Chronicle Of My Little STAR (EIP 2009-2011)

Prior to his diagnosis with ASD back in July 2008, we have very little knowledge about Autism.

Nevertheless, we were quick to enroll him to a special school for EIP and fortunate enough to be accepted & commence EIP in Jan 2009, that is how we all started walking with him in this special learning journey and never look back since day 1 until thus far.

We know that it is not going to be easy but what we never know is that it will be that hard and challenging as the days went by for a young parent of a child in this spectrum but also bring us a lot of joy in our adventure with him. We elevated our knowledge on various aspect of Autism through attending several workshops provided in the special school in the first year and self learn via social media, websites, reading books and connecting to others in the subsequent years that follow to share and learn from others along our journey. As we expend our effort to teach our little STAR, he has also expanded our heart and broaden our perspective in life, making us to be more courageous, more loving, more compassionate and view every little lack with empathy. We soon learn the joy of living by intruding into his world to teach him and then bring him out gradually to our shared world to get connected with us. We achieve our inner peace by doing the best support we can provide him in his academic years, accepting the norm that he learns differently and think differently and make him enjoy learning and socially engaging.

One thing predicatable I learn from my last 3 years of travelling with my little STAR in this path less travel is his unpredictability. And one consistent attribute from his autistic traits is his inconsistency. Underlying the 3 deficits in the way he relates, communicates and thinks, often are the sensory integration, modulation and processing issues which may hinder his performance instead of putting his best effort and very often will manifest into various form of learning issues and behavior challenges. 3 years on, it is still learning in progress for me & my wife as we both try to understand the different manifestation that may arise out of his autistic traits from time to time as he progresses on. Compare now to 3 years ago, we have come to understand more, vocalize & interact better with our little STAR as he develop more towards partner communicator.

Holding our faith in ourselves..And in the belief that everything that is going to be just fine as long as we do everything that we can on our end is crucial to being able to hold it together in this learning journey when things get tough...This journey in life will be full of challenges that ...seem to range from easy to back-breaking..But these challenges are presented to us for a reason...

We are indeed very grateful that despite all the challenges faced in the last 3 years, we were able to face his enemies without fear and still managed to rejoice inch stone progresses for our little STAR, kudos to the Special Education Team that we have been blessed with and crossed path over our past years of endeavours. It was through this good partnership that we have come to cherish each collaborative effort for making every moment counts. The mind mapping below helps to consolidate the 3 years of curriculum that we have accomplished with the special educators in the EIP, truely a remarkable, rewarding and memorable educational experience.

Sharing the positives and reflecting with SPED Team on what we can do better to over come any challenges face has been a great part of this learning process since day one and ending with a winner statement. This blog was born as a result of my sharing, thanks to a teacher's encouragement who see this potential in my sharing which may benefit more parents in this similar yet unique path to each child. One important aspect of true happiness is in being able to share and not expecting a response from others upon sharing, it is like the saying to Giving:- "more bless to give than to receive".

As we conclude one little race, focus already under way to ready my little STAR for his next race of his learning journey, which promises to be more challenging, exciting and adventurous, we have to sit tide and face head on with more positive attitude than before. Memories are so weird. The bad one make you laugh and the good one always make you cry! Still we urge for the good ones and more to come in our new race ahead.

Recall 3 core values useful in our daily practise wit our child before I end this blog post:-

Meaning: - provide opportunity to child to engage daily activities or age appropriate tasks & be successfully and happy about the engagement.

Independence: - Environmental cue which support independence, maintain some and add new to gradual change to avoid confusing the child and promote independence in adaptability. Create opportunity to communicate by teaching the child how to communicate more functionable or despite circumstances. Reduce verbal prompting by exploring visual support to be more successful in elevating independence.

Dignity: - Same opportunity provided for in quality of life, respectful of giving the child something of at least age appropriate, inclusion in society, reduce highly directive but promote more interactive, co-operative & facilitative learning to child. Respect for each child over their confidentiality, make the child feel value and motivated to achieve more success in their learning.

Winners Statement:-

Your passion, patience and perseverance in providing a well-rounded education for children with special needs is a dignified job, your commitment, creativity and nurturing heart to help the children maximize their learning potential have been impressive. Thank You Teachers & Therapists, Kudos To ALL!