“Our world revolves around Ashmit, my son who is in the Autism Spectrum”

Happy Child

Ashmit was born after 7 years of our marriage, so we were at the top of the world when he was born. He was named “Happy Child” by his Paediatrician Dr Khubchandani, as when the doctor came to visit him and he was unwrapped he smiled happily showing lot of movement with his limbs, little did we knew at that time about hyperactivity.

Initial Observation – Delayed Milestones

Initial feeding was difficult for Ashmit & he was prone to frequent illness, all his motor milestones were delayed. He regressed at 1.5 years, lost previously acquired words and stopped babbling. He used to be in his own world with no exploratory or social play involving objects or people. He was denied admission in play school (Tree House) and then was diagnosed with ASD & ADHD, when he was just 1 year 9 months old. 

Although Autism was a new word for us but however I could sense that there was a lot of work required to be done with Ashmit, and he need me more in his initial years. Hence, I quit my dream job, I was Head Customer Support in a Multinational Logistic Company in Mumbai at that time. They agreed to give me sabbatical for 3 months, but of course I could not join back.

My initial working with Ashmit started taking him on rounds through Mumbai traffic for Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy & Behavioural Therapy in Umeed. I started taking pictures of everything like people around him, places, objects, etc. and laminating them. We also purchased a lot of Cause & Effect toys and structured our home with table top, swing, trampoline, bean bag. With guidance from the therapists, I started working on his eye contact, color naming, sitting habit, introduction to PECS, we also got a semi tech AAC “GO TALK 9” from USA.

Why ME & Why MY CHILD

Along with all these developments there was always a thought of “Why ME & Why MY CHILD” at the back of my mind. An emotional, mental turmoil was what I dealt with at that time with continuously blaming myself for what has happened. The lack of understanding of Autism from family members created more stress and depression in me which triggered “Tolosa Hunt Syndrome” due to which I was on the verge of losing my vision. Timely hospitalization, medication and with physio therapy I was able to overcome the problem.

Biggest Mistake!!

We moved to Bangalore with my husband’s promotion, as we thought change of place might be good for us at that time. However, our initial years in Bangalore was not good, playschool was of no help. Ashmit becoming more and more hyperactive and unmanageable those days. So, with little knowledge about Autism, we thought it can be cured and we did the biggest mistake of our life introducing biomed treatment to Ashmit. We started GFCF Diet, HBOT, Chelation & regular shots for vitamins under treatment of Dr Praveen Saxena, of Hyderabad.  My child had to endure severe pain as normal shots, anal shots, intravenous drips, etc was given to him and though out the day too many medicines he had to take. Ashmit lost weight, was cranky, stopped going to school and started having melt downs and temper tantrums, it was difficult to take him to public places. We drained out a huge amount of money in the process and also was on the verge of losing my child, when we decided to stop the treatment.

Complete Acceptance

Our first complete acceptance of Autism happened with enrolling him in a special school “Bubbles School of Autism”. We moved from Jayanagar to be near to school in Bannerghatta, Bangalore. We started sports classes for Ashmit, and we observed he was interested for the first time in these activities. We started using more of PECS and structuring Ashmit’s day. He was five years at that time and as he was not able to write, so I started introducing keyboard & computer to him. We did oro motor speech therapy too, but making meaningful sounds was a fry cry for Ashmit. We started exposing him to various stimulation to understand his interest. He use to go for music therapy, play therapy at that time and he responded well to those. Ashim started relating to pictures and I was able to successfully teach him through story telling preparing him for his tonsilitis surgery.

Coming to Delhi

With my husband’s transfer we again had to move to Delhi. Using real pictures of the new place and his new school “Tamana School of Hope” helped him to understand the new step up. I started introducing technology to Ashmit with use of Ipad, Specialized Keyboard, and started PECS III & IV in Ipad also with him. He was very interested to work in ipad & computer. To know more about Autism, I enrolled to DED Special Education (ASD). Whatever I learned during my course I started to work with Ashmit. Made his first independent work station and structured all his work materials as per TEACCH method. Use of Full Day Visual Schedules improved sitting behavior, compliance and attending skills. As he was a foodie and had a tendency pf putting on weight, so we started daily classes of yoga, basketball, badminton, cycling, roller skating, swimming. By now he started participating in various sports events from school.

Ashmit started feeling sad

Ashmit started self-hitting badly when he was 10 years and always started looking for his father. Whenever his father was travelling for work Ashmit was very unhappy and self-hitting was more.  I realized I was working too hard with Ashmit; he was looking for his mother than a teacher all the time so I started to go slow with him, focusing more on his interests rather than what I want him to do. I also stared to work more on his communication skills and started Avaz with him. I completed the Avaz certified AAC Professional Course to teach Ashmit Avaz better. Instead of me working with him all the time I structured his day in such that he started working with different teachers, all these reduced his self-hitting behavior and he again became a happy boy.

Starting to work again

Once Ashmit started settling down well, I decided to increase my involvement in the field of Autism & contribute on a larger scale. So, eight years back, I started off as a voluntary iPad teacher in Tamana – School of Hope. Post my RCI certification in Special Education, I worked as a Lecturer in Tamana Teacher Training Centre. As the journey progressed, I conducted several Parent Empowerment Programs & Workshops in collaboration with Sunshine Autism Care Society, Kolkata. I also conducted multiple Teacher Training sessions. For Last 3 years I am working as a Consultant with Biswa Gauri Charitable Trust Bangalore. With increase of my private sessions, it was difficult for me to manage all the students myself hence in June 2023 I started Autispace. Autispace – A Space for Autism focuses on empowering parents to work with their child in home environment. We believe in presuming competence and leverage structure & technology for training individuals in the autism spectrum.

Ashmit - A Happy Adolescent Boy

Today Ashmit is someone who likes to go to school regularly. He enjoys doing various sports activities cycling, inline skating, swimming, gym, yoga, basketball.

He also loves engaging himself in vocational activities like beading, cross stitching, cutting & pasting, mosaic art, spiral binding, envelop making, card making, block printing, spiral binding, pottery work, packaging of Rakhi’s, Diya’s, etc in school.

He likes to work in the computer everyday working on various office automation tools in MS word, MS Paint & PowerPoint. He can use designing tools like mosaic art & mandala art. He can also play different educative games in computer.

Ashmit has a unique relationship with his father. His father is his “genie” who can fulfill all his wishes without asking anything in return. He also longs to be with his brother Arpan but ensures that he knows Ashmit is elder to him in all respect. He has an affectionate bonding with his caregiver and his sports teacher. He is always eager to meet his Dada Ji & Di and extended families. He looks forward to go on vacation and we take him frequently to various places, so that he can make memories of his own.

Avaz has given a voice to Ashmit

Incorporating Avaz for his all-daily functions like schedule, bath time, eating time, greetings, academics, fine motor activities, physical activities, recalling of day events, commenting, preparing for any new event, etc. has helped Asmit a lot. Ashmit can spontaneously communicate for food & games using Avaz with anyone. Ashmit is a context based independent communicator using Avaz. His understanding, behavior and compliance has much improved since he started communicating using Avaz. He seems happier that finally people are listening to him. With Avaz he ensures his preferences are not taken for granted and his opinion is valued. I am now teaching Self Advocacy using Avaz to Ashmit.

A Child gives birth to a mother

I completely believe that after Ashmit came to my life, I changed a lot. From a convent educated snobbish successful professional to a humble, compassionate and persistent warrior. Now I have a purpose to my life other than my family. The lifeline of my journey is my engagement with special kids through their one-to-one sessions. Having a special bond with all the parents of students of Autispace. Reaching out to more parents to help them in their special journey and remind them that having a child in the spectrum does not mean end of the world.