She is Feilina Feisol, the Chairman of The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM), whom I had the pleasure to meet during the Merdeka Film Screening by Kelip-Kelip last Wednesday (the screening and discussion of the film Redha).
Whenever I met someone who are so active and commit with the awareness campaign of Autism, there is always a hidden story behind that genuine effort.
And for this lady, is her own son 🙂
One interesting question from the audience during the discussion was,
“Let’s say if we suspected a kid that we are close with, to have a condition of Autism.
How do we tell the parents about it?”
Because as we can see in the movie Redha, the father keep in denial about his son’s condition, and keep telling people that his son is ‘normal’ (that is, until his wife has died)
It is a very sensitive issue of course, because which parents would have the heart to hear that their child has that condition? To know that their child is ‘special’?
Her answer, was brilliant.
Resistance or denial can come from a mother or a father. That is us being humans. How do we alert parents of their children if they seem autistic? Gently tell them the behaviours you observed, and ask them to help you understand what is going on. Get them to come to the conclusion themselves – it’s better than telling them,
“Hey, I think your child is autistic.”
However, suspicion will just stay as a suspicion. Always (I repeat, always) refer to the one certified for this issue, ie, Clinical Psychologist or Psychiatrist/Paediatric. Only them, can give you the credible diagnosis.
Hope this helps to anyone out there with their own children, or anyone who are dealing with children of not their own.
🙂