther Teh
Executive Officer
The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM)
35A Jalan SS 21/37
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel : +603 7710 4098
Fax : + 603 7710 4149
Website: www.nasom.com.my

The Signs : Stims

2008-10-15T13:05:00.000-07:00

What is stimming? It is short for self-stimulation or repetitive behaviour. This is another easily recognizable trait of autism.

When a child stims, he does it all by himself without any interaction with another person. He concentrates on a certain repetitive behaviour and in this way, enters into his own world, and seems lost to his surroundings.

One of the most common stims is spinning. Kojiq used to turn his toy cars upside down or on its side, starts to spin a wheel and sit watching it, and would do this for hours on end. For the unsuspecting adults (like what Jenny McCarthy said on Oprah) our reaction upon seeing this would be "oh, he's interested in cars, maybe he'd grow up to be an engineer or a technician". Little do we know *sigh*

Another common stims is lining up objects on the floor. Kojiq used to line up as many as 10 or more matchbox toy cars in a straight line. If anyone removes one of the cars or disturbs the straight line, he would scream and toss up the toys , then start lining them up again.

Another stims he used to do alot was going up and down a slide. Difficult to control if there are other kids also playing on the slide. People thought he was rude and played rough, but the truth is that he didn't know how to take turns sliding with the other kids because he's not totally aware of his surroundings. He was also fascinated by escalators, and it used to be my job to accompany him up and down mall esclators countless times, so tiring! AlhamduliLlah these days he still asks to ride the mall escalators, but just once or twice is enough to satisfy him *phew!*

One stims which Kojiq is still obsessed with nowadays is water play. At any chance he could, he would spill water onto furniture or the floor, then run his hands all over it. Or if he finds any other container, he would pour water from one container into the other repetitively. The ending, when he decides to stop the stims episode, would always be pouring water over the front of his clothes *sigh* It's almost impossible to control this one, because water is available everywhere all the time - including his drinking water. So we resort to giving him only a small portion of drinks at a time, otherwise it's so messy!

Another variation of this stims is the one I mentioned in an earlier post, where he runs around the house playing with electrical switches. Dangerous, I know. We have to constantly watch him, and try to distract him with other activities whenever he starts to reach for the switches.

Other common stims (which Kojiq doesn't do) are flapping hands, rolling objects on the floor, looking or staring at the same book, picture or object, or just staring at a wall.

More about the 'why's and 'how to's of stimming in the next post. Meanwhile, thank you for taking time to read and trying to understand about autism!

:-)

Kojiq Tells How He Feels

2008-10-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Something exciting happened last Sunday!

Actually it started with a reprimand. Kojiq was upset that he wasn't allowed more carbonated drink. So he threw his toys about to vent his anger, and in due process he pushed the toy rocking horse his little brother was riding on, and brother and horse went helter-skelter. In all the panic that ensued, Kojiq was reprimanded by a few slaps on his hands.

Later, when he had calmed down and was snuggling next to me watching tv, his mom sat next to him and pulled him towards her. He resisted a bit. She coaxed him to sit on her lap. He resisted, then he held up his hand and said "akek (sakit)". No big deal, huh?

Well, for a normal kid, that's nothing. But for Kojiq, that was the first time he actually indicated and verbalised what he was feeling! Up till then, Kojiq was able to make up to 3-words sentence, but only to ask for something that he wants - "Kojiq mak(nak) susu". So this incident where he indicated and verbalised how he felt and why he resisted his mom then, was a tremendous leap in his interactive skills. AlhamduliLlah!

Each day comes with little miracles. You just have to look out for it to see and appreciate it!

The Signs : No Eye Contact

2008-10-09T16:33:00.000-07:00

The essence of autism is that it is a disorder that impairs interaction (John Levy, "What You Can Do Right Now To Help Your Child With Autism")

There are several early signs through which you can detect whether a child might have autism. I will try to write about them in a series of posts, insyaAllah.

One of the most apparent signs is the child does not make eye contact with anyone else. He can be playing in a room full of people, maybe even with someone beside him trying to speak to him, but he would seem to ignore everyone else. He would be living in his own world. If you try to catch his eyes by turning his face towards you, the eye contact may happen, but flittingly. Why?

This is because eye contact is an intimate form of non-verbal communication and interaction. As autism affects interaction, by refusing eye contact, the child is avoiding interaction.

Kojiq has been going for speech therapy for a while now, and his eye contact has improved tremendously. Here's some tips from the therapist, which we find very helpful :-

(1) Speak to him from a short distance - his visual attention span is only in his immediate surroundings, so if you talk to him from across the room, he will ignore you.

(2) Position for eye contact - try to get down to his eye level so that it is easier for him to look into your eyes. Sit or squat in front of him, when you speak to him.

(3) Attract his attention with an object - find something he likes like a toy car, hold it a few inches in front of your eyes so that he would be forced to look at your eyes if he wants to look at the object.

(4) Make him look into your eyes and indicate what he wants, then only give it to him. He will learn that making eye contact is rewarding.

I hope you find this information helpful. May Allah bless you for the patience and love you give to child in need.

:-)

Hari Raya Jalan-Jalan

2008-10-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hari Raya Jalan-Jalan is supposed to be fun fun fun for kids. What is there not to enjoy? You get to go to different houses, meet your cousins and new friends, eat and drink as much as you want, maybe even get to play with sparklers, and just before you leave, you get packets containing money from the host, yay!

Well, fun for most kids, anyway.

For Kojiq, Hari Raya is just another day. For Kojiq's mom, Hari Raya Jalan-Jalan is a test on her patience and perseverance.

Kojiq is at that time when his current game is playing with electrical switches - light, fan, air-cond etc. He's tall enough to reach the switches, light enough to be running around at a speed that is difficult for us to catch him, yet heavy enough that when he's showing defiance by sitting or lying down, it is difficult to carry him or pull him to his feet. Imagine the chaotic madness when we go Jalan-Jalan to our relatives' homes!

Sure, the easy way to counter the 'shame' of having your child misbehave at someone else's home is always to punish the child immediately. A slap on the butt, a pinch on the arm, even pulling his ears, will make the child stop his actions for a short while.

But does he understand that all this anger and pain inflicted on him is a result of his 'misbehaviour'? Should he be physically reprimanded in public just so you can 'save face'?

If the child fully understands the consequences of his actions, like a normal child, he would stop misbehaving on his own accord, kan?

Think about it, before you start thrashing your special needs child.

Oh, for the record, Kojiq's mom didn't slap him, but she was finding it hard to hold on to her patience.

The 'Ane' Game

2008-09-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Kojiq is a very affectionate boy, loves to be hugged and tickled. This is exactly the opposite of one of the traits of autism - usually, a child with autism does not like any form of physical contact, because his sensories including on his skin is somewhat differently wired, and a simple touch by our standards, may feel painful for the child. But apparently Kojiq is OK with physical contact.

Although at times Kojiq plays rough, but sometimes it is just to attract our attention so that we will chase after him, then hug and tickle him, and he would collapse in a fit of laughter. Along the years, we developed many tickling games with him. The latest game is the "ane" game :-)

Ane? Ane?? Huk aloh, iklan U Mobile kat tv tulah hehehe :-)

Kojiq would smile and come up to us and say "Ane..." , then we'd go through the advertisement script like this :-

Kojiq : "Ane..."

Me : "Teh tarik satu"

Kojiq : "Blehhh...."

Me : "Nak stengah gelas."

Me : "Tabley!"

Me : "Kenapa...?"

Kojiq : "Why...? *giggle giggle*

Me : "Why? Why?? Why???" *tickle Kojiq*

Kojiq : *gelak guling-guling*

I love this game. And I love watching him smile, then giggle, then burst into laughter, literally rolling on the floor/bed/sofa.

But sometimes aku secara tak sengaja go overboard, Kojiq gelak sampai semput, kena guna inhaler asthma. Time-time gini, aku kena marah ler sebab buat Kojiq semput hehehe :-)

On Oprah Last Night

2008-09-22T19:58:00.000-07:00

We don't watch a whole lot of Oprah, so catching the show last night on Astro was a lucky fluke for both Angah and me, for the topic was 'Autism'. The guest speakers were Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete (of 21 Jump Street). They were not there as stars or celebrities, but as mothers who have a child with autism, Jenny's Evan, and Holly's RJ.

I am familiar with Jenny, as I have read her book entitled "Louder Than Words", telling of her experience with Evan. Indeed, last night's show focused a lot on this book (more about the book later). But I didn't know about Holly and RJ, so I was interested to hear her speak. She shared her feelings, how she overcame her personal dissappointment, how important it is for families to work together to help the child with autism.

Something she said that I think is important is this - don't call the child "autistic kid". When you say it that way, people will focus on 'autistic' as if the child is inflicted with some terrible contagious disease, and with such negative vibes, people won't be able to appreciate the child. Instead, say "child with autism". This way, you focus on the child first, and then only his condition. It sounds more positive, don't you think so?

Baby Kojiq

2008-09-22T17:02:00.000-07:00

The story began five years ago. September 11 2003, to be exact. The first grandchild to my parents, the first baby for Angah & Bangah, he was born via caesarean section two days after Angah had the first signs of labour. We counted 10 little fingers and 10 little toes, he scrumched up his face and wailed, a perfect baby, AlhamduliLlah!

He was the light of our lives - and still is! Since we all live in one house, Angah & Bangah generously shared him with the rest of us - including sharing poopy-diapers-changing, hmmph. I spent hours watching him sleep, the rise and fall of his little chest with every breath he takes, the flutter of his eyelids when dreams interrupt his slumber, and the sweet lips parting in his yawns and sighs. At the slightest sound, one of us would be running to his bassinet, scoop him up in our arms and murmur some lullaby to coax him back to sleep...

Oh, I'm beginning to sound soppy, please forgive me hehehe :-)

Anyway, he is now 5 years old, and I still spend hours watching him sleep :-)

More about Haziq and being diagnosed, in the next post.

Kojiq's World

2008-09-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

This blog is dedicated to my beloved nephew Haziq, and thousands of little boys and girls who have the same condition as he does. Also, to all parents, siblings, relatives, caregivers, friends and neighbours of all those little boys and girls, who understand, or are learning to understand, or at least are beginning to learn to accept all those little boys and girls with all their love, for what those little boys and girls truly are - gifts from Him.

I hope this blog will help us understand these little boys and girls, and help us rid of our prejudices against what they have. I wish to share every little bit of information that may be beneficial for children with autism, and I hope readers with information will share theirs with me too. Don't worry if you do not have information to share, your taking time to read this blog is more than enough, and I thank you for that!

This is not a blog written by a professional. I do not have any medical or formal training in caring for children with special needs. What information I have, are probably from readings or interactions with other caregivers of special needs children, or watching tv, or merely from my googling.

But one thing for sure is that I love my nephew, and I give my support to my sister (Haziq's mother), and there is nothing I would not do for them! Family comes first.

People, welcome to my blog about autism.

MIRROR POST

Blog ini didedikasikan kepada anak saudara kesayanganku Haziq, dan ribuan lagi kanak-kanak lelaki dan perempuan yang mempunyai keadaan yang sama dengannya. Juga kepada ibubapa, adik-beradik, saudara-mara, penjaga, sahabat dan jiran kepada semua kanak-kanak tersebut, yang memahami, atau sedang belajar memahami, atau sekurang-kurangnya sedang mula belajar untuk menerima semua kanak-kanak tersebut dengan sepenuh hati, sebagai suatu anugerah dariNya.

Aku harap blog ini akan membantu kita lebih memahami kanak-kanak tersebut, dan membantu kita meghilangkan prejudis terhadap keadaan mereka. Aku ingin berkongsi segala pengetahuan yang mungkin bermanfaat untuk kanak-kanak dengan autism, dan aku harap pembaca yang budiman juga turut berkongsi pengetahuan mereka denganku. Jangan bimbang jika kau tiada pengetahuan untuk dikongsi, kerana sekadar meluangkan masa untuk membacanya pun sudah amat baik, dan aku ucapkan terima kasih!

Blog ini bukan ditulis oleh seorang pakar. Aku tidak mempunyai apa-apa latihan perubatan atau formal dalam hal penjagaan kanak-kanak istimewa. Segala pengetahuan yang aku ada, datang dari bahan bacaan, atau interaksi dengan ibubapa dan penjaga kanak-kanak istimewa yang lain, atau dari tv, atau dari google.

Walau apapun, yang pasti ialah aku sangat sayangkan anak saudaraku, dan aku sentiasa memberi sokongan kepada adikku (ibu Haziq), dan tiada apa yang aku takkan buat untuk mereka! Keluarga adalah yang utama.

Rakan-rakan, selamat datang ke Blogku mengenai autism.