14/04/2023
Ito maikling kwento na nabasa ko tungkol sa Nanay na may autistic na anak. Spreading positive vibes para sa mga Nanay na naghihirap sa kanilang anak ❤️ anything is possible basta pasensya lang para matuto ang mga bata.
At four years old my son, Rhys, could not dress himself. The skills needed for this area of independence were hard and too massive to imagine. There were fine motor skills, gross motor skills, the ability to follow instruction, and finally the just wanting to actually do it. All those skills are complex and huge.
But everything is more challenging when your child is autistic and unable to process any language. You are in a situation of trying to teach, where words are not there to help. Just think about that for a minute and the complexity it brings.
Back five years ago, I started by spreading Rhys' clothes out across his floor, a visual sequence of activity, with a reward of his favourite toy at the end.
Then we started.
Hand over hand as I sat behind him, and using a strategy known as backward chaining, I let Rhys do the final step of the first item, starting with socks.
It took a whole year, working through each item, teaching the placement of fingers and limbs, until Rhys stood one morning, at the end of his morning clothes sequence, and executed it all himself.
It took a whole year - twelve months!
Since that day, there have been many times I have had to step in and help. But one thing has not changed, the clothes have always been picked out for him, and laid out in order.
Until this week.
At 9am Rhys was still in his pajamas, but at 09:15 he walked into the kitchen, fully dressed in a clean pair of pants, back to front joggers and an inside out Tshirt!
WTF?
I always imagined laying out Rhys' clothes in order well into his teens, but here he was getting himself dressed, independently!
The next day I took a gamble. Rhys stood in his pajamas as I said, "Rhys, can you go get dressed?" I waited, and then secretly followed. Spying through the crack in the bedroom door, I watched him open his drawers and choose what he wanted to wear. Then he undressed and pulled on his chosen ensemble.
Rhys was a child who didn't talk, didn't engage and couldn't process any language until only a few years ago, when a few basic words started to have meaning.
I want every parent who feels that they may never see progress, to never give up hope. Never stop helping and supporting your child. They will amaze you, and things will just suddenly happen one day without warning.
It has for us.
Things I could never imagine.
Here's to an exciting future, where anything is possible.
The sky is the limit.
