How should I start.....
I promise myself that I would share my experience with the world.. Some might say, "Apa lah, tu pun nak cerita..." or they would say "Keburukan anak sendiri pun nak reveal"...
I have thought loooonggggg and hard before I announce to people about this.
So, bismillah... here I go...
This is Muhammad Alif Hazimi.
My eldest son.
8 years old this year.
We gave him this name because it meant Muhammad our best friend our fortitude (ketabahan).
Alif was born on 1st March 2006 at a healthy 3.55kg. Normal delivery by vacuum suction. Because of the vacuum suction he had a huge bump on his head and was in NICU Hospital Putrajaya for about 2 weeks after he arrived. My soulmate and I were devastated. Our first born child and we couldn't bring him back home. I almost had postpartum depression (or maybe I did??). A week after he was discharged, he suffered from prolonged jaundice and the place where a needle was placed for the drip, got infected and was filled with puss. He was rushed to the emergency and as a baby, still less than 30 days, we had a minor operation to remove the puss on his legs.
After that, he recovered and he was fine until he reached 1 years 3 months... He was warded again for Broncholitis. Which was a miracle in disguised, because after he recovered, we walked for the very first time. He was warded again at 4 years old for the same Broncholitis and the doctor announced that he was asthmatic.
Although he was 'famous' for hospitalization and all, in terms of development we saw he was a bit slower than others of his age. He was potty trained at 4 years old but can only fully accept potty trained at 5 plus. He still has few vocabularies when he was 4-5 years old. He couldn't distinguished betwen the different colors. He lacks focus when learning.
Even the teachers at Genius Aulad were very patient to teach him to write in a one-to-one session. His hand writing, still bad but at least he can write.
I think it got worst when he accidentally fell while playing and had a concussion. He was warded for 5 days for that. I still remember how I drove our way to the clinic like a crazy lady and how I was patient enough to wait while the nurse was not able to comprehend that that situation was an emergency!!! We got to Hospital Putrajaya and at the Emergency, the doctor told us he had to get MRI but the MRI machine just broke!!
But Alif still remembered he had to take an ambulance to Hospital Serdang for MRI. Yesssss... I know... I still love Hopsital Putrajaya for their service, though.
Ok, how did I detect him as having a learning dissability??
I know Alif needed special attention. I sign him up for Kumon. Near our house and he actually loved it. At first the owner Miss Lee was surprised that Alif couldn't remember numbers at all. Couldn't even read! I never blamed the teachers at Genius Aulad because I sincerely believed that maybe the Genius Aulad way is not suitable for certain kids, including Alif. Kumon actually improved his handwriting and numbers. I was happy for a while.
Until one day, he came back crying... He couldn't do plus three. The teacher repeated him to plus one again... whenever he reached plus three, he was back to doing plus one. He was frustrated, my husband and I were frustrated too. I didn't know how to help him. No idea at all.
At school, he did badly. Often no homework. When I pick him from school, always a smear on his face from sharpening pencils. Don't get me started about his clothes and shoes... urghhhhh!! Laundry was not kind to me.. Thanks to Alif. He never said about being fined or teachers at school was angry. Never. But one of his friends told our babysitter he saw Alif crying at the corridor, being bullied and being fined by teachers for not doing homework or not paying attention in class.
Seriously, as a mother. Holding a lecturer's post and a double masters. If you have a kid like that, people will eventually say negative stuff which you-know-what-I-mean. Even my in laws couldn't understand. Sometimes, it hurts. Although it came from a good place, if you are not there everyday... not in our shoes... You won't understand.
I pray to Allah I'll live to be a better person for that matter.
Ok...
to be continued.
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