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This Blog is solely private property of Hanz & TheHoneybunch.All the contents are based on the life we lead and sharing from what I learnt & read. We love homeschool and are happily homeschooling our boys aged 7, 3 and a baby for the past 7 years.

We welcome you to share as we would never stop learning because we believe the world is our classroom. Thank you.



Saturday, March 19, 2011

If you have special needs child, don't deny their rights!

The conversation that took place between my elder sister and myself yesterday late evening was an eye-opener for me to shed some light and share with all of you. I had finally confided to my sister when she insisted to understand about Hanafi's condition. My sister was shocked when I've informed her that we just submitted OKU form meaning soon Hanafi is the holder of OKU card.



All this while, only few friends and in fact not all of our family members knew the condition of our eldest child, Hanafi. Hanafi was borned with a special needs and special in his own uniqueness.

My own mother was kept in the dark and not even single soul of my side of family knew the condition of Hanafi all this while. It took lots of guts for us to finally revealed and unfold the bits. It is not easy to make people understand the obligations we faced and we have been here and there explaining especially much to your own flesh and blood who witnessed everything seems perfectly normal with Hanafi.

Hanafi is not a physically-disabled or mentally-disabled child. He was only diagnosed as high-functioning autism whom you can associate with genius people like Albert Einstein and Thomas Alva Edison had.

We overlooked Hanafi's condition ever since he was a toddler as he shown cleared geniuses back then. Before he reached 2 years of age, he knew the alphabets both small and big letters, not only typical recite the ABC song but you can just pointed the letters and he would tell you. He also knew the numbers so well and when he was 3 years plus, he counted all the way to 100, not missing one single number and he could counted it over and over again. It went the same with colours and shapes too. He knew them by heart. And, 4 years plus, he memorized most Doa' just by concentrating with the Tilmiz Doa VCD, many nursery rhymes with the same way too.

Family members labelled him clever but us, the parents realized something just went missing. Hanafi was a late talker and his vocabulary was poor. However, he reads well and now reaching 7 years old, I am not teaching him any Malay reading anymore. He is an independent reader in this language and already started composition on his own. In terms of English language grasp, he is currently reading higher level of reading and I've started teaching him grammar.

So what makes us finally accepted the fact that despite all of his high capabilities, Hanafi is a special needs child?

The birth of his little brother, Hambali provided us the cues and everything unfolds and emerged itself when comparison made to their characteristics and behaviours.

And there we were getting the clearer picture. Seeking professional help to assess Hanafi thoroughly confirmed our questionable doubts that we had all these time.

In my next sharing, I shall share our experiences, explanation on what is high-functioning autism, the process and all you need to know dealing with special need child.

Having said that, if you are unsure, whether your child is one special need child, it is helpful and must I say important to rate your child's development with the standard development of children. Comparison made with your friends or family member's of having the same age child is also essential at times but it must be done moderately and put your anxious and fear at bay. Don't be too kiasu (anxious), nevertheless don't be too laid-back or overly relaxed. Each child's development is unique and only you, the parents knew it best. Trust your parental instinct. That is the rule of thumb. And, never delay on doing so because in other way, you somehow deny their rights as special needs child needs unique intervention. Every special needs child has their own rights. Denial means you deny their rights.

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