By Amyra Varkisa & Jacintha Jolene
KUCHING: When their youngest child did not really speak when he was two years old, Dato Sim Kiang Chiok and his wife believed that they had a special child.
“We brought him to several doctors and later it was confirmed that my son – Alister has autism spectrum disorder, hence, he was suffering speech delay,” he recalled.
“First time came into my mind (when my son was diagnosed with autism) – what’s the cure for it? Sadly, after 20 years, there is still no cure for autism.”
“But, that doesn’t mean we should give up… So, with the support from the family and loved ones around, Alister went through a series of interventions to improve his condition so that he can live happily in our normal society,” he told New Sarawak Tribune.
Sim said they started by ensuring Alister had a balanced and nutritious meals, including providing him with some supplements such as vitamins, probiotics before he moved on to attend behavior intervention as well as chelation therapy.
He said his son also managed to enter a special school and even completed his secondary education.
However, Sim also voiced out his worries for Alister as he has just graduated from secondary school for children with special needs and there wasn’t any special college for him to further his studies in Kuching.
“That was a worrying period for me as I do not know how to help him further. All his elder siblings completed their studies and graduated with a university degree from the United Kingdom – but, what can I do for this special child of mine,” he said.
Back in 2017, during his school holiday, Alister spent his afternoon at his father’s office and was told to write or draw anything just so he would not be bored in the office.
“He drew something that blew my mind as he was able to reproduce the world map on an A4 paper freehand with all the curves and grooves with just a pencil.
“I took the drawing and showed it to my wife and we decided to ask Gerald Goh (Sarawak Arts Association Vice-Chairman) to evaluate Alister’s drawing and I asked Gerald if there’s any possibility of being Alister’s Guru.”
“He gave Alister two lessons and the rest is history. Today, he is happily doing his acrylic paintings,” he said.
When asked about whether Alister paints every day, Sim said his son paints on working days and enjoys reading and writing in the evening.
He said Alister’s acrylic paintings were for sale for his upkeep.
“He is also working on a commission basis and will do specific paintings upon order. His mother (Diana) has started to turn his paintings into merchandise such as mugs, T-shirts, umbrellas, tote bags, posters, stickers and postcards,” he said,
Sim strongly agreed that awareness was very important for the public to understand autism better – and for autistic individuals to be accepted into the society.
He also hopes that there were more training places and centers for his son and other autistic children to learn new skills.
“In Sarawak, we don’t have any (government) training centers or intuitions for autistic people, so they don’t have much choices of where to go after completing their studies at the secondary schools (for children with special needs)
“Besides, we are also worried that when we (the parents) would have to leave the world first, who will take care of them if he has no siblings to fall back on?”
Sim shared his advice to other parents that their autistic children could be uncut diamonds and what they needed was a ‘Guru’ or mentor to help unearth their talents.
