This is Fayeza who has been brought up and cared for by her devoted and doting paternal grandmother as both parents live abroad. She is severely autistic with no speech whatsoever. Severe learning difficulties and a multitude of sensory problems including continuous loud unintelligible sounds and restlessness make teaching and communicating with her a challenging task for her carers and teachers. Inspite of these obstacles she has responded to and enjoyed a number of activities at my service. She liked to swing and whilst swinging her Dr. Nusrat Ahmed (who at that time was undergoing training with me) would sing to her. It was obvious that she enjoyed music.
At my request Dr. Sohana Ahmed (Aadil’s music teacher at home) also worked with Fayeza during my AUA sessions. Without a doubt Naquib Khan’s “bhalo lagey” was her favourite song. She first heard this on one of Aadil’s audio cassettes. One day during our session she got up from the swing, crossed the room and tried pressing the cassette player to turn it on. That was the first time ever that Fayeza was able to express her own desire. I made copies of the songs she loved so she could hear them either when travelling in the car or in her own home. Fayeza has been attending the “Shurer Jadu” music class at Chhayanaut for several years and whenever she comes we try to sing “bhalo lagey” for her. Other aspects of my involvement with Fayeza include introducing ball skills to encourage turn taking and hand-eye coordination as well as community outings to restaurants(sitting with us at a table patiently while waiting for food to be served rather than wandering around or grabbing other peoples’ food) and shopping(learning the names of different fruit and vegetables as well as manuevering a shopping trolley and selecting items from the shelves).I have individually counselled both her parents when they have come to Bangladesh on holiday.
leedy hoque 