Name: Lalita Manandhar Child’s Name: Soumil Manandhar Age: 16yrs
As promised earlier, we are presenting another autism story of Soumil Manandhar, where his mother, Lalita Manandhar shared her experience and story of her son with us.
- When did you find that your child is with autism?
When my child was around the age of 3, Dr. Rajendra (child pediatrician) assumed that he may have autism. He referred us to meet Dr. Rena Shrestha (child pediatrician). After that, he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2009.
- What made you think that your child was autistic?
- There were various ways in which he played alone with different types of games
- There was no verbal communication with him
- It was impossible for him to make eye contact with anyone
- It was not possible to communicate in both directions
- When did you take your child for diagnosis?
In accordance with the suggestion made by Dr. Rajendra Shrestha, we took him to the CP Centre at Dr. Rena Shrestha.
- How did you feel when you knew that your child was with autism?
There was a feeling that we didn’t understand why this had happened with my child. In the midst of such a depressing and sad situation, we were having trouble spelling the word autism correctly as well. When we first heard this word, it was completely new to us, and its meaning was completely unknown to us.
- How is your child doing in the present condition?
Presently, he attends an inclusive school that caters to the needs of all children. In addition to eating, dressing, bathing, and using the toilet, he performs all his daily living activities on his own. He likes musical instruments and plays guitar as well. It is a little difficult to handle his behavior sometimes, since he is now in his teenage years, and I can’t control everything that he does.
- Any success stories of your child?
There is no way we can say the story was a success, but we can certainly say that my child has improved his behavior in a way he was not before. There is a noticeable improvement in his independence in various aspects of his day-to-day life than before, such as:
- He is now trained to use the toilet on his own
- As for his clothing and shoes, he wears them by himself every day
- There is no problem for him to finish/complete his lunch and snacks on his own
- The only way he crosses the road is at zebra crossings. He also walks only on the footpath
- When he is with us, he asks and requests us about the foods and toys he loves, as well as where he wants to go
- Before he used to have a hard time cutting his hair, now it is an easy task for him to do
- Whenever his dad and brother are out of town, he asks about them and misses them very much
Summary
With this story, we hope you’ve gained a little more knowledge about what autism is and how it can affect yours as well as your family’s lifestyle. You will have to devote all of your time taking care of your child, and helping them learn and grow in the same manner. We also have a few more stories, so stay tuned at AutismCare Nepal Society!