Year 2012 is coming to an end and we are praying that year 2013 will be a better year for all of us. Honestly speaking im starting to get worried for Uzair. He will be 5 next year, which means we have 2 more years to help him so he could enter mainstream schooling for primary school. Yes to most people, Uzair seems like any other boy who loves outdoor and very much adventurous. While a lot of people say not to worry, he will outgrow it ( alhamdulillah for the positive thinking, we take that as prayers for Uzair) but as parents, our instinct feels that Uzair needs the extra help to be “normal”. He is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with some over laping traits of Autism.
We started sending him Early Intervention Programme (EIP), at WQ Park in October. Back then he was attending both, his kindergarten in the morning and EIP in the afternoon (since we have paid the term fees for his kindergarten). Logistic arrangement was an issue because i had to go back and forth. Uzair’s school finishes by 1230pm while elder 2 finishes at 2pm. Previously, i paid extra for day care, so i could fetch uzair the same time as elder 2. But since his EIP starts at 1:30pm, i now need to fetch Uzair first, send him for his EIP in Kelana Jaya and back to fetch elder 2. Although it means i ended up spending more time on the road, i do feel grateful that it is still possible to arrange the logistic, at least the time doesnt clashes.Kids at the EIP are from various background, I’m very impressed seeing the sacrifice made by other parents. They are parents from, Sg Buloh, Keramat and even Rawang. They would send their child and wait there for 3 hours till the class finishes as it is not cost savvy to return home . Waiting for 3 hours on daily basis surely requires lots of patience and sacrifice. at least my house isnt that far for me to go back and forth. There is always a reason to be grateful, always.
Innitialy our plan for next year is to only continue with the EIP since they fees would be a bit steep if we were to continue both. But looking at uzair’s behaviour during this school holiday, (he continue going for his EIP, EIP doesnt follow the same school holiday) he seems better of going to school morning and afternoon. He needs structured activities. Unfortunately i cant really provide this for him. He ended up sleeping in since he doest have school in the morning, and also his bed time is much later now. He throws tantrum whenever he doesnt get what he wants. We raised concern about his tantrum to his teachers, but the teachers have no idea of the tantrums coz that doesnt happen in school. Basically they are no elements/stimulus that trigger the tantrum in school. At home whenever he doesnt get what he want, he will have his melt down / tantrums moment. One example is, wanting to play outdoor at inappropriate time (i.e noon). Whenever anyone goes out / open the door he will want to run and play outside. if he try bringing him in, he will start crying and all.
We had his progress review with his teacher, therapists and doctors last week. Alhamdulillah syauqi is willing to stretch the limit and continue sending uzair both morning and afternoon. I can never thank syauQi enough for putting this as his number one priority. The fees for EIP and his kindergarten a year is bout RM32k. As much as i would like to supplement with home base therapy for uZair, i somehow still fail at juggling my time with uzair’s need and the other 3 needs. For this school holiday, im trying to improve athirah’s focus before the school reopens so she is more prepared for next year. that is another topic that requires a blog entry on its on.
Some may already know that uzair has this “stimming” behavior where he likes to knock 2 objects together. This could go on up to an hour plus. It is one the trait for autism. We tried to stop this behavior but he keeps on going to the kitchen to take new objects for him to knock. Common object would be the ikea cups/bowls and food container. Recently i had a friend who attended a Son-Rise programme in the State, who shared with me that i should join the child in his world – rather than force them to conform to a world they dont understand. This is to help solitary play become tandem play. To take part in their games before asking them to take part in ours. Maka dgn itu, the whole house akn berdendang with uZair :))
I had a friend came over the other day, i quietly passed two objects to her and told her to knock whenever uzair does. Uzair showed a positive reaction/facial expression. He usually ignores any guest in the house, but on that day, we could see at the corner of his eyes, he did look at my friend later on went nearer to my friend. My friend sang one of his fav song, he pause, stood infront of her till the end of the song. It may be just a minute or so, but such attention span from him was not something easy to achieve. We actually desperately need to have a room dedicate for his therapy, to enable us to reduce any distraction and such when therapy is in progress. Unfortunately we dont have spare room for that.
We are trying to be more strict with his Gluten Free Casseine Free diet but it really aint easy, especially when we go out, or visit friends and relative.But on my side, i try my very best to make it really GFCF diet as i believe diet plays a very important role
May Allah guide and ease our journey, praying that 2013 will be a better year ahead.
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