6 months after therapy

Let there be light...where is the light? Let there be hope...is there any hope?

A friend of mine who has a son with a developmental delay once advised me...

"hey, you know, whatever you do, no matter how much time and effort you have invested on your son, at the end of the day try not to hope too much from it okay...just do your best by expecting not much will change okay? But if it does change...just say syukur to Allah...".I just replied " ok...insyaallah, i will".

Boy...if only it was as easy as how i replied to her on that day. It was almost 5 months then but Danial didn't show a slight improvement at all after all the therapies he engaged in. I sat at the table in the kitchen watching Danial played his lego blocks and i wondered ~ "will he ever speak? will he ever respond to his name? does he know his name? Worst of all, does he know i am his mom?". 5 months passed but Danial seemed not to respond to any of the treatments he received. My hope began to crumble...my strength weakened...With a cup of coffee in my hands...i didn't realise tears streamed down my cheeks when i silently spoke to God "o lord, please don't leave me...".

"Oh god...there is light!"

It was raining quite heavily that December afternoon in 2005. Thank god, Siti had the gate readily opened for me. I drove slowly into my car porch...in the midst of the noise from the car radio and the heavy rain...i heard a tiny voice, like a kid's voice outside the car...i stopped my punto, turned off the CD player...now the sound became louder...i thought "laaa anak sape ni ujan ujan men kat luar ke??". I opened the door to get out of my car...my heart almost stopped. There i saw my son Danial stood on the chair by the window shouted " iiiibbb bbuuuuuu...iiibbb bbuuuu....". It was 25 days before he hit his 3rd birthday and that afternoon in December 2005, was the first time Danial called me ibu. I did not get down from the car. Instead, I sat in the car for almost 30 minutes just listening to Danial repeatedly calling me ibu...i wanted to relish every moment of joy of hearing Danial called me ibu for the first time....On my prayer mat later that day, i prayed to God " o lord...thank you for not leaving me...".

At the end of December 2005, Danial's achievements were:

1. Speak one word sentence. The obvious ones ~ ibu, aba,nak, no...

2. constant spinning ~ 95% stopped
3. Completely recovered from obsession on lining up toys, books and tapes
4. Engage in spontaneous play~ play hide and seek appropriately
5. Bring to us toys for our attention
6. Climb up our bed for our attention
7. Show separation anxiety when we left the house ~ know that when ibu put on tudung means 'going out'
8. No more head banging or biting
9. Show less sensitivity to loud sound
10. More receptive towards huggings and body contacts