Last Saturday, 28th Jul 2018, I was taking the lift at Novena MRT station with my 8 mo in the pram and my helper.
And there was a little boy and his helper with him. while waiting for the lift to arrive, the little boy was jumping around and touching the lift door. His helper was using a firm voice "Don't touch the door" and she looked very stressful.
When we were in the lift, the little boy was just turning around to look at the pram and the helper quickly held onto the little boy and said, "There is a baby." My baby was sleeping.
From that little observation, I deduced the boy might be different. And he might be in Autism Spectrum. So I patted his helper on the back and said, "Don't worry!"
And she immediately said, "He is autistic."
I replied, "My son too."
And she was looking at me, seemingly surprised at what I said and she asked to repeat.
So I said, "My son too. And you are doing a great job."
She smiled at me.
Looking after an autistic child is already very challenging. It is draining. On most days, we are being judged, we got scolded for what our child did and we hear lots of negative comments. This would be even harder if the caregiver is not the child's parents but someone else like the maid who has no blood relation with the child and have to love the child like her own.
Hence, having someone to have a pat on the caregiver's back puts a smile on the caregiver. At least the world is still beautiful.
Be kind!
