KUCHING: Raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is no easy task.
Just ask Evahaizura Husaini, the mother of a five-year-old autistic boy, Dzikra Musyrif.
“My husband and I had knew nothing about autism because we had no prior experience in the family with ASD,” she told New Sarawak Tribune in an exclusive interview.
“It was really confusing in the beginning. He was unable to speak at the age of one year plus and did not respond when we called his name. He lived in his very own world.
“He was about two years and nine months old when we sent him for medical appointments and sensory assessment at a hospital.
“After a few tests, the doctor confirmed that our son had autism,” she said.
Evahaizura’s first reaction was “Why me?”
She said it took a while for her to accept that her son was autistic.
An officer at TM Malaysia then, she immediately quit her job to become a full-time caregiver for Dzikra and devoted her time to learning about autism and finding places that could provide the help her son needed.
With the passage of time, the pain she felt when she first discovered her son was autistic had lessened.
“Time heals the pain. Despite feeling gloomy occasionally, I am now able to accept this is my fate.
“This whole journey has taught me to be more grateful and makes myself closer with The Almighty,” said Evahaizura.
Her daily routine now is driving her son to speech and occupational therapy at a government centre and a private centre.
Evahaizura is glad Dzikra had shown great improvement since he underwent therapy.
“His attention span is better, he can understand instructions, he’s toilet trained and is also able to socialise with other children.”
Nurzatul Aqma, mother of six-year-old autistic boy, Ariff Iskandar, only discovered her son had autism a year ago.
“I sent him to pre-school and after three weeks, a teacher informed me that Ariff had a speech delay. After my husband and I sent him to a psychologist, Ariff was diagnosed with Level 2 (moderate) ASD and hyperactivity.”
She said since then, her son had been undergoing therapy specially to enhance his motor development skills.
“He is progressing very well and able to study at a normal pre-school. Now, he can speak up to five words compared to only one or two words last year. He is also more independent and is toilet-trained,” said Nurzatul.
She also revealed that Ariff was now enjoying swimming and piano classes.
Like Evahaizura, Nurzatul has also accepted her fate and stressed that parents played the most important role in helping autistic children to develop social skills.
“Parents are the best teachers and therapists,” she added.
