With Yassir , diagnosed with autism,  life has another taste. 

At first we didn't know about autism and it was years later when Yassir was 4 years old that we suspected a case of autism in our son. Thanks to the internet, we started to be familiar with this mental condition. I would often surf the net trying search engines  for keywords like 'mental retardation', 'mental handicap', and later 'Autism' .

A friend om mine ,Barbara J.  who lives in Washington DC, sent me ,among other things, some printed material on how to diagnose autism. I found out that my son's case fitted more than 7 of the caracteristics that an autist displays. Thus Yassir: (Characteristics observed up to Dec 1999)

·          used to resist change in clothes , but no longer.

·          severe language deficit: Yasser doesn't talk though he 's able to utter all kinds of alphabet sounds.

·          he has difficulty in expressing needs. He doesn't use gestures or points to things; when he needs water ,for example, he takes you by the hand and leads you to the kitchen or the nearest glass in the room.

·          laughs very often but for no apparent reasons.

·          it is very difficult to have an eye contact with him , and almost impossible to catch his attention and sustain it for a while.

·          likes to spin objects.

·          He is hyperactive.

·          Doesn't respond to verbal cues and acts as if deaf alhough hearing test is normal.

·          he has uneven gross motor skills (in his case: he loves stalking blocks but not interested in kicking a ball though he observes other boys doing it.