“At that moment, I was struck by darkness. I felt my world collapsing, but then I asked: ‘How am I going to help him?’
At a young age, Ethan never responded to me. No eye-contact, nothing.
Only when I sing to him, he will look at me and that’s how I started communicating with him.
The biggest challenge is when I take Ethan out in public and he starts to have meltdowns, throwing tantrums.
Sometimes, they cannot stand too much noise, the sensory is too overwhelming. They cannot take it and they don’t know how to express it, so they start to scream and yell.
People would stop and stare, and give me that ‘you could be a better parent’ look. It didn’t happen once, but often and always in restaurants.
One day these kids have meltdowns and the next day they’re happy and showing their true potential. So, don’t judge.
Some of them are really good at drawing too, but you just need to discover their talents.
For parents with young kids on the autism spectrum, my advice is to let them experience, let them explore their strengths and true potential. Give them a chance to prove themselves.”
Photostory by Annis Saipul
Edited by Christine Cheah
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(This post was first published on August 15th 2018)
