Mother rallies for autism awareness
When Kimberley Brown-Muthra discovered her son was autistic, she feared for the worst. However, the mother of five-year-old Kareem Muthra was soon to discover she would have a gifted child on her hands.
Each individual with autism is unique. A brain disorder in which communication with others is difficult, autism has a range of symptoms from high to low. In July 2013, Brown-Muthra visited the offices of developmental paediatrician Dr Andrea Garbutt where, after a two-hour assessment, she discovered Kareem was a high functioning autistic child.
High-functioning autism refers to autistic individuals who perform at a higher cognitive level than others and who often possess exceptional visual, music and academic skills.
“I cried at the doctor’s office that day when we found out,” Brown-Muthra said.
“I thought this was something that I gave to him, but really no one knows the cause of autism. After the assessment, Dr Garbutt said Kareem is actually ‘Einstein brilliant’.”
Kareem attends a non-special needs prep school and outside of that, he participates in occupational therapy sessions to assist his motor skills and behavioural development. While he is the pride and joy of his family, Brown-Muthra attests that life can be difficult.
“The meltdowns are the worst; sometimes when he doesn’t get what he wants he doesn’t take it well and it takes a while to calm him down. But you have to know how to deal with special-needs children and it requires a lot of patience. You have to remember that getting frustrated does not help the situation.”
Other challenges include having her son interact with or be in the care of persons who are not knowledgeable about autism and dealing with Kareem’s specific dietary habits.
“He is very particular about what he eats. He also doesn’t like to sleep which is common to autistic children. He is never tired and sometimes I can’t even keep up with him!” she exclaimed.
Despite this, Brown-Muthra keeps a positive outlook as believes her son will be a high achiever like other famous high functioning autists.
“My son is so brilliant. He’s in grade one and doing grade two maths and soon he’ll be moving up to grade three. I just hope he can get in the zone to do something great with his life,” she said.
Until that day, the credit and collections analyst at Digicel dedicates her time to special needs awareness. Brown-Muthra is a member of the Jamaica Autism Support Association and supporter of the Digicel Foundation 5K Run/Walk, which takes place on Saturday, October 11.
“Due to a back injury I won’t be able to run or walk in the 5K this year but I am volunteering to work on the day and encouraging people to sign up. I will be signing up my family and friends to walk for me,” she said.
Proceeds of the Digicel Foundation 5K Run/Walk will go towards scholarships at 10 special-needs institutions across Jamaica.
A high-five for mom.
Mom Kimberley Brown-Muthra hugs her super intelligent son Kareem.
The Muthra family with Kareem, mom Kimberley and dad Kamal.