A loving father has shared a video capturing his son’s meltdown on the eve of Hari Raya, in a bid to spread awareness about autism.
The father, Mr Iman Wan’s post seems to have been prompted by a viral video of an autistic contestant achieving widespread fame through the America’s Got Talent platform.
Kodi Lee, a 22-year-old self-taught musician who is blind and autistic, attained immense praise for his incredible musical talents after he performed a rendition of “A Song for You” at the auditions of the latest season of the television talent competition.
Besides bringing the audience and the judges to their feet and winning the coveted Golden Buzzer, which propelled him straight to the live performance rounds, the clip of Lee’s audition went viral online, quickly accumulating over 300 million views.
In his post, Mr Wan shared that he has been “receiving much messages and DMs regarding the blind boy with Autism who opened the eyes of the world on America’s Got Talent.”
While his family was “touched and so happy for [Lee’s] family that he is so gifted and blessed,” Mr Wan added that the video “may also sent some less accurate perception to the world that all Autism people are suppose to be gifted with remarkable talent.”
He said: “The truth and hard facts are, NOT. Majority parents and caregivers are struggling with the challenges of raising someone with Autism. It’s a life long condition.”
Sharing a video of his son having a meltdown as he was taking him out to lunch, Mr Wan recounted: “We noticed he was a bit unstable and we knew it was coming. True enough as soon as he got off the car, he lost control.”
Revealing that his son eventually calmed down, Mr Wan used the incident to point out that “autism is such a wide SPECTRUM. When we meet one person with Autism, we only met one. They are all unique. Stereotyping can be misleading. Not all are like our son ADAM.”
Watch the video and read Mr Wan’s touching post here:
Adam had a meltdown on the eve of Hari Raya. We were bringing him for lunch. We noticed he was a bit unstable and we knew it was coming. True enough as soon as he got off the car, he lost control. We were fortunate to have Syahrol and family with us.We have been receiving much messages and DMs regarding the blind boy with Autism who opened the eyes of the world on America’s Got Talent. We were also touched and so happy for the family that he is so gifted and blessed.At the same time we believe it may also sent some less accurate perception to the world that all Autism people are suppose to be gifted with remarkable talent. The truth and hard facts are, NOT. Majority parents and caregivers are struggling with the challenges of raising someone with Autism. It’s a life long condition.Autism is such a wide SPECTRUM. When we meet one person with Autism, we only met one. They are all unique. Stereo typing can be misleading. Not all are like our son ADAM. #autismawareness
Posted by Iman Wan on Wednesday, 12 June 2019