A Day at the Zoo

Similar to most ASD kids, Rayyan learns better with pictures so I decided to do another mini story book about him and this time round, it's about his trip to the zoo.  My objective is for him to be more aware of his surroundings and his activities.  I used the pictures that I have taken at the zoo so that he can relate better to the story.

Here's the simple book...

Reading the book with Rayyan :) Usually I sit behind him and we read together but since I wanted to take a video, I was opposite him.  That explains the running around... sheesh!

Mummy!!

When Rayyan was totally non-verbal, I had always dreamt of the moment when he will come up to me unexpectedly one day, look into my eyes and say, "Mummy"!  I would then be truly, truly happy and thankful to God and tears would be gushing down my cheeks and I would be crying non-stop!

Well, sadly, that didn't happen.... Rayyan can finally say Mummy but it didn't happen the way I had envisioned it to be.  Like I said earlier, each sound was taught to him explicitly so first came.. mmmm and then aaaa and then mmaaa and then mama and then finally, MUMMY!  So there wasn't the element of surprise and non-belief...

But you know what... even that couldn't tarnish the miracle that he can finally call me.  When he sometimes pull my hand or run to me calling MUMMY... I would burst with pride and happiness.  That truly is the most beautiful word that I hear from him.  In fact, that is the one word that he can say really, really beautifully....

Thank you for finally acknowledging me darling...

Thank you God for the miracle :)

School

Rayyan is coping well in school.  Sometimes, he does throw tantrums and doesn't want to go to school (well, even NT kids face this problem!) but generally, he is cooperative.  

Same for school, sometimes he is not focused and not cooperative but generally, he is faring pretty well.  We have actually stressed to the teachers right from the start that we are not concerned about academics, we just want him to be around peers his age and socialise with them.  So, as long as he is able to mix well with peers and able to follow basic instructions, we are happy.

We must thank the teachers for accepting him and guiding him.  Especially to Teacher Lina, his fav teacher, thanks for all the photos that you have taken!

Here are some photos of Rayyan in school.  I was bursting with pride and truly happy when I first saw these photos.  Keep them coming, Teacher Lina! Hehehe :))

Rayyan having his meal with his peers :)

Another makan session.  He usually eats two bowls of rice/porridge!!!

This session was about family.  Rayyan was trying to identify his family members :)

Learning journey to the Singapore Philatelic Museum to learn more about stamps.  I don't think he understood what he saw but like I said, the most important thing is for him to be around his peers :)

With Teacher Susi... Teacher Susi must be explaining to him about the vehicles on the road :)

At the museum :)

The special stamp! :)

Rayyan's fav teacher, Teacher Lina!

Back in school.... have to keep toys... I can imagine his unhappiness coz he's like this at home too!!

Not happy but he still keeps his toys :)

Holding his peer's hand!!!  Not easy to get him to do this ok!! :)

I wonder what they're looking at... so cute!!!! :)))

PowerTalk

Now that Hubby is taking care of Rayyan full-time, he mixes with the mummies at AAS, something which I strongly encourage because it is good for him to be in somewhat a support group and he can definitely learn from these mummies.  I am just so glad that Hubby is an easy-going, patient man and not one of those chauvinistic men with huge egos... well, I guess if he is, he wouldn't want to take care of Rayyan full-time in the first place... so salute to Hubby! :)

Anyway, we have gone out with these mummies on several occasions and I am just amazed with their drive and tenacity.  They are the kind who would go all out to help their sons.  In fact, their sons are very high-functioning.  I had the opportunity to speak to one of them whose son had just gone for his IQ test and scored above average for his non-verbal skills.  He is verbal, speaks very well, has great imagination and great play skills too.  The mum told me that a year ago, he was non-verbal and was in his own world most of the time.  I asked the mum what she did and she told me that she simply....TALK!

Well, she is indeed quite talkative and animated I must say... She told me that she talks a lot to her son, she just keeps on talking even though she is not sure if the son understands at times.  And she will always make reference to the surroundings... for example... she will tell the son about the clothes she's wearing, about her hair, about how short or tall somebody is..... just anything about the surroundings to make the son more aware of things or people around him.   And she said that one day, her son began to pick up what she had been saying, started talking and has been talking non-stop!  In fact, she told me that she is not sure what his issues are now because he seems to be just like any other normal kid!

So yes, the power of... TALK!  I do talk to Rayyan too, not as much as I want to but at every opportunity I have.  The conversation that I had with the mummy earlier spurred me to talk more to Rayyan and I have been pushing Hubby to do the same... hehehe..

But then, I must also be realistic and understand Rayyan's limitations.  Speech doesn't come easily to him.  Some people told me that when these kids start talking, it will come naturally and all other words will start pouring in after that... I must say that I have stopped believing in that.  Speech is definitely not easy for Rayyan.  Each sound has to be taught explicitly to him, each SINGLE sound.  Sometimes when he has mastered a sound, he forgets another and we have to teach him how to produce that sound again.  It's a tedious and arduous process but I must give credit to Rayyan for trying so hard.

He really is trying very, very hard.  I suddenly remembered something that happened last week...  Rayyan woke up in the middle of the night and he couldn't sleep after that... He was tossing and turning and then I heard him said the words that Daddy had been teaching him earlier that day... He went.."in....on....in....on...".  My heart went out to him when I heard those words... Was he practicing in the middle of the night??  Was he trying his best to recall what was taught???  God, please, please help my son...

And you, my son, are doing very well.  Don't you ever give up coz Mummy and Daddy will never give up on you!!!  We love you!!

B!!!!

Now that Rayyan can say the 'b' sound pretty well, I try to maximise that by preparing pictures of stuffs that begin with 'b'. He may not be able to pronounce the words perfectly but I must say that he has shown such a huge improvement! He used to be able to pronounce words with one syllable only but now, he can pronounce words with three syllables!!

Three cheers for Rayyan!!!

Supermarket

I've read that some ASD kids do not like to go out for fear of the unknown outside their usual parameters. That is so not true for Rayyan! This boy wants to go everywhere, anywhere! Whenever we go out, he will whine or cry the minute he realises that we are on our way home! So bringing him out is definitely not an issue, it's bringing him home that is causing us a headache!

And now that he is 4+ years old, people are starting to look at him when he jumps incessantly or when he starts blabbering incoherently. I think that they must either think that he is such an incorrigible child, one who behaves horribly, or that something is wrong with him because at this age, he is still not speaking properly.

We are very aware of the curious stares we get at times but I keep telling myself that I must 'thicken' my face. Let them stare! Like any other person on this planet, my son deserves to go out and see the world. And these experiences outside are important because he needs to be aware of what's happening around him.

So I will not stop bringing him out. I will not confine him to his house just because he is different from others. I will bring him to the shopping centres, restaurants, parks, shops, supermarkets... anywhere! And yes, speaking of supermarkets... we just brought him out to the supermarket earlier today. Rayyan loves going to the fruits and vegetables sections! So while we were there, we took the opportunity to teach and ask him about the fruits and vegetables.

Rayyan had a jolly good time at the supermarket! Only one thing though, he was so excited with the texture of the tomatoes that he wanted to squash them!!!