Sunny Chan: “My Son is Autistic and I Will Not Suffer in Silence!”
Earlier, tabloids took photos of Sunny Chan’s <陳錦鴻> 4-year-old son and revealed that the little boy was autistic. At 2-years-old, Sunny’s son was unable to speak and his behavior was different from other children and possessed slower learning abilities. Sunny’s son was antisocial and often treated his parents as if they were transparent. At 4-years-old, Sunny’s son did not speak a single word. Sunny and his wife frequently visited different doctors, hoping that their son can grow up healthily and happily.
Approached by reporters, Sunny directly admitted that his son was autistic; he did not find his son’s condition to be taboo. Sunny did not wish to suffer in silence and through the publication of the magazine article, he hoped to seek the help of the outside world. Perhaps experts from around the world would be able to help and shed light upon his son’s condition.
R= Reporter; S= Sunny Chan
R= If you did not admit it, perhaps no one would know that your son is autistic. Why did you decide to publicize the matter?
S= When I take him outside, people will think he is an unruly child since he runs everywhere. They will naturally notice he has a problem. As to why we are willing to speak out, we hope that perhaps there are people who may be able to help him. We are ordinary parents and really do not know how to take care of an autistic child. You can say he is clever, stupid and even troublesome. Without an expert guiding us, perhaps my son would be unable to read even today. We must face reality and can not suffer in silence, otherwise it will not be fair to him.
R= Are you very worried about your son’s condition?
S= If I were not worried, I will not stay with him all day. He has always been different from other children. He is antisocial and will not trust other people easily. For example, if he knew that we were eating beef today and you served him pork, he will think that you lied to him. He will stubbornly refuse to eat. He does not welcome you in teaching and helping him. He lives in his own world. When I talk to him; he ignores me. He ignores even his own parents!
R= You took him to the beach to teach him words; has there been any progress?
S= It has been a lot better. Although my sister’s daughter learned her words at 2-years old, my son did not learn until he was 4-years-old. When I saw him write the ‘ fire, person, big, and earth’ characters, I was in awe.
R= Do you wish to have a second child?
S= In speaking with other people, they recommend that having a second child is very beneficial for my son, my wife and I.
In a telephone interview with Oriental Daily, Sunny noted that his autistic son did not talk to him, but Sunny will set aside time to properly communicate with his son, hoping to improve the situation. Sunny said, “Recently, I did not need to film and will set aside one hour each day to spend with my son. If the weather is cold, we will go hiking together. If it is warm, we will go swimming. This allows my son and I to communicate on a better level.”
Sunny added, “I do not wish my son to be harassed. Earlier, I was not in Hong Kong when the paparazzi took photos of my son. I do not want this type of intrusion to scare my family. If the press wishes to publish photos of my son, I can provide the pictures. It is not good to frighten my young son!”
Source: ent.oeeee.com, Orientaldaily.oncc
Jayne: The simple things that we take for granted, such as good health, the ability to speak and walk can be an immense challenge for others. Having a child with a learning or physical disability is very draining on the parents and can be very heart breaking to know that your child will never lead a carefree childhood of simple laughter.
I am glad to hear that Sunny is a proactive parent and taking steps to cope with his son’s autism, by consulting with experts and teaching his son in alternate ways. Although his son may be unable to speak, Sunny has not given up teaching him literacy, which is important to keep growing the mind and allow for further development. When parents give up on their children, then the kids have no guiding direction and are not developed to their fullest potential.
Sunny’s role as a father will be more difficult than normal parents. Due to his autism, his son may never be able return his parents’ love and fail to forge a family bond together. My heart goes out to him and I wish he continues to talk to more people and perhaps parents of autistic children to learn to cope in better ways. There is indeed no need to suffer in silence.
Coincidentally, I watched several episodes of ATV’s Ben Xiao Hai <笨小孩> recently, in which Ruco Chan plays an autistic person. I enjoy the series because its theme is centered around people with different disabilities helping each other out, making up for their own individual shortcomings. Many of the scenes are quite touching, especially the mother’s sacrifice. However, the depiction of autistic and mentally challenged individuals may not be entirely accurate. This series is heartfelt and offers the basis of a good story.
Hope his son can improve himself and get out of the cage. The autistic children still can be saved and I wish Sunny can do this to his little boy.
It is a misconception that autistic children are stupid. They’re not. They just don’t know how to communicate. But with proper diet, education and plenty of love and patience, the symptoms can be less severe and may even help them to overcome certain issues. I see no shame in having autistic children. I am happy to read how truthful Sunny is and Sunny being Sunny, I am sure his optimism will help his child in the end. Like the movie Temple Grandin. Very inspiring and the first and foremost reason for her success was her mother’s love, patience and the fact her mother did not treat her any differently.
Yeah, agree
think of Rainman and gambling LOL
anyway hope Sunny’s son can have a happy life…
All the best to Sunny and his son. I never knew his son was autistic. While there is no cure for autism now, I hope that for them each day is better than the last.
I’ve worked with autistic children and Funn is right, they are not stupid. In fact, lots of studies have shown that they actually have high IQ, are extremely creative, many times even more so than non-autistic children. I also don’t believe autistic children are incapable of showing love, they do love and do have feelings. It’s another misconception that autistic children are non-emotional… if anything, they are more so than average (hence the stories of their tantrums, outbursts, etc.). To Funn’s point, they simply communicate differently from ‘mainstream’ ways.
Did the interview says when did Sunny realized his son is an autistic child?
Veejay,
The article mentioned that Sunny’s son was unable to speak at age 2, which I left out because it seemed redundant since he is still unable to speak at age 4 now. However, I should add it back because it likely implies that Sunny realized his son was different by age 2 since he still did not talk.
thanks Jayne for the info.
Yeah, that info is important for parent like me to learn more about this.. It’s important to observe your kid whether they’re autistic or not in young age. My daughter bb has just reached 1 yr old and she’s too active until both my husband and I have to stay awake for 24/7 during her 1-3 months just to ensure she sleeps well etc. And we have to pay attention to her growth inorder to detect any bad signs early.
Veejay,
Talking to people who have kids around the same age will give you a good benchmark of what is normal behavior for your baby. It is always better to identify problems early so you have a chance to correct it earlier if possible. Speech and language delays are sometimes difficult to identify until baby is a little older. But speech therapy is always an option and many normal kids need some help to learn.
So true, it’s really hard to detect bad signs in such a tender age.. One can only tell when the toddler reaches 2 yrs and above. Being a parent is really not easy especially you’ve to keep an eye on your kid on their well being, development and etc..
Some ppl said that the older that kids get, the more difficult of them to be controlled haha..guess I’ll have to wait & see.
Hong Kong is a very developed city. There should be an organisation for autistic children in HK that Sunny can get information and help from. Like this one
http://www.autism.hk/
Kidd,
Agree and it sounds as if Sunny has already looked into such resources. He sounds as if he is a psychologically well adjusted parent with an autistic child and understands his son’s learning challenges, thus he takes him to the beach to learn words and teach in a different manner.
Perhaps Sunny is interested in finding more qualified doctors and experts to better assess the type of his son’s specific autism. Since his son is only 4-years-old, perhaps the diagnosis may not be very clear. It often takes a bit of a merry-go-round to find the right medical experts that can truly help.
Yes, the reason they employ writing or drawing in sand to get in touch with nature. Sand is a good therapy for kids in expressing themselves. Sunny’s son will be fine because his dad is there for him, no doubt the boy does not communicate verbally, he does communicate through gestures. Talk to him like an ordinary child, include him in any family activity and conversations. He will be able to pick up the words as you reinforced it to him. Look at him in the eyes, and sometimes he does look back, just that you may not notice it because the angle his eyes responded do not appear like the norm. But he knows you are watching him. Hug him a lot from young and tell him about flowers, etc. Let him touch the flowers, leaves but do not rush him in anyway. Be there for him patiently. With love it is possible. He will reciprocate your love in a way you would not have anticipated. It works! Love your son very much, Sunny and Mrs Sunny <3
Dear Jayne,
I am a proud mom of someone with autism from Australia. As a parents having an autistic child, we have learnt so much as my son is making alots of progress everyday now. we are very appreciated that my son have given us a chance to learn to becomes a parents with love and patience. my son was was diagnosed with Autism just before his 2nd Birthday. When he was diagnosed he couldn’t talk or communicate, he wouldn’t respond to his name, and there was no eye contact. Now he is 6 years old, so I believe I do have some experiences to share with other mums or Sunny (if Sunny read this email)…
The most important thing we should do to support an autistic child is to love and to be Patient with them, yes Patient… Most of autistic children have their own talents but most of them are very good in visual learning, so we use this as a way to communicate with my son. Pictures… yes I could not live without these in the last 3 years, not now as my son condition is very mild now. I believe with love, support, patient and correct learning process your son condition will get less servere in each day, believe me it helps.
As long as we found out our son has autism, we had put him in child care immediately because we believe children learn better with other children at the same age, and child care centre is the best place for 2 yearsold to play and learn together with other child.
Therapy is also a second best you should do with your child depending on your child condition, whether he/she need occupational or speech therapy. We have provided both to our son, and we found SPEECH Therapy is a best way to help an autistic child to learn how to communicate with others, just after the first 3 sessions my son had open his doors to us and talking to us…
Reading books is another way to help your child learn how to communicate with you, read book to your child and ask him/her to read back…
Play together… this is important, peeks a boo or hide and seek these are great games to play with them.
I have so much to tell you guys, so if anyone need to talk to me, please leave your message here, I will reply.
Finally just let you know that my son now speaks very clearly and will tell us what he want and he mixes well with other kids, he still have some problems but they are just minors, he still is doing his speech therapy 2x a month.
The most important thing I want to tell you all is my son is very handsome and very smart, he is now in preschool but his reading level is compared to grade 2 kids…. See they can be very talented and smart in their own ways….
Thank you Jayne for letting me sharing my experiences with others.
Best wishes to you all….
Proud Autistic Mum,
Thank you for sharing such an inspiring story of your son’s development and success in dealing with autism. I think an early and accurate diagnosis means so much. The most important of all is really the parents’ involvment because you are your child’s best advocate. You understand your child’s needs the most and in the end, you have to decide on the best course of action to benefit your child’s condition. Working with qualified medical and educational personnel are obviously important, but in the end, loving parents who parent with foresight and vision really shapes how children turn out. How the family situation is set up and the nurture and reinforcement provided at home can improve a child’s learning and progress much faster.
You sound like a very patient and involved mother. Not all parents’ understand their child’s needs that well and not all are willing or able to meet those needs properly because it involves a lot of parental sacrifice along the way. A normal child’s temperament is already difficult to deal with. Sometimes the progress of a child’s learning, whether special needs or not, is really a product of how strong the parent’s determination is. Some parents may not have the strength of will to always follow the best course of action for their child.
Each child has their unique needs and part of parenting is trying to clearly understand what those needs are so that the best can be provided for them to make them grow and develop to their fullest potential. Whether normal kids or kids with special needs, the situation can be improved upon if we take the right action steps.
In our desire and journey to have the children realize their capabilities to their fullest potential, we also learn how to surpass our own limitations in becoming better parents and better people to provide and guide children to become independent and self-sufficient adults. The children are learning from the parents, but it is really a mutually symbiotic relationship. The children motivate the parents on a journey of self-discovery of themselves: setting the proper goals and understanding themselves as people before trying to teach and guide smaller ones. Parenting really forces one to become a better and wiser person, to care and grow for another being that is dependent upon you. To force you to move away from self-centeredness and focus on the priorities of those who need you the most. Some relish this journey while others run away from it.
Perhaps Sunny may not be able to see your post, so I strongly encourage you to also leave him a message at his TVB.com blog. However, your story will inspire any parent that has found the task of parenting to be challenging.
But Asian society tends to shun such children. Unfortunately.
That is true and I find that very sad. However, I feel that it is better now than it was in the past. My friend’s brother is autistic as well and he has to deal with it since his little brother only listens to him and not even his parents now.
It is sad that people take so many things for granted. My brother’s wife has a sister that is autistic as well and yet she downs on people with disabilities which I find sad. I thought that if you had a family member like that you would be more understanding, but I guess it doesn’t work that way for everyone…
I just watched Sunny’s VIP interview he did for TVB a few days ago and he talks about his son being autistic on there as well. I liked the attitude he displayed because he didn’t try and make people feel bad for him. Instead, he has an optimistic view and talks about how his son’s autism by saying how independent he is and how he taught himself how to lift himself up and walk. Sunny also talks about what his son has brought into his life such as making himself a more understanding person. Even though his life is a little more difficult, I like how he faces in a realistic and optimistic manner. 🙂
I really hope Sunny’s son will lead a happy and normal life when he grow bigger. And sunny, I’m a fan of your series (although many complained of you being loud in most of your series!) lol..I still find you good in your character…keep it up ^_^
I’m taking a course this semester about teaching and finding out children with disabilities. It is a good idea that the parents don’t mind letting people know his son has autism. It’s nothing to hide. Children needs parents involvement in their education. His son might not speak now but he will soon. Some children develops slower than others. My brother is antisocial and has mental depression. It’s really sad. He’s 30 years old and my parents still have to take care of him. It’s so hard to see. Very hard. It hurts my feelings that sunny has to go through this. Makes me remember how much my parents and grandmother went through a lot to help my brother. There’s a lot of tears. He became depressed due to bullies in schools. Children needs to be care for no matter what health conditions they have. You help guide them to a better, healthier life. It is the parents responsibilities. God bless sunny and his family and to the rest of the families out there that goes through this. Please show us a miracle!!!
Samche,
Sometimes finding the right doctor and proper medication can make a marked difference in improvement. Did your brother exhibit antisocial behavior and depression at a young age, or it kicked in later in life?
My co-worker’s 22-year-old son has bipolar depression. He was a hyper kid and did very well in school until puberty kicked in and things took a dramatic turn from there. He is taking many different types of medication, but it is a constant daily battle. He is unable to finish college, anti-social, and unable to see into the future.
The human mind can be very strong, yet very fragile for others. Sometimes depression takes a long, long time to snap out of and very easy to fall back on. It takes the right coach to introduce the right coping and survival skills.
Depression is hereditary in my family. I have had minor bouts of depression, fortunately I recognize the signs and able to redirect my energy towards more positive thinking to stop it from growing further.
Aside from the family, have you considered introducing your brother to wider community such as church to help him? People often feel that they are alone with their problems, stuck without help and no one to understand, where that is not always the case. If we do not speak about it, then how is help possible?
Finding new meaning in life is also really important. Without meaning, then there is very little motivation to do better. It really takes a long time to redirect our ways of thinking to lean more towards positive side. But thinking logically out of a situation often helps rather than letting the emotions run over.
I hope with your family’s patience and love, your brother will grow better each day.
Hi, sorry about your brother. Have you seek medical and counselling help for your brother? If he’s not born with such condition, psychotherapy might be able to help.
Do you live in US and do you believe in God? If yes, you can check this out. I’ve read the book but don’t dare to try it without guidance. But, if you live in US, maybe you can get their tutor to help.
http://thehealingcodes.com/
Or try this one
http://www.emofree.com/
Both involve healing the mental picture of a person traumatic experience to healing. It heals you reaction towards that old painful memories.
Disclaimer: This procedures are not something used by mainstream doctors. Not enough test has been done on it yet. But, just to let you know more options. Personally, I still feel that medicine + counselling is the safest solution since got a lot of professional to help and give advice.
Samche,
From my personal bouts of depression, it is sometimes better to find help outside of the family. With the family’s emotional involvement and history with your brother, it is difficult for them to find new ways of breaking through to him and changing his outlook.
Aside from medication, I think surrounding yourself with daily exposure to positive, sensory experience, such as music and focusing on something happy is very important. Also, sometimes people are resistant to being diagnosed as clinically depressed and have to take drugs to get better.
We sometimes slip into depression when we question our capabilities and self-worth. Sometimes single events, such as inability to transition from college to full-time job, can trigger deeply rooted insecurity. I had a very insecure childhood, which lingered into adulthood and until meeting my husband, who thankfully has a no-nonsense logic can solve all attitude, helped me see sense in a lot of situations.
If possible, try to reason out of any unhappiness and take action, rather than letting the problem grow day by day. Many things are a matter of perception and the situation may seem worse than it is in actuality. I think coping skills, such as developing a more logical rather than emotional method of handling problems is very important for long-term emotional well being. Logic allows us to feel in control, while letting the emotions take over makes us feel helpless and like a victim.
It is important to know that our life touches others and not to be alone and isolated. We can give happiness to others and make a difference, whether it may be taking care of a pet or volunteering to help others.
I also like to read self-help books (such as “Chicken Soup for the Soul”) and listen to others people’s inspiring stories. Everyone has suffered an emotional bump, just sometimes it takes longer to heal. The desire to want to heal has to happen first.
Bullies. Bloody bullies. What is so great about bullying those who are in need? That is not heroic. Not even cowardice. But pure meaness.
Talking about mental depression, my sister’s school friend has it worse. Of I believe 5 siblings or was it 6, 3 or 4 of them are officially insane as in mental incapacity. It is like pre desposed to be like that. Her sister was jilted and became unstable, the sons just are. The poor father at old age still had to take care of them.
@ Funn Lim
Superiority complex. By bullying the weak, it makes the bullies feel more superior. There’s nothing heroic at all about bullying but some can involve cowardice. The bully can many times have self esteem issues and so, by demeaning others maintain a superior facade.
Sorry to hear about your brother and I know that depression runs in some families. I actually have that in my family as well and I admit that I often get depressed as well since both of my parents have always been depressed. However, the degree of depression isn’t that bad and we can deal with it. But the sad part is that your parents cannot live forever and one day that kid has to take care of themselves.My dad used to always tell us that we he was alive. But sadly, in some cases the kids can’t take care of themselves and you wonder who will take care of them after the parents are gone.. Very sad indeed and I hope that Sunny’s son gets better and will learn how to love and be filial to him and his wife.
It must be tough. I hope Sunny stays strong and keep encouraging and be with his son
if sunny is reading this please dont think you are now alone. my son is autistic along with Sensory processory disorder, dyspraxia.
My son didnt talk till he was 4 and had very simple words. he use to get mum and dad wrong. We visited the dr regular and they use to say dont worry boys are like this or they are more slower than girls till he was 3 1/2 they referred him to the speech and language unit, this was when the dr admitted he was a severely delay… he used to bite ppl, spill things regularly. till 5 we the doctors discovered he had a lazy eye , the doctors admitted him to the opthamology this is where they said one of his eyed needed a patch up and he had to wear glasses. This is when this was the crucial part as he had prob with his eyes he couldnt see a thing and even to see me. this is when he started to learn slowly. till he was 5 at school, the teacher who sister was a Occupational therapist said your son needs to see a dr asap i discovered he may suffer from SPD. Then when we admitted to hospital they told me the reason he is always breaking his toys and spilling his things is not he does it on purpose he has lost his sense. he cannot feel his force and needs his eyes as a form of judgmement. I felt like god had given us the answer till only this year at 7 years 3 months a senior paeditirician went to see my son at school to observe him for a whole day to tell us that he was autistic (ASD) Autistim Spectrum Disorder.. I did cry cos i didnt know what to do.. hearing the word autism really did hurt down in my heart. My husband become very upset and didnt talk for a whole month. till his best called to say we are sorry to hear about your son but come on we are here and we can all help to support him.
sunny i dont know if you would read this but i know how you feel. We are worried too in how the world looks at our son.
I normally take him to the ladies toilet and many ppl in hk have son ‘ how old is your son and he is still at the ladies ?’ I said he has a problem’ they said well he looks normal to me.. I said listen he is autistic ok, if i lose my child or something happens to him at the men are you gona give me back my son?? im not taking no consequence.. and they just shut up.
There are lots of people who suffer the same but im the one who likes to share my experience with ppl. I dont mind as long as i can help since my son was diagnose with SPD at 5 years of age. I went into teaching children with special needs. Thus i feel i can help my children and ppl who have children who have disablilites and dont know how to help.
my e-mail is [email protected] if anyone needs a talk and help.
thank you for reading my story and rem we are not alone!!! sau
I think you can reach him better at his TVB blog
http://artiste.tvb.com/index.php?m=guest&u=sunnychan_tvb&list=3
kidd: i dont know how to write chinese and cannot read chinese, just can speak it. if someone could translate that would be great.
Hopefully, Hong Kong has early intervention programs like in the US. If his son gets intensive therapies early in his life, it can make a tremendous impact.
There are a lot of Hollywood actors, directors, and producers have autistic children, both functional and non-functional. Austism Speaks is one of the biggest, most funded charitable organizations in the world. And they’re still researching for the cure. Sunny’s son is not alone.
We are talking about HONGKONG actors here. Stop comparing asians to some actors that are nothing alike.
But I agree with you….
Some people just are like that. BE NATURAL SUNNYS SON> I SUPPORT YOU! Go sunny, I will be watching your CURSE OF THE ROYAL HAREM>
I agree. Curse Of the royal harem is actually good, but copying War and beauty and other drama. Myolie and Jessica was strongly accused of having strong makeup. But of course. You can figure that yourself.
I was surprised to learn about this and my heart goes out to Sunny and his wife. It must have been tough for both of them to try to talk to their son and he ignores them. But I am glad that Sunny is optimistic and strong. I really admired the efforts that he made and try to communicate and strength his relationship with his son with hiking and swimming. I know that his hard work and determination will be pay off. To me, Sunny is like his name, always cheerful and full of smiles. I hope his son can soon learn to speak more words and slowly understand his parent’s love for him.
I guess Sunny’s son is well aware of his parents love for him and he responds. Just have to acknowledge his way of communication through gestures and slowly words as he is prompted, guided and reinforced daily.
yeah. It’s a great series. Sunny, I’ll support you.
are you the real Steven Ma?
你决定.
really ? of course that is steven ma. he comes over here to read stuff -___-
Steven Ma can read in English?? I think that Stephen Huynh has come here before but not sure about anyone else.
Boy, there are many Steven Ma around hehe.
HetieShou, many of TVB artistes(including the HK raised) can read and write in English.
@Masaharu,
I know, but not sure if Steven Ma was one of the ones that can…However, I doubt that it is him since he is really busy… It can be another person named Steven Ma too.
HeTieShou, has Steven Ma wrote any English entry in his weibo or for his fanclub members?
I don’t know much about Steven Ma, perhaps some of his fans might know 🙂
I believe if Steven were to write his chinese name, it would be in traditional chinese i.e. 馬浚偉
Check out his weibo. He write in traditional chinese like most HK people.
i dont think he’s real, and i hope sunny’s son will have a happy life when he grows up, being a happy, normal boy.
There are other Steven Ma’s out in the world 🙂
I don’t know if Sunny has done this or not…his son is 4 years old and is unverbal, so Sunny needs to take his son to see a speech therapist.
Austism Spectrum Disorder ranges from low to high. Some autistic children do have bonding from their family members, friends, and etc. When an adult talks to an autistic child, he/she needs to sit at the child’s level and look at him/her in his/her eyes.
I take my hat off to all parents in the world as I would be a terrible mother. I find it too much to cope and having an autistic son would treble the burden. It must be an awful strain on the parents and I pray and hope that Sunny’s son grows up normal and healthy. I also think its good that he admits it because I have a friend who has a daughter and also autistic. She is now 21 years old and its obvious that she has austism spectrum disorder and yet my friend keeps making excuses saying that she’s just very very quiet indeed. Nothing to be ashamed of but of course some people can’t cope with having a child like that and so they try and hide the fact that their child is not normal. Sad really. I certainly would not lie about it and would do what Sunny has done – admit it to the world and just hope for the best.
Sad to see Sunny’s son. Hopefully he can lived in a normal life sometime ….
Autistic child if he bring him for therapy it will get better and can lead their life normally even though it has a bit of social challenge. Autistic children could be very smart . My friend son is autistic but he is very genius. Hope all the best for sunny. Hope his son get better each day. Btw agree with pineapple comment.
Can’t help but to feel a little sad for Sunny Chan although I think we shouldn’t feel so since Sunny is so brave and optimistic himself but I honestly didn’t see this coming as Sunny always looked so happy and I remembered how his face was basking in happiness when they took a photo with him and his newly born infant son at some restaurant, whoever would have thought this lies behind that sunny smile and glamorous stardom of his? Guess every family has problems of their own, irregardless of whether they are stars or not.
In any case, people with autism can still grow up to be outstanding professionals in life and some of them include Bill Gates, Albert Einstein and Woody Allen (who have been reported as having some form of autism called Asperger syndrome) Furthermore, autistic children are not dumb, they just take slightly longer time in understanding, communicating and warming up to people, with proper care and diagnosis, they can be just like anyone of us. So stay strong and don’t despair Sunny! However, Sunny is not any younger and to be realistic, it would be better for Sunny to have one more child to take care of this child when he is gone as treatment of autism is a prolonged process, it takes up alot of patience and financial ability 🙂
Ah K,
Indeed Sunny sounds optimistic and he may be leaning towards having a second child, to allow increased socialization between siblings. I think a sibling is one of the greatest gifts that a parent can give a child. Due to Sunny’s grueling filming schedule once he is immersed in a TVB series, this may lead to very little time that he can spend with his son. Since his son is learning words, that is a very good sign that Sunny’s communication efforts are reaching through to him.
It takes time for a parent to learn how to communicate even with a regular child, how to best present logic and concepts so that they can learn. Sunny sounds like a thoughtful individual and has thought upon his son’s situation carefully. As long as Sunny puts in the effort, there will be results seen and an improvement in his son’s situation.
Asperger syndrome is a mild form of autism or what people call high functioning autism. People with this syndrome can still function in society well. But, not all autism are this type. The more severe type are harder to rectify. Sunny’s son’s case seem to be more severe.
Kudos to Sunny for speaking out about Autism. I am a Recruiter for a School Board and I am in charge of hiring Special Education Assistants to help kids with disabilities. I can tell you that most Asian parents would not acknowledge that their children have autism opr other disabilities, whereas the Caucasian parents would readily seek help for their children. I don’t know how Hong Kong Society’s view about Autism but with Sunny speaking out about Autism should lead to awareness.
Jayne,
thank you for taking your time to reply to my story
you sound very professional and have a great understanding on children development. your information is very useful for us as a parent, as we learn more everyday.
Being a parent is not easy, so being a parent with an autistic child is even more difficult. however my son is teaching me so much about love everyday. My son is the true inspiration. He is my inspiration. He motivates me and keeps me going. Love can overcome obstacles. The most important thing we can do to help an autistic child or any child is love them. Love is the greatest of all things.
best wishes to you and your love ones.
Proud-autistic-mum,
“Being a parent is not easy, so being a parent with an autistic child is even more difficult. however my son is teaching me so much about love everyday. My son is the true inspiration. He is my inspiration. He motivates me and keeps me going. Love can overcome obstacles.”
I can feel your immense love for your son. When you described the progress of your son’s communication and learning abilities over the last few years, his accomplishments were due to your efforts, your determination, and your involvement.
You have taught him from an early age that although we may be born with limitations, we can learn to overcome them through hard efforts. May he continue to grow better each day. 🙂
The baby was so cute in the second picture.
http://www.jaynestars.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Sunny-Chan1.jpg
My daughter was suspected austistic when she was a year old. Thanks goodness after a series of treatment and when she grew older, the autism characteristics became irrelevant. It does required alot of time and effort for kids especially if they are diagnosed autism.
http://weibo.com/bumblebeebee
http://weibo.com/bumblebeebee