Sunday, August 17, 2008

THE JOY OF WAITING

working with children with autism has been very different. i noticed a few more important things which i needed to learn as i go through each day with my kids.

1. i need to learn how to hold back my prompts & gestures in getting my kids to carry out their tasks as our end-in-mind is to get them to be independent

2. i need to be consistent & regular in my daily routines & activities as autism has a big issue with spontaneous changes

3. i need to learn to wait to see results & wait for my kids to respond to the things that i do or how i behave

well, there are many other things which i've learnt & observed but there's just one thing i could draw out from for the past one month. which is learning how to wait.

as most of us would agree, we're in a microwave kinda era. we will always want things fast, results instanteously & high efficiency. similarly, i do want to see that in my work with these children too. but i've seen many incidences these few weeks which really made me pause and ponder over how i've been trying to set expectations for my kids. which have also resulted in a few self-frustrating moments.

i reflected over how i've gone past my first month at work & i've discovered the need for waiting. because if i wait, i get to see what causes the particular behaviour, what consequences do the child face, how can i go about dealing with the antecedent & how to be aware that i do not give the same kind of response again so that i won't set off or cause the child's stress level to accelerate again.

sometimes i struggle too. i struggle to have to wait, struggle to deal with my want for quick & fast results. but i realised that to wait with observations, to give myself checks in between & give the child time to process higher awareness, thats when i really know that i can be much more effective & efficient.

similarly, i would like to also apply this in my personal life. be it in my walk with God, ministry or even relationships. waiting seems a hard & difficult thing to do, to hestitate to allow in occuring & to procrastinate in speeding things up.

but i believe that there's a time for everything. thats when i learn in waiting, that is also allowing God to do His work into my life. and i know, thats also when i experience the joy of waiting despite circumstances & difficult moments :)

this song came to my mind as i looked through my week. true enough, it is divine that the band played this song during service today. which will be, my anchoring song for the moment.

You hold my every moment
You calm my raging seas
You walk with me through fire
And heal all my disease

I trust in You
I trust in You

I believe You're my Healer
I believe You are all I need
I believe You're my Portion
I believe You're more than enough for me
Jesus You're all I need

My Healer, You're my Healer

Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
Nothing is impossible for You
You hold my world in Your hands

she pens down @ 8:42 PM --------------------------------------------------------------