Iman @HUKM 23/11/2011

Hari ni bawak Iman jumpa psychiatrist kat HUKM. His second last appointment at HUKM for the year (he has 4 venues for appointment in HUKM alone! what can I say, the more the merrier hi hi) The last one will be on 8th December with his Occupational Therapist, Fida.

Since mem-parking kereta adalah mencabar di HUKM and since for psychiatrist appointment, it's on first-come-first serve basis, we hit the road like any other normal working days. Registered him and we got no 2. Jumpa doktor, the usual development-related questions, how Iman is at school - academically and socially. How Iman is doing with his other siblings (that... I have a lot to say Dr!). His speech, his concentration and all.

Academically, he is doing okay. Not to say cemerlang la (cemerlang these days refer to 100% average). He scored 80% with 2 extremes, majority with flying colors. But one subject, flew downwards steeply :D Both Tebby and I decided we are satisfied, given all his limitations. But that doesn't mean we won't grill and drill you young man!

Socially, he is OKAY. He makes friends, he has good friends, he has not so good friends. On some days he would be eating alone during break. On other days, he'd be muching with his friends and later hit the field for some running to vent his energy until, most of the time, he vomits afterwards. Doctor said physical activities in order to vent out adalah bagusss. Tapi sampai muntah Iman?

Speech-wise, still not up to his age though he can get his message across and can comprehend what others are communicating to him. But doing comprehension test in Bahasa is something different altogether :D He still lacks eye contact especially with newly-met people. I am not sure if he is shy or that's autistic trait playing its part.

Attention span is still short (unless it is something he's interested in). He gets frustrated easily when he can't get things done BUT he's very persistent and will do it repeatedly while wailing and crying and the likes until that thing is done. That's my boy. With much lower decibel of wailing and crying, will ya?

By far, the last Psychiatrist we just saw this morning is the best among the 3. We've seen 3 different Psychiatrists in HUKM so far, 2 females and 1 male. Paling tak best doktor lelaki tu. Heartless, stone, not the type yang pandai engage with children. Just hurmpp.. hemmm, hammmpp. Tu aje lah. But Iman has soft spot for female gender so I would't put the blame 100% on that male doctor tho! Kalau perempuan, kena pulak yang lawa-lawa.. lagilah dia suka. Boys will be boys *eyes roll*

Next appointment with Psychiatrist will be in March 2012.

vital stats for today, good number too!
234 and 123!

ADHD - Where What & How (Pengalam Kami) Part 2

Wotehmeyon.. I had difficulties introducing this fella to Iman as he rarely saw one in real life. I encourage you to bring your children out to pasar or gerai yang jual buah. Show them how the fruits/vege really look like.

Moving on dari entry saya terdahulu (baca di sini ya) .. ni sambungannya. In my last entry, I am glad Hanis left a short comment and Oren also. I am no millionaire to donate much in monetary term. I can only share what we've been and still are going through. I am glad and thankful, even if there's only a single person can benefit from it.

Again, please be reminded that what we've done (and still are doing), may and maynot work with other children. But no harm trying right. Please don't come and tell me 'hey, why you tell this and that and it didn't work with my child' This is solely based on our experience. It work on Iman so far. It may work for other children. And it may also not. Kawan, tiada yang pasti 100% dalam dunia ni.

Okay, continue.

Saya diberikan contact number Pn Sariah Amirin. Siapa beliau? She's the Presiden of Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia. Selepas a phone call, cerita ceriti serba sedikit, kami putuskan untuk mencuba hantar Iman to one of its centers. Testimoni dari seorang ibu yang anaknya sama-sama di taska dengan Iman, memberikan sedikit sebanyak 'light at the end of the tunnel'. Benar, Iman tidak dyslexic. At least at that point, he was not diagnosed for dyslexia. We were assured that they also take in children like Iman, non-dyslexic albeit the name 'Persatuan Dysleksia Malaysia)

Bacakan perasaan 'lega' saya dalam entry ini. Lega akhirnya ada satu benda baru untuk dicuba. Waktu ini saya baru setkan appointment dengan Pn Sariah untuk buat assessment. Assessment di buat di PDM (Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia) Center Titiwangsa. Bacakan kisahnya dan finding-nya di sini. Semua ni berlaku dalam bukan February 2011. Mulanya kami nak tempatkan Iman cepat-cepat tapi banyak urusan cuti dan sebagainya yang belum selesai. Oh ya, PDM buat short courses 3 bulan untuk ajar membaca in BM and BI dan Math. It is not a taska so takde lah kelas Fardhu Ain, kelas ngaji dan sebagainya. In fact, it caters for all regardless the age. Ia lebih melihat kepada keupayaan, bukannya umur. Jadi jangan terkejut jika kelas 'beginner' adalah campuran anak-anak berumur 4, 7, 9 dan 10 tahun. Kesimpulannya, kami dapat tempat untuk Iman bermula Julai 2010 untuk 3 bulan i.e. Julai-September 2010. Kelasnya 5-days-a-week (Monday-Friday), 8.30am-12.30pm. Paling senang dan terdekat dengan kami ialah PDM Ampang Hilir. Paling dekat, bukan bererti dekat. Ampang Hilir dengan Cheras berjarak 20km. Mengharung traffic jam pagi-pagi hari bukanlah perkara yang best kawan-kawan, 20km tu makan masa paling cepat 45min (peak hour) Paling lama pernah tersangkut, lebih 1 jam! Kawan, hidup perlu berkorban. Faktor masa dan keadaan kami yang dua-dua bekerja 9-5 menjadi satu isu. Setelah berbincang, salah seorang kami perlu bercuti untuk menguruskan Iman. Tak perlu fikir panjang-panjang, saya calon terpaling amat sesuai.

Setelah benar-benar pasti Iman dapat masuk PDM Ampang Hilir bermula Julai 2011, saya jumpa GM dan menyatakan hasrat untuk bercuti panjang. Alhamdulillah dia faham dan akhirnya pada 7 May 2011, beliau telah menurunkan tandatangan keramatnya (chewah), pada borang permohonan CTG (Cuti Tanpa Gaji, bukan Cardio Toco Graph yer). Baca entry saya pasal tu kat sini dan bagaimana borang saya terhilang dalam entry ini. On 1st June 2010, application saya diluluskan. Alhamdulillah.

Isnin, 5 Julai 2010, bermulalah kelas Iman di PDM Ampang Hilir. He was in group 'beginner' and was assigned under Teacher Sharifah. In PDM, kelasnya tak ramai student. Satu kelas cuma 4-5 orang saja. That explains kenapa anak-anak kita kena Q untuk masuk kelas di PDM. Smaller class, tumpuan juga lebih. Bayaran pendaftaran RM50, yuran bulanan RM450 termasuk sekali makan. Buku-buku kalau tak silap ingatan, dalam RM30. Bacakan kisah 1st daynya di sini dan 2nd daynya di sini. Not forgetting to mention Iman's first crush dengan Sofea, his classmate. Read here. Jatuh cinta sebab Sofea bagi dia sticker gambar burung.. hurmpp.

While Iman was attending PDM Ampang Hilir, I got to talk to other parents. Ada yang dah lama kat situ, ada yang 2nd time hantar. Ada yang anak berumur 5 tahun, ada yang mencecah belasan tahun. It was an eye-opener experience. Kawan, jika berasa kita susah, sebenarnya ada orang yang lebih susah dari kita. Ada one parent, mungkin ketiadaan kenderaan, atau mungkin tidak boleh memandu, saban hari menghantar dan menjemput anaknya dengan teksi. Kawan sekelas Iman (beginner) ada yang berumur 9 tahun. One particular fren, bought a 2nd hand Kancil and hired a driver untuk tujuan hantar-jemput. As I was sending one child, some parents were sending 2 of their children. Bersyukurlah (bukan bermakna kita perlu riak sebab kita kurang masalah) Of course there's people who walked around in LV one day and Gucci the next day!

Anyway, hasil dari conversation, we were advised to pindahkan kes Iman dari private practices ke goverment hospitals. Katanya it'll be easier to deal with other government agencies in future (with Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat, Kementerian Pelajaran etc, if need be) if we have proper documentation (Psychiatrist's findings, diagnosis, recommendations etc) from government hospital. Since we're in KL, we were told the best 2 options are HKL and HUKM. HKL is the best but after considering factors as queueing time, location HKL di tengah-tengah KL, we opted for HUKM. Shorter q-ing time and much nearer to where we live. Yang ini, I'll continue in other entry on how to go about registering your child at HUKM.

Let me share how I taught Iman about colors. When he was 5 or 6, he still didn't know colors. Yellow, green, red.. let alone other colors like pink, light blue, deep red etc. I bought many books on colors but back then he was not a book-person. More of action-learning type.

Here's a box of basic color pencils that I've used to teach him yellow, red, green, blue and purple. I associate every each color with something. Yellow with kubah surau nearby our house, green with leaf, blue with one of his toys and purple with grapes. First mula-mula memang limited to that 5 colors and 5 that things. Later, yellow as in potted flowers that we had back then, green with bakul kain or his little underwear, purple like his favourite yoghurt drink blueberry flavour and my tudung. I didn't use book, I used this color pencils. Ambik satu warna and ask where did he see that color. I started small. 5 colors only. I gave him few weeks to digest.

those are red, green, purple and yellow. and my desk is beautifully conteng-ed!

Later on bila dia dah grasp that 5 colors, I bought him this Kumon book Let's Color. Slowly his vocab and knowledge berkembang to black, white, orange, pink etc.

this is actually book no 2 under the same tittle

red like apple. cili.

And later on when I noticed dia ni (and Kakak and Adam too) suka menconteng, mewarna and melukis, I bought them more crayons, color pencils, color pens, water color. Of course at times Adam went overboard and conteng dinding, kerusi, langsir, meja etc (pengsan?) In a way that encourages skills as well (part mewarna, bukan skill membuat mural kat dinding) like the right way to hold a pencil and we can teach them to draw circle, square, oval and whatnots. See, we're already talking about shapes!

colors!

more colors!

some more!!

Just my one note of hope to parents out there with child of similar case - Jangan terlalu banyak beralasan. Takde masa, takde duit, takde pengetahuan. Takde masa, cuba chip in 10-15 minutes only a day. Sekejap tapi konsisten. Takde duit takpe, kita boleh buat teaching-material sendiri, tak perlu beli. Takde pengetahuan, boleh google info di alam maya. Jangan serahkan 100% kepada cikgu tadika or whoever teacher. Chip in your effort as well.

Pelangi Itu Indah!

photo credit to danielisfunky.blogspot.com

Orang kata, jangan mengeluh awan yang hitam. Siapa tahu selepas hujan reda, ada pelangi indah menanti kita.

Remember when I wrote this some years ago?

Alhamdulillah. We're thankful beyond words. Iman brought back 4 of 5 of his exam papers, which made me almost cried with thankfulness. I have never given up hope on him but neither do I expect so much from him. Hope for the best, be prepared for the worst nonetheless. I remember the first day dia exam. I asked how was it going. Katanya he just did muka depan dengan belakang aje! *ummi faint* Second day dia kata dia buat sikit je sebab penat nak kira (Math) and third day I asked how was Science, he looked at me blankly and said 'Mana ada periksa Sains? Tak ada!' *ummi faint again!* Nevertheless, he got 92% for English, average of 82% for Bahasa Malaysia, 90% for Pendidikan Islam & Moral and 75% for Math. Paper Sains belum dapat. MasyaAllah. Kun Faya Kun. Dengan izin Allah.

Mungkin anak-anak anda semua score 100%. Tak mengapa jika nukilan saya ini sekadar picisan di mata anda semua. Saya tidak membandingkan Iman dengan anak-anak lain. Jika he's at par, alhamdulillah. But when looking at him, now and then, a huge leap from then to now. Alhamdulillah. Tahniah Iman.

Dengan menulis ini, saya sama sekali tidak berniat untuk riak atau sebagainya. Sekadar nukilan hati seorang ibu yang penuh kesyukuran. Jika ada yang mendapat inspirasi, alhamdulillah. Segalanya berkemungkinan. Waktu saya mula-mula bercuti panjang, itulah juga yang saya ingatkan diri saya. Ianya mungkin berhasil. Ianya mungkin tidak. Tapi tak salah mencuba kan?

Kepada Iman, tahniah Ummi ucapkan. Walau perkataan 'tahniah' itu sendiri sangat asing bagi Iman. Walau Iman mungkin tidak sedar betapa gembiranya Ummi dan Abah dengan pencapaian Iman. Walau Iman sekadar bertanya 'Hari ni Iman periksa lagi ke?' bila mana Ummi bagitahu betapa bersyukurnya Ummi.

Kepada diri saya sendiri, ini bukanlah satu titik penamat. Semua ini satu perjalanan, bukan satu destinasi. Ini, saya ambil sebagai titik permulaan. Moga Allah kekalkan momentum ini. Iman, dan saya juga. Moga Allah permudahkan segalanya.

Apapun, saya ingin mengucapkan terima kasih tak terhingga kepada..

1) Suami saya, Is**** Is**** yang sentiasa memberikan sokongan moral dan emosi (dan financial support!). Yang sanggup mencuba dan terus mencuba demi Iman.

2) Saudara mara terdekat terutamanya Atok (ayah saya) yang terus menerus menyokong usaha-usaha kami. Terima kasih atas pengertian itu.

3) Pengurus Besar saya, En Salam Abdul Wahab yang akhirnya bersetuju menandatangani surat kelulusan Cuti Tanpa Gaji dan melepaskan saya dari pejabat selama setahun. Terima kasih Bos, jasamu dikenang.

4) Penolong Pengurus Besar saya (which I directly reported to), En Abdullah Abu Hassan.

5) Colleague saya, Nurul Azima Abdul Hamid, yang mengambil alih tugas-tugas di pejabat selama saya bercuti. Terima kasih Ima, from the deepest part of my heart. Dan tahniah juga!

6) Rakan-rakan sama ada yang rapat, tak begitu rapat atau cuma bertegur sapa di alam maya, yang bertanya khabar, yang mengambil tahu. Terima kasih. Walau mungkin kalian merasa ianya cuma 'bertanya khabar', saya amat menghargai ingatan itu.

Ehh.. dah macam ucapan terima award pulak! Tak perlu tunggu hari istimewa untuk ucap penghargaan kan?

Dan sesungguhnya pelangi itu indah, terutama selepas mendung!

Syukran Ya Allah.

Check Mata @HUKM JRMA

Lemme just pen this down before I futher forget.

You see, we've just became the patrons of HUKM. Loyal ones too! It began with Iman few months back. So far he has 4 files in HUKM Cheras, 1 for consultation with Child Psychiatrist, 1 for Jabatan Oftalmology and another 2 for his therapy sessions (Occupational and Speech). Last month he opened another file in Jabatan Optometri HUKM in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz (pasni ai letak JRMA okay, panjang amat nak tulis) (near Kg Baru). And earlier today Kakak followed suit. If I were to compile their files in various clinics in various states, I may have to do it in volumes!

Anyway.

Today we went to HUKM JRMA, second time for Iman and first for Kakak.

The first time we went there, it was 24th February 2011. Just Iman. Due to his conditions, we have to have him thoroughly checked. Ears and audio checked. And we were advised to check his eyes and vision as well. Furthermore, he's been complaining he can't see what's written on the whiteboard at school. The initial step was bringing him to Jabatan Oftalmology HUKM Cheras. Then we were referred to Jabatan Optometri HUKM JRMA. In Kakak's case, we just book an appointment right awat at HUKM JRMA.

Before I stori mori about today, let me just recap what happened the first time we were there, 24th February 2011. It was our first time there and I was (still am!!) not fimiliar the way around that area, Tebby took a day leave. We were a little lost and I gave them a call. Rupanya the gate was just a few metres away. You all tau le around KL ni, silap ambik simpang aje can cause you tersangkut jem berjam-jam lamanya. Tebby dropped me dekat entrance and he went to park the car. Oh ya, please bring your smallest car possible because likewise HUKM Cheras, this HUKM punya parking lot juga adalah kena rebut-rebut.

We spent almost 3 hours there! Tapi still not conclusive. We knew Iman kena pakai spek tapi tak dapat concluded necessary readings. Mula-mula tu dia okay. Pastu dah lama-lama (eh, tak lama mana pun he he) he got distracted and started experimenting with the alat-alat inside the room. He adjusted the chair himself, up and down, up and down. When lenses were put, he took them away and shoved them in any way he fancied inside that spek gajah tu (spek yang guna untuk check mata tu la). He occasionally complaint about how boring the visuals used were. He asked where the cafe was and if the food was good. Amazing, isn't he? For someone who just started talking at 5 yo! He sure is a chatterbox nowadays.

They did a thorough checking. I've been wearing specs for the past 15-17 years and have been checking my eyes in banyak kedai specs but some of the instruments used when they checked Iman, I haven't seen them. And those really added the excitement for Iman. Oh btw, since Iman is just 7, they put an eyedrop in his eyes. Something to do with his eyes's muscle. Padan le depa tanya tanya tahap kesihatan and the related history in details. Especially asthma and heart problem. Lepas letak ubat tu, the next day Iman ada simptom-simptom asthma attack. Dr in Klinik Kita confirmed that those could be the side-effects ubat tu. Ever wonder why kedai-kedai specs biasanya takmo ambik cases budak-budak? Well, this could be one of the reasons and risks they don't want to take.

Since Iman's checking was not conclusive, we have another appointment scheduled. Which, on that day, he was still experiencing coughing, runny nose and a bit of fever. Last-last kensel and I booked today, 14th March sebab kebetulan cuti sekolah, boleh bawak Kakak sekali.

So, now we continue dengan cerita hari ni pulak ye.

Hari ni En Suami tak boleh cuti. Eh, cuti sekolah pun gigih lagi nak bermeeting bagai? Kenot complaint maa. For the past 8-9 months, dia sorang-sorang je gigih menyara hidup kami 5 beranak. Siap dengan Bibik lagi tu. Tima kasih Yang. Lagipun dah memang cuti panjang nak uruskan anak-anak, ambikkkkkk.. uruskan le sepuas-puasnya he he.

Eh side track. Back to cerita hari ni. Hari ni a little after 7 dah bergerak dari rumah. Dah syak dah jalan akan agak selesa sebab cuti sekolah. Kalo idak, haruslah jam 6.45 dah kluar mengadap jem kan. Sampai tol batu 9 best giler. Boleh drive 90km/j. I took MRR2, pon selesa. Takde masa kereta berenti statik. Pastu ambik Jalan Ampang. Ni kenalah ada statik pasal ada traffic light kan. Pastu belok kanan menghala ke Bulatan Pahang. Jalan terus sampai jumpa traffic light memula, masuk kiri. Tempat yang dituju adalah pagar kedua. Masuk dan silalah berinteraksi dengan Pak Guard kat situ and pastu cariklah tempat parking kereta. Ai bawak si kecik aje, senang nak park. Eh, macam le reti bawak keta besar ha ha.

Sampai tu jam 8.15am. Walopun traffic agak clear, sejam jugaklah nak sampai sana. Bayangkan makcik dengan spek tebal bawak ViVa sambil tercangak-cangak cuba nak ingat simpang kat mana. Bayangkan makcik yang drive dengan keadaan tak relax sebab hampir-hampir macam nak peluk stereng aje ha ha. Anyway, masih buleh park keta dengan selesa. Masih ada dalam 10 empty lots so boleh lah ngengada nak park masuk buntut dulu. Pastu bawak anak-anak pi makan kat cafe dulu. Food, okaylah. Tak banyak pilihan tapi yang anak-anak suka makan ada, so on je lah kan. Tengah mengadap tu, Iman tetiba muntah atas meja. Alamak. Kenalah ai mencuci meja kat cafe pulak. Sebab sebok bersihkan meja, dah terlewat for appointment. Patutnya jam 8.30. Ni jam 8.40 masih gigih mengelap meja. Teruslah dapat reminder call. Bagus jugak depa ni kan. A day before appointment pun depa hantar SMS reminder.

Hari ni cam havoc sikit pasal both Kakak dengan Iman nak check mata and I couldn't be at two places at the same time kan. Memula ensure Kakak dah comfortable and I have given all the details they wanted. This time a big NO-NO to eye drop. Kakak pun ada history asthma and I don't want her to get the attack again. Then kena attend to Iman.g at This time yang check dia orang lain, fomfuan. Iman ni pulak, kalau fomfuan dia memang cooperate lebih sikit :D. Dalam a little more than an hour dan conclude his reading. Right eye 1.25, left 1.75. Astig both eyes 3.00, which is high. Astig ni in layman term, we call it 'silau'. From my pemahaman tadi, it is due to keadaan lengkungan mata yang tak sama. Supposedly lengkungan mata (tak ingat bahagian mana) melintang sama dengan lengkungan mata secara menegak. Bila astig tinggi, difference between the two is high. Bila tengok something, they don't see it as one whole thing. Maybe nampak atas aje or bawah aje, or kanan aje or kiri aje. Hence the term 'silau'. Bayangkan kita tengok TV pastu ada silau matahari, kan tak nampak sebahagian TV tu kan. Anyway, Opto kata mungkin masa kecik budak-budak suka gosok-gosok mata secara keterlaluan, tu yang shape mata jadi gitu. Or budak kuat nangis, sapu-sapu air mata kuat-kuat or yang allergik debu, mata gatal.

As for Kakak pulak, I owe her big time. I am so sorry Kakak. The Opto said our eyes stop growing at the age of 8 (approximately) so at 10 (Kakak is 10 this year), her eyes will give minimal respond to whatever stimulants (specs, eye therapy). Macam Iman, he's 7 so there's still time. She has first complaints tak nampak when she's 8 or 9 camtu. All I did was mintak cikgu letakkan dia kat depan. Then I went to kedai specs untuk check mata dia, semua refused and mintak pegi ke hospital, which I have been procrastinating, until today. Yes, I do feel bad about it. And now there's nothing much we can do about it. But whatever left that can be done, will be done. That Ummi janji to Kakak.

Ai forgot to ask for the latest reading tadi. But initially I was informed hers were 4.00+ for both right and left eyes and he astig is even more higher than Iman! Itu 4.00 is my reading at 35yo! While waiting untuk buat specs, we now have to do therapy (Ummi lepas ni boleh ambik kursus jadi therapist) for her eyes. Cover one eye, use the other to do activities like reading, writing, drawing, coloring for an hour. Then alternate with the other eye, also for an hour. Do just a cycle a day.

Since tadi both Kakak dengan Iman were there, and both have high astig, they cross-checked my kids' files and concluded that Adam should also undergo eye/vision checking when he's older but no more than 5yo.

Since tadi En Suami a.k.a En Banker was not with us, makanya specs tak buat lagi. Khamis ni we'll go again untuk buat specs pulak. Welcome to the club kids! Now Abah has 2 more persons to nag.. letak spek elok2, jangan main sental je lense tu, jangan tido pakai spek. Ha, sapa tido pakai spek? Maknya lerr.

I'd like to share some points about this whole 'mata-xperience'..

1) Don't hesitate to bring your child if diorang komplen tak nampak, pastu kalau balik sekolah asik pening kepala for no reasons. No harm to just check. At HUKM JRMA, untuk check, adalah free aje okay. Remember that our eyes grow sampai umur kita 8 tahun ajer (ni I quote opto okay)

2) Be mindful that in HUKM JRMA, checking akan dibuat oleh student med kita. Ada supervisor diorang nevertheless. Like Kakak's case tadi, since rabun dia agak teruk, supervisor took over. And be mindful HUKM is a government hospital. Bagi yang rasa-rasa jatuh standard or rasa-rasa tak tasty langsung government hospital ni, silalah ke hospital swasta okay.

3) Contrary to the popular belief, the waiting time is so short. In fact masa I called up the first time, I was told to come the very next day.

4) The checking will be a thorough one so it takes time. Do bring toys, snacks, water to occupy your kids. And for you, bawak le buku cerita and for the net-savvy, selamat ber-fb while waiting.

5) To ensure kesihatan mata, do eats loads of vege and fruits. Take vitamin A if you must but through diet lagi bagus. Practise eye-hygiene i.e. tengok TV dengan jarak yang betul, baca buku with enough light, don't tenyeh2 mata.

I don't know if we can get cheaper frames/lenses there in HUKM JRMA (ada kedai specs siap kat dalam tu) since budak2 ni tak buat specs lagik. Nanti come Thursday, we'll know. Even so, I plan to also have my eyes checked there.

So peeps, take care of your eyes okay.

HUKM Lagi!

Owh.. buat seketika ai lupa ai ada blog! Sila salahkan the other rangkaian sosial - mukabuku! Sebenarnya di mukabuku pun ai tak le rajin update bagai. Hidup pun biasa-biasa je. Nak kata sibuk sangat, tak jugak. For a while, takde mood nak update blog. Oh, mungkin ai boleh salahkan PMS kot.

So many things happened, I don't know where to start. Hurmpp. Let's start with what just recently happended la kot. Semalam (yang hangat).

Semalam 21st Februari hari ai bawak Iman pegi his OT (Occupational Therapy). Like usual, dek sebab nak berjuang dalam jem plus HUKM memang susah nak dapat parking spot (even for tiny miny car like mine), I hit the road at 7.15am. Appointment jam 9.00am. A little before 8.00 ai dah sampai. Iman merengek nak breakfast. Kena hantar appointment card dulu ye Iman. Sampai kat kaunter, the girl checked in their system and I was told nama Iman takde dalam list appointment hari tu. Hangat. Yes I was. Bertambah lagi dengan peristiwa minggu sebelum tu yang buat ai hilang sabar.

Jom backtrack kisah minggu sebelum tu, hari Rabu 16 Februari 2011.

Iman ada 2 appointment hari tu. Mula-mula ST (Speech Therapy) jam 9.00 then jumpa Psychiatrist jam 10.00am. Macam biasa, sebelum jam 8.00 ai dengan Iman dah sampai. Did all the usual drill i.e. hantar appointment card, ambik slip hantar kat kaunter. Then pegi breakfast. Around 8.50am kami dah menunggu nama Iman di panggil. Jam 9.15am belum panggil so ai tanya kat kaunter. Katanya tunggu kejap. Tunggu sampai jam 9.30am. Ai dah hilang sabar. Kalau jam 9.30 belum start, berapa minit je nak buat ST sebab jam 10.00am dah ada nama orang lain. Ai dengan penuh kehangatan pi tanya what really happened. Bila di bagitau yang si Cik Terapist pegi jumpa doktor, lagilah ai naik angin. Hellooo!!! Awak dah tau ada patient tunggu, yang ***** pegi jumpa doktor tu buat apa? Tak boleh ke buat time awak free? Ai datang awal-awal ikut time awak tau, bukan time ai. Pastu suka suki awak je nak jumpa doktor la, apa la. Apa jenis attitude macam ni? Ai ingatkan zaman-zaman sekarang serba moden ni dah takde orang perangai gini. Adeh. Ai mintak dia turun. Tau dia kata apa? Tak boleh turun, nanti turn dia hilang. Hello!!! Aku tunggu kau ni apa weh? Selfish punya worang. Dia mintak jumpa ST lain. Cik Terapist, kalau ada therapist lain memang ai nak tukar aje terus taw. Tapi malangnya dengan sistem yang rigid, ai kena jugak ngadap muka awak tu. So, apa jadi? Appointment kensel and next Iman jumpa dia will be on 3rd March. Bazir masa taw. Nak kena tunggu another few weeks baru boleh jumpa. Bazir masa ai menunggu on that particular day. Ai paling hangat dengan attitude dia yang endah tak endah tu. Hello.. memang lah ai tak directly bayar gaji awak tapi ai ni taxpayer taw. Okaylah, tahun lepas tax ai sikit je pasal ai keje 1/2 tahun. Hasben ai bayar tax banyak taw. Tolonglah. Wake up.

End of cerita on Rabu, 16th February 2011.

Oh, remind me to tell her that on 3rd March ya peeps.

Anyway, semalam turned out as a BIG ok. Dalam sistem takde tapi dalam buku appointment si Ayu (OT), nama Iman ada. So ai tak jadi nak men-singa-kan diri ai. Ayu, is a pleasantly looking young lady and my son ni ada some spot for ladies as such. Ayu panggil aje nama dia, cepat aje dia sarung selipar ikut di Ayu masuk bilik. I was there in the beginning. Mula-mula main-main dulu. Iya, main-main is a form of therapy. Naik jambatan gantung, then naik 'buaian' pulak. Panjat tangga, lalu titi. Lari dalam gelung-gelung then masukkan bean bag dalam basket. And oh yes, he loves jumping on that trampoline. Iman had tremendous fun. Masa di GIMC, kalau time dia OT, cuma dia sorang-sorang. Di HUKM, ada budak-budak lain. Dia kan suka berkawan. Lepas tu pindah bilik lain for Visual Perception activity (korang gugel lah ye apa benda tu). Semalam dia buat 2 items under Visual Perception i.e. Visual Discrimination (VD) dengan Visual Memory (VM). Mothers, even if anak-anak you all takde masalah apa-apa, it's good to jog their brain. From my observation, for VD Iman was asked to identify 2 same objects/shapes. Mula-mula shape tu simple-simpe aje like tanda +, -, X and the likes. Pastu mula jadi complicated. For VM, he was shown a shape then dia kena identify from another sheet. Ni nak jog ingatan dia. For VD he scored 16/20 and for VM 13/20. Ayu kata attention span Iman just 10 minutes. Kalau ikut chronological age dia, he should be able to focus for around 20 minutes.

Next appointment dengan si Ayu yang cantik molek will be on 23rd March 2011.

Penat tak jadi ai? Kadang-kadang penat jugak. But then there's always new things. That's what makes it interesting. My son may be 10% or 20% lag behind his peers but I always tell myself I can and will give my 110% or 120% to cover that, insyaAllah. Even 140% or 160% pun insyaAllah ai sanggup! Who knows he'll exceed his peers in years to come?

Here's some photos. Masa ni Iman sorang-sorang je.

swinging on the vestibulator. he first did that masa kat GIMC, sampai termuntah-muntah :D

up and down, up and down on the trampoline

Education Fun Fair @ Dyslexia Center Ampang Hilir

Phew! It's been a week and only now I have the inpiration and time and idea to make an entry on this event. Actually we were just filling in some slots as some of current students of Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia could not make it. We had fun nonetheless.

The event was held in collaboration with Deutsche Bank (Asia Pacific region if am not mistaken). They had sponsored PDM for 2 years straight as part of their community service. Their management took the trouble to come from different countries to the event. Eventho yang datang tu berpangkat-pangkat, it was obvious they know siapa yang diraikan dan siapa yang meraikan. Speeches were kept short, almost no protocol yang memeningkan, no kerusi bereben-reben, no bunga-bunga kembang setaman etc. The kids tak sempat sangat nak restless menunggu. I loike. Takdelah macam kononnya nak raikan anak-anak yatim, pastu tukang rasmi lewat barang sejam dua sedangkan budak-budak dah tunggu 2 jam awal. Pastu ucapan panjang berjela. Meja makan dialah yang berbunga lebat, siap berhidang bagai. Anak-anak yatim pulak ala kadar aje layanan. Dah terbalik pulak, siapa nak raikan siapa. Contohhhh........

Bila lah agaknya companyku nan tercinta nak fokus lebih kepada aktiviti sebegini?

Among those who attended. Lunch and tea were by Felda Catering. I loike the fish and that jelly dessert. Yummeh. Takde gambar tho, I was busy makan and berborak. At such event we can share our experience, ask others and do some networking. Iman had serving after serving of fried chicken and sandwich. I don't like sayur, je said. Referring to the sayur dalam sandwich.



The children were divided into 4 groups, Blue (Iman is in this team), Red, Yellow and Green. They sat and eat at their designated table with other team mates. Since most are from the current session (Jan-Mac 2011), Iman, as an ex student (his session was July-Sept 2010) had difficulties mingling around in the beginning. But alhamdulillah, he got on well later.



With his team-mates. Waiting for the games to begin.



Outdoor Game 1, Iman complained katanya sudu ni tak basuh! Ada-ada ajelah dia ni. Kena lari with a golf ball in a spoon and kat tengah-tengah tu ada beam that they had to walk on. Beam walking was one form of occupational therapy Iman had gone through before so dia berjaya berjalan atas tu without so much problem.

It's not everyday I got snapped in a photo! Me, seen in photo giving support to Iman while he waved on. See that man in red ferrari tshirt? That's En Tebby as he looked on. Anyway, we went not in red ferrari but my silver viva :D



Outdoor Game 2, Lari Dalam Guni. Not so graceful start. Rupanya dalam guni tu ada sebelah kasut budak sebelum Iman tercicir! While he was at it, Iman tergolek sekali. I thought he was going to cry. He got up and continue. That's my boy. Oh btw, the lady with Iman dalam gambar above, Teacher Sharifah used to be his class teacher while he was in Ampang Hilir July-Sep 2010 and later his tutor from September 2011 onwards.

Outdoor Game 3. Yang ni complicated sikit. Memula lari half way, pecahkan belon. Then the other half, golekkan bola dengan hoolahoop (benda gelung tu, itu kah nama omputihnya?). Iman memula cam hesitated sebab dia sangat tak suka bunyi yang kuat, contohnya beloh meletup. Walaupun sebenarnya kalau dia menangis or gelak, memang rasanya jiran selang 2 pintu pun senang-senang ajer boleh dengar! But he did that anyway. Sampai je kat seberang sana, terus aje dia annouce 'i am winner, i am winner'

Outdoor Game 4. Acara tarik tali between teams. Blue team won the first round but lost in final round. Just look at my son. Gaya mesti ada! Kelakar pun ada nengok gelagat budak-budak ni. Sampai tercabut kasut pun ada.



The boy in blue, Imran, is PDM's VP's child. The other boy is the brother of one student there. The boy's mother told us that he learned to read on his own at the age of 4! Talk about gifted people. When his brother having some learning difficulties, his parents of course are worried. Who wouldn't right?

You cheeky boy! Having some helping hands while making his way on the monkey bars. This is not one of the outdoor games tho. Must be hard for the lady.. he's around 26-27kg now.

1st indoor game. T-Shirt painting. The theme was 1 Malaysia. Too complex for Iman to digest. He told everyone he was going to draw a fish! Lucky thing, this was what he did. Apparently someone had explained to him that a fish has got almost nothing to do with 1 Malaysia.



2nd indoor game. Rhyming words. This frustrated him so much. He can read but not as fast as the others. Bila kawan jawab dulu, he got all tensed up and stressed! At one time he got the written word but the matching picture was not there, lagilah dia marah. Sabar ye nak...



3rd indoor game. Music activity. As seen in this photo, he was already tired, muka berlemoih and had to be coaxed to participate. This, in fact this was the last game he participated in.

While the 4th indoor game was going on, Iman refused to participate anymore. For someone with ADHD, prominently Attention Deficit, it didn't suprised me at all. In fact I was more suprised he could get along with all 4 outdoor games and later 3 indoor games. While waiting for closing ceremony, he made few things using the center's toys. I managed to snap only one. Robot, he said. While these toys look like nothing to some, they help your child's development. Hand-eye coordination, motor skill and enhancing one's creativity and attention span.



Iman - Yayy, my team won 2nd place. Means I got 2nd biggest prize :D
On top of that, each student (in Iman's case, ex-student) got a backpack. Black is rather too dull for you Iman and I think it can fit my laptop jussstttt fiiineeee! *hint* *hint*



Majlis diakhiri dengan nyanyian lagu 'We Are The World'. Everyone (well, almost) held hands with one another. All the kids went back with prizes and goodies.

Thanks to Deutsch Bank for the moral and monetary support.

And for Persatuan Dyslexia Malaysia, I just can't thank them enough. How can I not be so indebted when my son's turning point in life made possible while he was attending classes at PDM's Ampang Hilir Center.

Syukran Ya Allah. Kerana memakbulkan harapan dan usaha hambaMu ini, despite kekhilafan diri tanpa henti. Perjalanan saya masih panjang. Moga dipermudahkan.

if you feel like asking me anything pertaining to my experience, do not hesitate to leave comments or email me at aa.rozilawati@gmail.com .

Iman's First Few Days In School

Day 12 - all smiles!

Yesterday was Day 12 of Iman's primary schooling. Dropped him off near the big gate (there's 2 gates, one is the main gate, bigger where cars can pass thru while the other is specially for students, covered, connecting the canteen to the bus stop so the kids can still walk dry during rainy days and walk under shade during sunny days - Iman prefer the main gate somehow.. layan je lah).

'Dropped' here means after pulling the handbrake and setting the gear to P, I still need to get off from the car and sent him until we were inside the gate. He waved goodbye (after my usual drill - don't cry, big boys doesn't cry anymore, be careful with your money, make sure you pack all your books yada yada yada.. told ya am one pathethic mother) and after a few steps, he turned back and shouted at me 'I love you Ummi'. Owhhhh. How can I not love you back Iman? Even if you don't, I'd still do.

Pretty easy huh?

Well, you haven't read about his first and second week. I was depressed, tensed, hurt, broken hearted. I even got 2 huge zits on my cheeks! (Yes! I finally have something to put the blame on for growing such big ugly zits.. hurmpp)

First week, 3rd day (Wednesday), around 3.15pm, my SIL (whose boy also in Year 1 in the same school, we live in the same area, along the same road) called informing us she saw Iman cried during recess in the canteen. He seemed to be looking for someone (undoubtedly me), looked so frustrated not finding me and later had problem opening his blueberry roll. He ended up crying. SIL consoled him and sent him back to his class after recess. I was breaking hearing that.

The 'tragedy' didn't end there. I was supposed to pick him up after school. Our meeting point was the canteen. Then it struck me, maybe he thought I'd be waiting for him during break. My SIL said he was crying standing at the very spot I told him to wait for me, after school, not during break. Then the bell rang, kids rushed out. I couldn't find him. Wildly scanned the canteen area and I thought my heart almost skipped some beats when I heard him cried. I can't describe how he looked. Frustrated, as if I have betrayed him. His face was read and I couldn't even talk any sense into him. For good 10-15 minutes I just stood there hugging him tightly while he cried his heart out. My heart was broken. Thing was, he went to the gate to find me and not the canteen. Lucky thing he came back to the canteen and not wandering further from the school. Nau'zubillah.

First week, 4th day (Thurday). During break time, someone called me, asking if Iman is my son. Iman cried in the canteen and as if it was the most natural thing to do, he sat on that 'someone's lap. She (that someone was a female) told me that she's been seeing Iman crying since Monday there. I politely thanked her, asking if she could send Iman back to his class. I had intended to go to see how he was doing but Tebby stopped me. If I had gone that day, Iman would've expected me the next day. And the thing will go on and on. So I didn't. But my spirit gone. And I could feel desperation started to build up in me.

Later that day, I made a call to my ex-officemate, Iffah, whose daughter happens to be in Year 1 as well and her daughter (Najwa) and Iman had attended the same kindy some years back. I asked for some favour, if it was ok for Najwa to accompany Iman during break. Alhamdulillah, my friend agreed and said she'd tell Najwa so. After picking him up, I asked Iman why he cried. He said he brought his roll and water bottle during break and searched for me right up to the gate and when he couldn't find me, he cried.

First week, 5th day (Friday). After getting feedback via FB, I sent him a little earlier than usual. Tried coaxing him to walk on his own from the canteen. He went 4-5 steps forward and started to cry. I then took sometime telling his what to expect throughout the day. Where to line up, to go to canteen during break and do not expect me there. To eat and not cry. And that I'd wait for him after school and not during break under a tree near the gate.

Finally, 5th day, no more crying. Alhamdulillah. Syukran Ya Allah. He even spent his RM2 that day. Thanks to Najwa for helping us easing the matter. And thanks to that little bribe as well. A combiner transformer. With 5 small robots combined, a big one is created. Little bribe won't spoil much eh? Or shall we call it, reward?

Tho I think I had tough time with Iman, some were even worse than me. Imagine for 4 straight days, a boy cried loudly refusing to go into his class, lying and rolling near the drain in tears. On 5th day, as if someone had cast some magic on him, he was all smiles! I asked the mother. The tips was 'Ayah dia kata kalau nangis2 lagi, ayah belasah dengan rotan!' *gasp!*

Another boy, as if getting a passed baton, started crying and refusing staying in class. He went right up to the gate searching for his father, mother, sister or whoever one of them that had sent him earlier. Once I stopped him, fearing he might go out from the gate before a teacher came to the rescue.

Tho I envy some other parents who could just leave their kids at the gate since day 2 or 3, I am still thankful that I am luckier from some other parents.

I have things to complaint about how school handled things and the students, particularly the Year 1 and the attitudes of some teachers. To me, the first few weeks should be a happy, motivating weeks for the students and not the confusion as to where to line up (imagine 1000++ students trying to figure out where to line up when there was not even a single signage whatsoever) or how hot it was standing under the sun while the teachers went all chatty under the corridors and air-condition-ed rooms and later was 10-15 minutes late fetching the kids who were burnt under the sun.

Puking oredi? I haven't even started on Iman's 2nd week yet! It's my blog anyway right. If you feel like puking, go puke somewhere else k.

Short one, promise.

2nd week saw a big improvement. I thought it was gonna be hard but alhamdulillah Allah made it easy for me. I coaxed Iman to walk on his own from the gate and he agreed! With one condition, mesti main gate. Whichever my dear as long as you agree. Not forgetting to mention here, some more little bribe.. er... reward. If he can do it, on 5th day, another robot. Alhamdulillah, without hesitation, happily walking to his class (under my eagle-like supervision that is). Once I saw his walking off track (would still lead to his class anyway), he came back to the point where he started and resumed walking along the usual track). On the 3rd day, he already claimed his rewards. A 'lugnut' this time. Go google for image. A hole in my pocket but I have a big smile on my face.

Initial hurdles passed albeit not so gracefully. I still have a long way to go and loads to do. Allah please grant me the strength. Amin.

Iman's Year 1 Orientation 31/12/2010

Finally, I have the time and inspiration to write again, tho I am not exactly sure what to write about.

Oh, btw, read about Kakak starting Year 1 way back in January 2008 here and here.

Let's start on with Iman. Every mother that has a 7yo and starting school should write about it right. Likewise Kakak, Iman is attending SK BTHO (2). We were considering private school, private instituion for special students but after discussing, seeking more information, sharing of opinions, we decided we should try the mainstream. Afterall, his disorder can be considered of a mild nature.

Orientation was on the very last day of 2010 i.e. 31st December 2010. Coincidently it was a public holiday since Malaysia won over Indonesia in Suzuki Cup. But then orientation was conducted as planned. If not, bila lagi nak buat kan. The week after, new term dah start.

We were a bit late. After picking up name-tag, we rushed to assembly area. New students were already in their respective lane according to class. As expected, the teachers asked the parents to leave their kids with them and as expected, Iman refused. Kept on tugging on my hand, tshirt, bag and whatever I had on. And as expected, I gave in. I was lining up with him and walked with him to his class. Not a pretty sight tho ha ha. We splitted. Me and Tebby. Me with Iman while Tebby attended a briefing and collected text and exercise books. Alhamdulillah, Iman's temporary class is on ground level, easier for him to find later on.

The rest of that 1/2 day, well the usual drill, coloring, joining dots and coloring, counting and coloring and more coloring. Too bad the boy beside Iman did not bring a single color pencil and he kept on using Iman's. Well, I didn't mind but Iman did. I could see his eyebrow berkerut2 and his face obviously showed he didn't like it.

He kept on looking for me and each our eyes met, I waved and held up my thumb. Good boy, I silently told him. Then it was time for recess. I was torn. Should I accompany him to the canteen or should I just let him go with his classmates. I decided for the latter. While I was waiting, I thought I should stalk him. But I didn't tho I was really itching to do so. About after 10-15 minutes I saw him coming to his class. Alhamdulillah, he found his way back from canteen to his class on his own.

After all the errands there done, I made him showed me how to go to the canteen and where the toilet is. Just to make sure he knows where things are. We went back happy. Little that we know of what was coming the week after!

To be continued.


Penanda tempat nak beratur for 1 Zuhal. Tahun ni ada 11 kelas tahun 1. Biasanya 10 aje. Kelas tambahan 1 Bintang.. dah habis planet dah pakai!

ni pulak kelas Kakak. she's in 4 Bumi this year. coincidently they'll be using the same classroom. Kakak belah pagi, Iman petang.


gigih coloring, coloring and moree coloooringggg!


he's getting out of class for recess

after recess. walking towards me.

HUKM - Speech Therapy Iman

Penat 12 jam perjalanan KT-KL semalam still terasa. Banyak kali stop, pi toilet, makan, hantar anak sedara then pit stop kat Temerloh jap. Bertolak jam 9.00 pagi, sampai BTHO jam 9.00 malam. But then kena jugak pegi HUKM hari ni for Iman's speech therapy. His second session. This time he was assigned to another therapist as Haslina (Iman's case under Haslina actually) was away bercuti.

Well, the session was a lot livelier, merrier and Iman did almost everything without hesitation. In short he cooperated and even told her that his favorite color is purple (yes peep, my son loves purple!)

The therapist whose name I didn't get, I, the socially-incapable-being forgot to ask, told us to do few things to help improve Iman's speech (plus what I saw she did during the session).

1) Always try to lengthen conversation whilst adding up adjective, nouns, verbs to a sentence. Example beads - say big blue oval bead, the black cat tries to eat the white mouse.

2) Using visual card, practise 'what's missing'. Example, in card 1, a boy is brushing his teeth but no toothbrush on card 1, instead on other card. After mathing them correctly, ask him what the picture tells i.e. the boy is brushing his teeth using a toothbrush. For this, we'll need few mathing cards.

3) Using visual card as well, play memory game. Ask for 2 or 3 cards. Give me an umbrella, a duck and an elephant. See if the child can remember.

4) Sticker book. Done with the stickers, ask him to tell about the pictures.

5) Widen his vocab with new words as well as things with same function but with different names such as kerusi, sofa, bangku. All is used to sit on right tapi nama lain-lain. Same goes to helo


Always, use rewards system. If one thing is done correctly, give him something to play with such as blocks, building a robot etc.

these are what I made him read while waiting

Iman's Progress

Dah lama tak update progress Iman. I am now teaching him the 'ng' and 'ny'. Kucing, bunga, nganga. Nyanyi, nyamuk, penyapu. He hasn't quite grasp the whole thing of 'ng' and 'ny' but we're working on that. InsyaAllah.

This, is something that puts a smile on my face tonight. He spelled and wrote them all correct, with very minimal supervision. Alhamdulillah.

Doakan ya kawan-kawan, agar dipermudahkan.

Sekadar petikan dari Langit Ilahi, tulisan HILAL ASYRAF (boleh layari www.langitilahi.com)

Tuhan tidak lupakan kita
Walau diri sering alpa
Walau dibeban segunung dosa
Walau jauh dari rahmat-Nya

Iman's Vision Test HUKM

A busy week indeed. Today I brought Iman again to HUKM for vision test. New cases will be entertained between 7.30 - 9.00 am. Hit the road at 7.00 am, reached HUKM around 7.40 am. Alhamdulillah I didn't have to resort to abang valet as half of the lots were still empty. I took my time rear-parked my little car and leisurely walked with Iman. Sampai kat Ophtalmology, well.. well.. well.. orang sudah ramai. Dropped Iman's referral and waited.

I have to mention here that there was a notice on the wall stating one should make sure to eat before coming or bawak bekal. I got an uneasy feeling reading that while rummaging thru my bag to make sure I did indeed brought sepapan potato bread and a tumbler of plain water for Iman. Thank God I did.

After almost an hour, Iman's name was called and we got number 1011, room 10. This is for emergency or walk-in. Tunggu lagi. Nasib baik bawak notebook and a pen for Iman to scribble in. When it was finally our turn, Iman refused to cooperate. Whatmore dengan nurse yang sangat tidak pandai mengambil hati anak-anak kecik. We were sent to Room 12 then. Petugas yang lebih child-friendly and took a bit of time asking me what exactly Iman's case is all about. with all smiles and no frown.

We were then asked to go to room 1. Kena tunggu lagi for our turn. This one sangat lama. Iman habis makan sepapan roti potato, drank 1/2 tumbler of plain water, drew approximately 10 pages of cartoon, read 2 sets of flash cards, almost threw a series of tantrum.

When we were finally called in, Iman sangat bosan and again, refused to cooperate. I had to sit down with him sitting on me. Nasib baik Dr tu child-friendly and knew how to 'connect' with a 6yo boy. Ultraman, robots and all. The test went well and the results were okay. Nevertheless, we were referred to HUKM's branch near HKL for further assessment. Next appointment with HUKM Cheras will be 30th March 2011. But before that we need to go to HUKM's branch near HKL first.

The whole process in HUKM took around 3 hours, plus journey back, almost noon sampai rumah (singgah beli pretzel sama jco donut sat) Nasib baik I am on long leave, kalo idak, harus stress!

Iman - Terapi Pertuturan HUKM

kalau hari tu (baca sini) pintu mreah, kali ni pintu biru pulak.

After good dose of playdough-ing time, I brought Iman to HUKM for his speech therapy. Between his motor skill and speech, I think he's lagging in his speech more than his fine motor. He speaks, he converses but still at times, he stammers, as if searching for the right word from his database. Vocab-wise, is improving a lot. Inquisitive, I'd say. The other day he asked me what hypnotised means.

I left home at 10.30am. His appointment was at 12.00noon. Finding an empty parking lot was almost impossible. Every corner, every curb semua ada kereta. Under that water tank as well. Even the valet rejected my small car (which I think he could easily selit2 je kat mana2). At last, I made second round, battering eye-lashes and the valet guy akhirnya took my car. It was more like he pitied me than my eye-lashes actually. Must be all the sweats and my tudung senget that he kesian so much ha ha.

Since this is the second time, I already grasped the process. Hantar appointment card, bayar RM10, take that slip and send to speech therapy unit. And tunggu sampai dipanggil. One big relief is that, it is based on allocated time and not turn. If your appointment is at 10, then you'll be called in at 10.

The session went well until Iman found out the puzzle that was given to him, has one piece missing. He went totally angry, refused to do anything, refused to say anything. Instead he picked up my bag and pulled my hands towards the door. Therapist Haslina said 'input' is okay, almost his age. Means he processes information given to him as per his age. But given complex intruction, he did just one or two. Example, take 2 red pencils and 2 small cars and put them in the box. He put 2 red pencils only. 'Output' is on the low side. He used 2-3-words sentences mostly. Tapi kat rumah ayat dia lagi panjang. Therapist Haslina suggested we coax him to talk longer sentences. Example, while watching TV, ask him what he sees on screen and what the persons in the movie do. Things like that.

Back to my car. The traffic was horrible (well, they say it is like that everyday!). The valet guy took almost 20 minutes getting up my little car dari parking kat bawah nun ke lobby. Adeh. Balik tu makcik pulun tido. Penat wei!

Iman leisurely drawing while waiting


RM10 for first 3 hours.