Our dear boy just celebrated his 3rd birthday... it was indeed a joyous occasion for us.. we decided to bring him to Sentosa and stayed at Rasa Sentosa Resort for the night. He went swimming with his Daddy and was amazed at the fish swimming around him at Underwater World... He loves fish and we're happy that he thoroughly enjoyed himself :)
But at the back of our minds, there's a nagging worry.... as he grows older, we worry about how far behind he is compared to other kids.... at 36 months, he is still non-verbal (not speaking) and his creative play is very, very poor. Creative play refers to the way he plays with toys. For example, when you give typical kids two figurines, they will usually make them fight or talk or walk but for our boy, he will just hold the figurine and run around with it. He doesn't know how to engage in creative play.
We are also worried about his stims... 'Stim' refers to self-stimulation, it is something ASD kids do to calm themselves and is somewhat a repetitive or obsessive behaviour... Each ASD kid stims in a different way and for Rayyan, he will jump and flap his arms. And when I say jump, I don't just mean the usual jumping typical kids do, Rayyan can jump non-stop without feeling tired and this, coupled with the flapping of the arms is a constant worry for us. We have tried various ways to stop him but nothing works!
Another worry for us is his communication skills, since he can't talk, it is difficult for him to communicate to us. Since we know him so well, we usually know what he wants but while other typical kids are talking to their parents, learning more about the world through communication, he doesn't. He is happy in his own world and that really saddens us... We want to communicate with him, we want to tell him stories and advices, we just want him to connect with us.... It doesn't matter how long but I will be waiting for the day when he will look into my eyes and we can have a private conversation... I will be waiting...
And to you my dear boy, Happy 3rd birthday darling... Mummy and Daddy love you with all our hearts... You will always be our special boy and we will never trade you for another... And rest assured, as long as we are still alive, we will guide you, teach you and accompany you in this journey. We know it's not easy for you but don't you worry, we will always be here for you... ALWAYS...
