Etash is sitting at a kid’s play table with two other kids and enjoying playing the monopoly game. He looks no difference from all other 5-year-old children – cheerful, attentive and talkative. But actually Etash was diagnosed with autism when he was about 2.5 years old in India. At that time, the doctor suggested Etash to have some therapeutic treatments such as speech therapy.Not only having a poor receptive language, Etash was unable to give any responsive reply, eye-contact or demonstrate many cognitive skills. Jai, Etash’s mother, was alarmed by his unusual speech delay and nonresponsive behavior. After confirming a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), she researched from the internet and found out about ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and Autism Partnership. Without any hesitation, Jai and her husband decided to move to Hong Kong and enrol Etash into AP for the treatment.
After nearly 2 years of treatment at AP, Etash now can speak quite fluently. He can give multiple answers and has learned how to think in a logical way, i.e. he can tell what he wants for lunch and ask for help or directions. At home, Jai would try to create different tasks for Etash to do. For example, he has learned how to wash clothes with the washing machine and knows how to shop at the supermarket. When attending the soccer or basket ball practice, Etash does not need Jai to be there all the time and can follow the coach’s instruction very well. What makes Jai most excited is that Etash can now call her “Mom”.
Jai says, “It took me some time to learn, as a parent, how to help my child to grow positively. We should always focus on what he can do rather than what he cannot do. I also learn it is important not to give up and despair when he cannot achieve what we expect.”
By June, Etash will complete the treatment and is ready to move to the mainstream education. The family is planning to move to the States during summer and they are now starting to gather more information about ABA service providers in the region as well.[:zh]
遠處可以看到Etash正與兩位年齡相約的孩子，座在兒童書桌的旁邊，開心地玩大富翁遊戲。他看上去與其他5歲的小孩子沒有分別 – 表現開朗，留心和健談。但實際上Etash在印度約2歲半的時候，曾被診斷患有自閉症。在那個時候，醫生建議Etash接受一些治療，例如：言語治療。當時，Etash不只是語言接收不良，他亦無法給予任何反應、目光接觸或認知能力等。Etash的媽媽–Jai–對他不尋常的遲緩說話能力和行為，立即頓時響起警號。在確診他患有自閉症譜系障礙的診斷（ASD）之後，Jai立即從網上搜尋有關自閉症的資料和治療方法。因此，她認識到有關ABA（應用行為分析）治療法和Autism Partnership (AP)。Jai和她的丈夫決定立即搬到香港，並為Etash報讀AP的治療課程。
經過近2年的治療，Etash現在可以很流利地說話，他亦可以同時回答多個一個的答案，並學會了如何以邏輯性方式思考，例如：他會告訴Jai午飯他想吃什麼或會主動尋求幫助或問路。在家中，Jai會設計不同的任務給予Etash去做，例如：他學會了如何用洗衣機洗衣服，並且學懂如何在超市內購物。當參加足球或籃球練習時，Etash再不需要Jai在旁邊，並能按照教練的指示完成練習。最能讓Jai感到最開心的是Etash能夠叫她“媽媽”了。
Jai說：『我花了一些時間才學懂，如何能夠幫助我的孩子積極地成長。我相信父母應該學習專注於孩子的才能，而不是他的缺陷。我也學會當他不能達到我們的期望的時候，不應該輕易放棄或感到絕望。』
於五月初，Etash將會完成他的治療及可以準備入讀主流學校。他們打算這個夏天遷往美國居住。現在，他們已經開始搜集資料，尋找在當地提供ABA治療的機構。[:]
