Ibrahim - Where In The Spectrum Does He Belong? [Paperback]

This is an autobiographical account of a mother¡¦s struggle to bring up a child with a learning disorder. It tells the story of Ibrahim Rahman and his struggle with Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder, (a speech and language disorder) part of the autistic spectrum of disorders. It highlights the lack of awareness of this condition within our society, but particularly within the Bangladeshi community where autism is not recognised.

I wrote this book to raise awareness of autism in our society.

This is an autobiographical account of a mother¡¦s struggle to bring up a child with a learning disorder. It tells the story of Ibrahim Rahman and his struggle with Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder, (a speech and language disorder) part of the autistic spectrum of disorders. It highlights the lack of awareness of this condition within our society, but particularly within the Bangladeshi community where autism is not recognised.
Written in a simple and straightforward style, the book traces Ibrahim¡¦s progress at each stage of his early life. It highlights his family¡¦s bewilderment as they try to make sense of his unusual behaviour and inappropriate speech.
As Ibrahim passes through nursery and first school, his mother is left searching for answers, determined to find the reasons behind her son¡¦s speech problems, eating disorder and lack of social skills. Whilst making slow progress at school, Ibrahim is shown to be a determined and likeable boy. Sometimes he becomes angry with his own limitations, but he is always strives to do his best. Every step forward is a cause of great joy for his mother, and there are many poignant moments as Ibrahim exceeds her expectations.
The book finally brings us up-to-date, when we reach the stage where Ibrahim starts secondary school, and you can feel the tension as his mother ponders on his ability to cope with his new responsibilities. She feels frustrated when Ibrahim repeatedly forgets the simplest of tasks, and her feelings of failure and disappointment are very moving. Ibrahim¡¦s vulnerability and difficulty with expressive language are still areas of concern for her, and she ends the book by explaining that Ibrahim still needs guidance in some areas of his life. However, he has made excellent progress and has overcome most of his difficulties. His mother is confident that he has a bright future ahead of him.

As we follow Ibrahim's journey, from birth through to his early teenage years, we observe how his struggle to overcome his severe language difficulties have impacted on so many other aspects of his development. Narrated by Ibrahim's mother, ultimately this is an inspiring tale which provides hope and
encouragement for those undergoing similar circumstances.

A Young boy¡¦s struggle with Semantic Pragmatic Language Disorder

Many people hear the term ¡¥autistic¡¦ and have some vague idea what it means. Autism is a life-long development disability and effects people in different ways. Autism is a spectrum disorder which means the condition has wide-ranging degrees of severity. You can have a child at one end of the spectrum with barely noticeable traits, whilst another at the other end of the spectrum has full blown autism.
One condition which comes within this spectrum is semantic pragmatic language disorder, a term which has been around for nearly 20 years and was only used to describe children who were not autistic. This was the diagnosis given to my son, Ibrahim, and this book will follow his progress from birth to his teenage years.
Before we commence, I would be useful to look at the common features of SPLD which include:
• delayed language development
• learning to talk by memorising phrases, instead of putting words together freely
• repeating phrases out of context, especially snippets remembered from television programmes
• muddling up 'I' and 'you'
• problems with understanding questions, particularly questions involving 'how' and 'why'
• difficulty following conversations
Children with this disorder have difficulty understanding what other people say to them, and they do not understand how to use speech to make themselves understood. Most of the children diagnosed as having semantic pragmatic disorder also have some mild autistic features. For example, they usually have difficulty understanding social situations and may not know what is expected of them. They also like to stick fairly rigidly to routines and need to have their day planned out for them. They also lack imaginative play and will tend to copy other people rather than think of their own ideas. This is the pattern followed by Ibrahim from about the age of two.
If we break the condition down into its two components, ¡¥Semantics¡¦ and ¡¥Pragmatics¡¦ we will have a better understanding of what the condition involves and why it develops.
Semantics is the aspect of language function that relates to understanding the meanings of words, phrases and sentences, and using words appropriately when we speak. Children with semantic difficulties have a very hard time understanding the meaning of words and sentences. They may have difficulty processing abstract words like 'justice' or 'valour', words that relate to feelings and emotions such as 'upset' and 'worried', and words that refer to status, for instance 'essential', 'expert' or 'authority'. They often take slang expressions literally or interpret them oddly and they are unable to understand the concept of sarcasm. They may not be able to identify the key point or topic in a sentence and because of this may suddenly make obscure changes to the subject being discussed, apparently thinking they are on the same subject.
Pragmatics is the area of language function that embraces the use of language in social contexts - knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it - and how to "be" with other people.
Children with pragmatic difficulties have great difficulty using language socially. For example, they often do not understand that we take turns to talk, and they will talk over the top of you, constantly interrupting at inappropriate times. On other occasions, they respond to what you say with inexplicable silences, or in a voice that is too quiet. When they interrupt, which they do excessively, it is usually to talk irrelevantly or to discuss things which the listener shows no interest in so that they appear rude and inconsiderate.

Semantic-Pragmatic-Language-Disorder
Children with SPLD have a language disorder that affects both semantic processing and the pragmatics of language use. Some authorities see SPLD as part of the autism spectrum of disorders while others see it purely as a language disorder. It is difficult to make an individual diagnosis because the symptoms vary immensely. Although the mistakes with words and phrases that you are about to encounter with Ibrahim can appear quite amusing, they can be extremely embarrassing and upsetting to the child. It is therefore important that family, peers, teachers and other adults apply great sensitivity in guiding the young person with SPLD.