Seth and Autism

The early morning brought my feet to the kitchen, I could smell someone's making pancakes, I smiled as my eyes saw my sister-in-law's, Seth's mother. 

Seth ran towards me, he is five years old, very fond of me, he'd place his palms in my cheeks every single time that he'd see me. He follows me around the house, this had been going on for months. A few months before, he was following my husband and would imitate him too.

Now, his attention shifted to me. I couldn't determine why and what's with my cheeks. He never does it with anybody else but me. My family kids me that maybe he thinks my chubby cheeks are the body of a pufferfish because he loves sea animals.

I went to my parent's room, talked with my mom a bit, and stayed there for a while, Matti is still sleeping so I still have time to just lay down here while interacting with noise. cash. 

All of a sudden, I felt a cold hand touching my cheeks, I looked back and saw Seth, smiling while whispering something which I don't comprehend. He stopped and went out of the room. He was going in and out of the room more than five times already. He was happy seeing me, he'd check the room now and then.

When he came inside again, I looked into his eyes, he stared at me but looked away. He never liked eye-to-eye contact. He has autism.

In 2018 when my brother and sister-in-law went back to the Philippines, Seth was still two years old. He had a close relationship with water, I mean whenever he sees a body of water, he would immediately jump into it. I can't remember the number of times that we had been drenched with unclean water because we can't stop him. He would throw tantrums if he can't get into the water.

I remember one time when we were traveling to South Cotabato and in our hotel is a Koi fish pond and a noisy mini waterfall too. We were alarmed as Seth heard the sound of the waters and immediately ran towards it, in just a few seconds, he was swimming with the koi fish

Seth used to tiptoe. When he arrived in the Philippines, he would walk while tiptoeing, like a ballet dancer. I researched the symptoms of an autistic child and tiptoeing is one of the same as avoiding eye to eye contact.

But as the years went by, he turned five years old and he had somehow stopped the tiptoeing and the eye-to-eye contact had improved, he can now stare at us but that would only be for a few seconds, better than how he was before.

Today, with a weekly therapy, he can speak certain words, he knows the alphabet, he can utter fish and other sea creature names, sing children songs, he could count, but he can't converse. It is as if he is still a one-year-old child. 

Then tantrums, it is getting worse as he has grown taller, bigger, heavier. We can't quite understand what triggers his tantrums, it happens randomly and any time of the day. His mother's hair is always the subject when he gets tantrums, he would pull it and never let go. My sister-in-law would hug Seth when he throws a tantrum that's why he has nothing else to resolve to but her hair, a good thing her hair isn't brittle like mine.

Being able to see Seth's life, I can't help but think about what his future would be, of course, his parents would not be with him all the days of his life, one day, they will be gone, who will take care of him? We have our own families, of course, we can take him but he needs special care. It's a tough thing to grasp, I prayed to God as he held my cheeks once again upon entering the room for the nth time and asked God to give my sister-in-law strength, patience, and grace in taking care of Seth. I also pray that God may protect him, that he won't get sick.

I know there are worse cases of autism but regardless of the level of severity, this is not easy. As a parent myself, I know how heartbreaking it is to see my child not reaching the milestones intended for his age but I am sure as well that God won't turn His back on them, the parents, and the family. It is the only hope that we can hold on to and I get comforted knowing that Seth is surrounded by people who love him, us, his family. 

His eyes met mine again and I told him to kiss Tita on the cheek, he did and joyfully galloped out of the room again.

To all who have relatives and family members with autism, I am sending you virtual hugs. You are amazing!

xoxo,

momentswithmatti