Autism Partnership Foundation
Charitable Organization
Charitable Organization
Together We Create a Better World for People with Autism
The mother is the only person to take care Yat Shik, her son who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Regardless of the struggles and dilemmas, the mother was forced to face, she was hustled to seek all the possible ways to turn the table for Yat Shik. She understands that her effort is not enough to promote her son to integrate into society beyond professional support.
The biggest fear of the mother was that Yak Shik would be left alone if she gets sick. Once the mother suffered from a fever but there ain’t anybody to help take care of her son. Since then, she decided to seize the time to train Yat Shik, “We shouldn’t waste any second from now on. I can see that he will suffer if we do not work it out right now.” The mother was not able to bare expensive treatment fees let alone the rental fee and other miscellaneous expenses, all she could do at best was to take Yat Shik to go outside more often and do exercises with him.
As someone’s mother, you have to be strong and persistent, and the mother believes that is important to Yat Shik. Whenever Yat Shik threw tantrums to escape doing exercise, the mother would put forward the condition of “play unless you have finished the exercise” in exchange for her son’s compliance. Yat Shik gradually conformed to such a pattern and complete the tasks more willingly. He was not familiar with social etiquette as well, causing ineffective communication between him and others. Therefore, the mother on and off took him to the community and get close to the people, in a way that helped to improve his social skills. The mother was optimistic while growing up with Yat Shik, “Since I brought Yat Shik into this world, I shall be the strongest back up for my son. I sometimes worry whether he can live independently, but the scared I am, the more important it is for me to live with it and stay the course.”
For long-term development, professional and continuous treatment services are the best support. Mother was pleased to witness the progress of Yat Shik after receiving Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy. She believes that with timely intervention, children can contribute to society when they grow up. She questioned why the government was reluctant to help these children, “There is a rise of children diagnosed with ASD. The government should input more resources into providing effective treatment services. Hopefully, more institutions will be willing to offer us professional and continuous support.”
Yat Shik’s mother was invited to share her perspective on ASD and ABA services with Autism Partnership Foundation (operating in Hong Kong) (APF, HK). Yat Shik is a past beneficiary of APF, HK.
