Autism Awareness

It was by chance that I read a blog on Anak Brunei, the personal journey of a boy named Raiyan - an Autistic child, written by his beloved pweshes mama.

The word 'pweshes' itself reminds me of a Kurdish word
'peshmerga' which means freedom fighters. Therefore, in my own thoughts, these Autistic children may or are 'fighting' in their different ways to be accepted or to be able to fit-in into our normal society.

Truthfully, I do not really know how to define or explain what Autism means or how to identify an individual who has Autism. But somehow, many years ago, my family and I encountered an incident with an Autistic child which made us aware about Autism.

Farid, the only son of the President of Smarter Brunei - Yang Mulia Hj Malai Abdullah, is a special child and is well-loved by his family. We knew Farid since he was a baby and have been updated what Autism is all about ..well in a way for us to understand a little bit of it. Somehow, we followed the journey of Hj Malai Abdullah's effort in educating the public about Autism.

Few years ago, during a Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Farid and his family came to my house for Hari Raya visiting. Farid would always stay in the car with his family's helper (nanny) while his family do visitings. Farid would not want to go into any houses. But that particular year (can't remember when) Farid made an unexpected entrance into my house - climbing three storeys high - while his family were having some festivities' dishes. Even his family was quite surprised.

Farid came in and walked around the house and finally settled in one of the living room sofas. His nanny offered him 'kueh-kueh raya' and he did eat ...but littered pieces by pieces on the floor. The nanny tried to picked them up but I reacted by letting him do what he's comfortable with ...so as not to 'annoy' him that will make him want to go home.

To have Farid visiting my house on that Hari Raya without being 'forced to' ..is really an honour ...in a way I see it as special. I understand that at times you have to patiently 'negotiate' with an Autistic child. I hope Farid will visit me again at this year's Aidilfitri or any other day.

Since April is Autism Awareness month, I would like to give my support by dedicating this post to Farid and Raiyan.