By Agni Amorita<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When their third child was born in good health
\non Nov. 29, 1992, Dwi Widodo and his wife Tuti were very happy.
\nThe baby boy was named Pamungkas and called Amung for short.<\/p>\n
But despite his rapid physical development, three-year-old
\nAmung still could not speak. Dwi and Tuti took Amung to the
\nfamily's pediatrician several times only to be told that they
\nshould be patient because the phenomenon was common. The parents,
\nboth 32 years old now, believed what the doctor said.<\/p>\n
Amung grew up. He liked watching sports programs on TV. His
\nparents were not over-suspicious about his condition but were
\nconcerned that he was indifferent to eye contact. They were
\nsomewhat relieved that their youngest child could communicate,
\nalthough through actions and not words.<\/p>\n
For example, if Amung wanted to drink milk, the boy would take
\nhis mother's hand, and without a word lead his mother to a tin of
\nmilk. Even if Tuti asked him whether he was thirsty and wanted to
\nhave a glass of milk, the boy remained silent and did not react
\nto his mother's eye contact. But when the mother had prepared the
\nmilk, he would immediately take the glass and drink it. So,
\nwithout them being aware, their son already showed signs of
\ndifficulty in socializing.<\/p>\n
But not until January 1997 did Dwi and Tuti take Amung to the
\nHarapan Kita Hospital in Jakarta, which has facilities for
\ntreating children suffering speech tardiness.<\/p>\n
Under Dr. Melly's supervision, Amung was treated for speech
\ntherapy at the Cacat Tumbuh Kembang (Development Defects) ward
\nfor three months. The diagnosis was that Amung had autism.<\/p>\n
Autism is a mental disturbance in the form of active self-
\nwithdrawal from the real world into a fantasy world (Toni Sutono
\nMPH and Farida L. Soebardja in Ensiklopedia Nasional Indonesia,
\n1990).<\/p>\n
According to experts in medicine and psychology, a patient
\nsuffering from serious autism is usually not able to communicate
\nwell and normally with other people.<\/p>\n
At the moment, autism remains one of the unsolved mysteries in
\nthe medical world, and there has been a sharp increase in its
\nprevalence. It is estimated that autism affects 15 of every
\n10,000 newborns worldwide, compared to only two in 10,000 births
\n30 years ago.<\/p>\n
In 1997, the number of autistic people in Jakarta was at
\naround 20,000, out of an estimated 400,000 nationwide.<\/p>\n
\"Dr. Melly even feared that Amung would never be able to
\nspeak,\" said Dwi gloomily.<\/p>\n
The diagnosis instantly changed the couple's world. They
\npanicked. None of their families suffered from the condition.
\nThey went to various doctors and Amung underwent many kinds of
\ntreatment. Still, there was no change in the boy's condition. He
\ndid not speak. He was busy with the only thing he liked: sports,
\nespecially ball sports. He spent his time in front of the TV
\nwatching football, tennis and badminton. And he was happy just
\nwatching children of his age playing football.<\/p>\n
\"Once I placed Amung in the middle of a field where his
\nfriends of the same age were playing football. But he only stayed
\nfor a while. When he had the chance to kick the ball he seemed
\nsurprised with his ability to kick it. Then he ran to the
\nsidelines and just watched his friends play,\" said Dwi.<\/p>\n
More recently, Amung also showed attraction to computer games.
\nHe was very quick to master these games, even the ones which his
\nfather could not play. He showed rapid progress in interactive
\ngames each day until he was not interested in them anymore.<\/p>\n
Their son's intelligence lifted Dwi and Tuti's spirits. They
\nheld a slight hope that some day Amung would be able to speak and
\nattend school like his two elder sisters.<\/p>\n
So, apart from seeking treatment from doctors, and even
\nshamans, Dwi never stopped teaching his son the alphabet.<\/p>\n
\"I was taking an extreme approach,\" said Dwi. \"Every day I
\nshowed him the letters b, o, l and a, and spelled them out in
\nfront of him.\" The word bola means ball.<\/p>\n
Amung did not react, although Dwi did it for months. He did
\nnot speak, or even show eye contact.<\/p>\n
Medication continued in various ways. Dwi once tried a high
\ndose vitamin E treatment on the advice of Dr. Diah Puspita,
\ntreasurer of the Indonesian Autism Foundation. The treatment had
\nbeen effective for Diah's son, Irsan, who also suffered from
\nautism. Irsan, then six years old, finally managed to drink water
\nby himself.<\/p>\n
But the imported medicine was beyond Dwi's means. The employee
\nof a publishing house in West Jakarta compelled to opt for other
\ntreatment.<\/p>\n
He collects literature on autism. He is now closely studying a
\nreport by Stephen B. Edelson, a medical doctor and an autism
\nexpert from the Environmental and Preventive Health Center in
\nAtlanta, USA.<\/p>\n
Edelson also writes about the discovery by P. Shattock and K.
\nReichelt on a gluten and milk diet presented by A. Knivsberg in a
\n1996 European Autism Association International Congress in
\nBarcelona. The diet was proved to have a positive influence on
\nthe function of the brain. An autism patient, who volunteered for
\nthe study, took seven days to return to the level which he had
\nreached earlier only because he did not follow the diet of
\nbiscuits.<\/p>\n
It was a pity that the diet did not suit Amung, who did not
\nlike rice, and so far had relied on milk for his main nutrition.<\/p>\n
Dwi then asked for the help of Haidir, an ulema living in
\nCiledug, South Jakarta, who gave him holy verses from the Koran
\nto be spoken by Dwi and Tuti at certain times. Amung was once
\ngiven a bath with water for which special prayers had been said.<\/p>\n
The only thing that continued to take place was Dwi's teaching
\napproach. The letters b, o, l and a were communicated to Amung
\neach evening.<\/p>\n
In June 1997, exactly one month after Haidir's treatment, as
\nusual, Dwi took the blocks of letters and placed them in front of
\nAmung while spelling out the letters. Suddenly, Amung shouted
\n\"Bola!\". The whole family was stunned. Between believing and not,
\nDwi continued his lesson. Although Amung's voice was not heard
\nanymore there was a very happy development. The boy made eye
\ncontact. Dwi, who had vowed to slaughter a goat if Amung spoke,
\nimmediately took his savings and bought a goat.<\/p>\n
Although difficult in the beginning, Dwi continued his
\napproach by communicating words with a relevance to the world
\nAmung liked. Dwi and his wife agreed to continue saying the
\nprayers taught by Haidir. One month later there was another happy
\ndevelopment in Amung's condition. He started spelling words in
\nEnglish that he found on television, in newspapers and on
\nroadside billboards.<\/p>\n
The speed with which Amung reads and understands Indonesian
\n(and English, though more limited) is unfortunately not followed
\nby developments in socialization and arithmetic. Amung frequently
\ndid not pay attention to what his teachers and friends said. He
\nprefers to keep to himself, doing the things he likes.<\/p>\n
As for mathematics, Amung, who can fluently count from one to
\n20, still needs an abacus to add and subtract. He was admitted to
\nthe higher grade of a public school kindergarten, but still
\neasily reverts to his behavior of non-communication with his
\nenvironment. Dwi and Tuti realize that they should not neglect
\ntheir struggle, and that the road to Amung's healing is
\napparently still long and tortuous.<\/p>",
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