It is never easy for a parent to learn that their child is ‘special’. The experience can be wrought with confusion, denial, despair and even anger. For celebrity doctor and social media influencer Dr. Say Shazril, this reality is all too familiar. For those of you who have not caught up with the news, Dr. Say has come out of the woodwork about his now 3-year-old son Aezriel (Ace) who has been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) since November of 2020. In a recent Instagram post, Dr. Say pays homage to Ace with a promise that he will always be there every step of the way, through “thick and therapies”.
We here at Motherhood are fierce advocates of special needs awareness and are always trying to educate the public on childhood developmental disorders that are currently on the rise in the country. Hopefully Ace’s story will inspire other parents and kids out there who are currently dealing with ASD. Here is the full story of an autistic child’s journey through the eyes of a loving father.
The Warning Signs
On October 27, 2021, Dr. Say posted an Instagram photo with a long caption explaining the recent developments of his life as a parent, particularly those concerning his eldest son Aezriel, or as he is lovingly nicknamed, Ace. Dr. Say broke the news about Ace’s condition in this post. From the moment his wife, Azura, started to see the warning signs, to the doctor’s appointment that confirmed their suspicions.
In his post, he explained what autism was and how it was difficult to detect. Dr. Say himself was unsure if it was actually autism or just developmental delays. But his wife had been watching videos of autism and started noticing that Ace was starting to tick a lot of the boxes. While many symptoms were absent, like walking on tiptoes and arm-flapping, Ace was showing other tell-tale signs of autism. This includes arranging things in a straight line, not responding to verbal communication, and the inability to hold eye contact.
At his wife’s insistence, they finally went to see a specialist on November of 2020. Ace, who was 1 year old and 6 months at the time was still too young to be properly diagnosed so he was instead put on ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) therapy first from Dec 2020 to May 2021. While a lot of improvement was made during the therapy sessions, preliminary assessments revealed that Ace was behind on many developmental milestones.
The Official Diagnosis
On October of 2021, Dr. Say and his wife took Ace to see paediatric developmental specialist, Dr. Cindy at Sunway Medical for an official ASD screening. After an hour of testing, Ace was officially diagnosed with moderate autism + speech delay. Upon hearing the results, Dr. Say wrote that he had never felt so shocked, helpless and most of all, devastated. His beautiful baby boy who had his entire future ahead of him now has to contend with this incurable disorder for the rest of his life.
“Slowly, I am accepting the fact that my son is gifted.”
Dr Say wrote that no number of tears and regret will change the fact that Ace is autistic. The best they can do is help him through the intervention process as best as they can. Dr. Say ends the caption by saying that they were fortunate that his wife was vigilant enough to catch the symptoms early. Otherwise, his son’s condition may not have been properly diagnosed and they would have never gotten him the proper help. Now, Ace is undergoing therapy for his autism twice to three times a week at FitInCDC.
He ends Part 2 with a heartfelt message to Ace:
“Daddy is going to stay with u till my last breath.”
Educating the Public on Autism
Since then, Dr. Say has been regularly posting about his son’s progress, despite some initial disapproval from his family members. But Ace is flourishing as well as a child his age should be. Here we see him having a great time playing with his mum, watching cartoons, bonding with his baby brother, and celebrating his birthday. This shows that a child can still lead a happy, healthy childhood even with moderate autism. Even now, Ace continues to go to therapy in order to improve his symptoms and allow him to work through his speech delays.
Dr. Say continues to shed light on Ace’s condition to better educate his followers on ASD. His post titled ‘No Autism Kids is the Same‘ contains important information on ASD red flags, as well as a call to action for parents to always monitor their children and get the proper help. Because ASD symptoms are unique to each child, it’s important to look at all of them and not just the common ones. Ace, for instance, has no mobility issues or problems with expressing emotion, nor is he averse to human contact.
That’s why kids with mild to moderate autism may be harder to diagnose. But autism can generally be detected as early as 18 months old through the M-CHAT (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddler). Dr. Say urges parents not to skip this part of your child’s screening which occurs twice—once when they’re 18 months old and another when they’re 36 months old.
Dr. Say confesses that if his son had not been diagnosed with ASD, he would not have gone the extra length to educate himself further on the disorder. He now urges parents to be super vigilant about their children’s cognitive development around the one-year mark because that is usually when the symptoms start showing. With early intervention and proper special needs education, autistic children have a better chance at flourishing in society as adults. But above all, it’s important to be patient and kind to your special needs child. They deserve to be loved and accepted just like every other child in the world.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice from Motherhood. For any health-related concerns, it is advisable to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or medical practitioner.
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