Photo published with parent's permission. My son is 3 yrs 6 months old (June 2011). We got the diagnosis PDD-NOS 1 year ago when we brought him to Child Development Centre at HUKM for delayed speech, poor eye contact and limited interaction.
I was devastated, even though I had already suspected it much earlier. There was a lot of information given to us by the HUKM consultant, and one of them was about ANDI Initiative.
I was skeptical at first, but knowing ‘the earlier the intervention the better the outcome’, I decided to contact Intan Miranti. We missed the 2010 second intake of the ASD Parent Training & Support Series, but made the commitment for the 2011 first intake. (I had the blessing of a supportive hubby when I went on no-pay leave for 3 months).
This is truly a one-of-a-kind programme where parents are trained and given full support be it techniques, trouble-shooting, advice and counseling to start specific ABA programmes with the child. I learnt so many new things and methods and the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’.
What gave me confidence was Intan's approach to fine-tune / correct our skills during home visits. My daily sessions with my son had its ups and downs with him being not cooperative some days, and other times me just giving up because it was going nowhere, but I ploughed on.
Slowly, a wonderful boy emerged from the shell. My boy Ryan was looking at me more, his learning and attending protocol improved, his play skills are better (thanks to an 11-year-old brother and a 10-year-old sister who actually go down to the floor to play with him).
Now I am back at work and he is attending playschool but we still do our therapy sessions at night whenever possible. Ryan still goes for speech therapy, occuptional therapy and weekly sessions with a special needs teacher.
He still has a long way to go but this parent training has given me the skill, confidence and hope to carry on. Personally, I think Ryan would not be where he is now (which is an improvement) had it not been for this four-month parent training programme.
THANK YOU, ANDI INITIATIVE!!!
- Parent, Cheras, 2011 Intake
Photo published with parent's permission.
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