{"id":10103,"date":"2023-07-31T11:48:14","date_gmt":"2023-07-31T01:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=10103"},"modified":"2023-10-03T16:42:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T05:42:42","slug":"would-you-like-to-make-a-difference-like-shafica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/would-you-like-to-make-a-difference-like-shafica\/","title":{"rendered":"Would you like to make a difference like Shafica?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shafica noticed signs of autism in her baby son Ayoub very early on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a brother and sister on the spectrum, so autism is an old friend of ours,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy concerns were validated when I met with our RCH clinician, Dr Georgie Paxton, when Ayoub was 18-months old.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first clinician had been dismissive, but I finally felt supported and heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had started early intervention when he was one, as I had already seen some red flags.\u00a0I feel this almost gave us a head start and helped him develop and find support while I was raising him.\u201d<\/p>\n

At six years old, Ayoub spent a few weeks admitted at the RCH after his appendix burst and an infection caused some of his organs to begin shutting down.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a very difficult two weeks. Due to his sensory processing, all the tubes and the whole process of surgery and recovery was really traumatic for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RCH was very supportive and really went above and beyond to accommodate him and his needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayoub was also recently diagnosed with ADHD\/ADD, however Shafica says his medication is having a positive influence on his learning.\u00a0Despite these hurdles, Shafica says Ayoub is thriving.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is doing amazing, with continuous support and a great team of professionals that are involved through his journey of development.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now a few weeks shy of turning 10, Ayoub adores playing soccer and is passionate about dragons. He\u2019s a gentle, caring, and compassionate young boy.<\/p>\n

Due to Ayoub\u2019s autism and higher needs, Shafica was no stranger to advocacy when she was invited to join the RCH\u2019s Family Advisory Council (FAC).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our duty to spread as much awareness to whomever we can too, to support the community to best assist and grow with children who have special needs,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the FAC, I sit alongside some great individuals, whom are parents from all walks of life, with many different hats and responsibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shafica\u2019s keen for more people to consider joining her on the FAC.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you feel like you would like to make a difference and can be a voice for those who need it most, don\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team is very accommodating and it\u2019s a great platform to make change and to ensure a better experience for the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are our children\u2019s best advocates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FAC is on the lookout for new members. If you or someone you know is keen to make a difference like Shafica to the services we deliver, visit www.rch.org.au\/fac\/be_involved<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shafica noticed signs of autism in her baby son Ayoub very early on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":10105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8971,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10103"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10164,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10103\/revisions\/10164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}