Both are different in their own ways. Iffah, now going to Primary 2 level next year and Akif will turn 4 next year January. Felt that time passed pretty fast this past few years. Things are going to turn out to be more challenging for Akif as wife was suspecting that he could be suffering from Asperger's Syndrome.
Came to this conclusion after finding out that he does not seem to communicate well with other people and keeps saying / asking the same questions to people he know (us and our parents). He also seem to exhibit certain behaviors like lying down on the floor (in class), difficulty in talking 'normally' like other 3 year old kids and others which can be found in kids with Asperger's Syndrome. Both of us decide to send him for some developmental assessment checks by referring to the therapists in KKH (appointment made for Jan 22) and will have to see what things we can do to facilitate him to be 'normal'. Let's see what the therapists can do...
Iffah had ended her Primary school year with a good academic record. She got 2nd in her class and an award for the Best In Malay Language. Kudos to her and hopefully she can sustain her academic achievements later on.
She's good in her ballet too. But heard from her that she does not want to continue with her ballet next year onwards. Hopefully she can continue with this as well.
Going back to Akif, it appears that the reality of him not being able to live a "normal" life like other kids later on sinked into both of us parents. There were occasions of guilt, regret in both of us. Questions like:
There's also the guilt that I have when I scolded him. Several times I wonder whether he learns anything from the times we scolded him. It seemed now that I have to refrain from doing so to him and explore other ways of communicating with him.
We're hoping that by intervening at an early stage, he can go to a mainstream school later on. There was this case this year of a PSLE student with Asperger's Syndrome, in Pathlight School, scored 273 points. Well there's still hope for him and now it depends on both of us parents.
It'll be a long journey for us to assist him all the way and I'm hoping that I can dedicate 100% of my time and effort to his development. To end this note, I read somewhere that children with disabilities can't differentiate between what is right and what is wrong. And as such, they are "automatically" given the passport to heaven by God. So what I have with me right now is also my "passport" to heaven later on.
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