Parents With Autistic Children Should Not Shy Away - M'sian PM's Wife

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Parents of autistic children should not be shy of the condition of their kids, but should keep on supporting and helping them achieve their best according to their strength. The prime minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor said even though autistic children might be having weaknesses compared to normal ones, they usually had amazing talent in certain areas. She said this during a meeting with Malaysia's first Savant Autistic Artist, Delwin Cheah Wien Loong, 8, who has been recognised as the World's Youngest Savant Autistic Artist To Hold A Solo Art Exhibition by the Record Setter USA. The solo exhibition was held in Penang last year, featuring over 70 of his own original artworks, which also had been recognised in the Malaysia Book of Records. Also present was his father, Lawrence Cheah Guan Keong, mother Erina Law Mei Sun and sister Delwina Cheah Kah Yan. Rosmah, who is also the patron for the Permata programme, said the family would also assist in creating awareness about autism and sharing their experiences through the Permata Kurnia programme, a programme specially designed for autistic children. She said it included speaking at the International Autism Conference which will be held in April, for some parents who had a difficult time raising autistic children and the sharing of experiences might help them. Cheah was diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome at the age of five, and has a difficulty in expressing of communication during the younger years. Despite this problem, he had scored 114 on his non-verbal IQ test, has a special ability of memorising almost all the animals and started to draw at the age of three. Cheah was discovered as a Savant Autistic Artist, a prodigious or genius savant. Less than 50 such people are still living in the world today, and Cheah is the youngest savant in the team of Strokes of Genius USA. -- BERNAMA