Autism Partnership Foundation
Charitable Organization
Charitable Organization
Together We Create a Better World for People with Autism
During the period of Sum’s training at APF, Sum’s father brought Sum to APF and then went to work. Sum was then picked up by his mother after training. Sum’s parents had a clear plan about Sum’s training and worked together to take good care of their son. They felt exhausted sometimes, but they did not give up because they believed early intervention was extremely important to Sum’s development.
Sum’s mother recalled that Sum had weaker motor skills than his peers when he aged one or two. He often looked at the spinning wheels of a toy car and also lacked eye contact, so Sum’s parents suspected that Sum might have autism. Sum’s mother felt devastated when Sum was diagnosed with autism, “When I was waiting for the report, I still held a glimmer of hope that Sum did not have autism.” Sum’s parents knew the importance of early training, so they shifted their mindset and started to sort out appropriate training and treatment methods for Sum immediately.
When Sum was three years old, he displayed some negative behaviours. For example, he would suddenly touch people’s legs. Sum’s mother learnt that ABA treatment could help reduce problem behaviours and an individualised treatment plan was able to fit the individual needs of each child, so she applied for APF’s treatment services. After training, Sum gained greater self-control that he touched people’s legs or other objects less often than before. He also improved a lot on communication skills as he would now say “I want to play the car” to express his need spontaneously. Sum’s mother was very touched as Sum talked to her more often.
Although Sum’s mother was worried that continued training would make Sum feel tired, she and her husband would not give up training because they believed that Sum would get better if he could receive effective training in the golden treatment period. Both of them knew that the road ahead was not easy, but they have decided to work and support each other. Hoping Sum would grow up independently and would integrate in the society.
Sum’s mother was invited to share his/her perspective on ASD and ABA services with Autism Partnership Foundation (operating in Hong Kong) (APF, HK). Sum is a past beneficiary of APF, HK.
