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	<title>Comments on: Bittersweet: A Spiritual Perspective on Special Needs Parenting</title>
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	<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/</link>
	<description>Discourses in the Intellectual Traditions, Political Situation, and Social Ethics of Muslim Life</description>
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		<title>By: Sister</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-97242</link>
		<dc:creator>Sister</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 May 2011 10:12:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-97242</guid>
		<description>Salam Sister Hibah.

I am so inspired by you. The fact that you have three special needs children and what strength you have to endure such difficulty SubhanAllah. I would love to hear from you. My daughter of 2 months has spina bifida also, diagnosed at 20 week ultrasound. She is doing well Alhumdulilah but like your daughter we have been told she is to endure help from ortho, urology, physio. Allah knows best. Is is possible to email you? my add is: muslimah23@yahoo.co.uk</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Salam Sister Hibah.</p>
<p>I am so inspired by you. The fact that you have three special needs children and what strength you have to endure such difficulty SubhanAllah. I would love to hear from you. My daughter of 2 months has spina bifida also, diagnosed at 20 week ultrasound. She is doing well Alhumdulilah but like your daughter we have been told she is to endure help from ortho, urology, physio. Allah knows best. Is is possible to email you? my add is: <a href="mailto:muslimah23@yahoo.co.uk">muslimah23@yahoo.co.uk</a></p>
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		<title>By: RaheHaq</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-90850</link>
		<dc:creator>RaheHaq</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:46:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-90850</guid>
		<description>This is very good site ...May Allah Bless You All for this effort....
I;m also working on NEW ISLAMIC WEBSITE please visit &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.rahehaq.net/&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;RaheHaq&lt;/a&gt; to Learn Islam. Thanks
JazakAllah</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is very good site &#8230;May Allah Bless You All for this effort&#8230;.<br />
I;m also working on NEW ISLAMIC WEBSITE please visit <a href="http://www.rahehaq.net/" rel="nofollow">RaheHaq</a> to Learn Islam. Thanks<br />
JazakAllah</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Kay</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-90351</link>
		<dc:creator>Kay</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:51:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-90351</guid>
		<description>Assalamu &#039;alaykum,

Wow. Jazakallu khayr for this excellent post. Your thoughts are thoughts that rattle in my mind as well about the personal fitan I have experienced in my own personal life. Fitan can last forever or as long as you live..subhanAllah.

What&#039;s more is that I had a student with autism in my class. His mother could not control him in the home while the teachers could control him in school, I see how desperate she is for help and how hard these parents are judged. May Allah make it easy for you and others inshaAllah. I can tell that you will do a fine job sister inshaAllah.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Assalamu &#8216;alaykum,</p>
<p>Wow. Jazakallu khayr for this excellent post. Your thoughts are thoughts that rattle in my mind as well about the personal fitan I have experienced in my own personal life. Fitan can last forever or as long as you live..subhanAllah.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s more is that I had a student with autism in my class. His mother could not control him in the home while the teachers could control him in school, I see how desperate she is for help and how hard these parents are judged. May Allah make it easy for you and others inshaAllah. I can tell that you will do a fine job sister inshaAllah.</p>
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		<title>By: Abez</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-90348</link>
		<dc:creator>Abez</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Feb 2011 18:39:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-90348</guid>
		<description>May Allah bless you and your husband and your beautiful daughter and keep you happy and strong in Iman in this life, and reunite you with sight and peace of mind and joy in the next. :)  Ameen!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>May Allah bless you and your husband and your beautiful daughter and keep you happy and strong in Iman in this life, and reunite you with sight and peace of mind and joy in the next. :)  Ameen!</p>
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		<title>By: Norsyeila Abdullah</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-89983</link>
		<dc:creator>Norsyeila Abdullah</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 15:25:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-89983</guid>
		<description>IZZAH
                                        Assalamualaikum. My husband and I have a child who has autism and she is blind too. She can&#039;t take care of herself. She does not walk on her own.She holds one&#039;s back when she walks and she refuses to hold anything which can assist her to walk. She is very strong though. She refuses to listen to anything we tell her. We feel if only she listens it will make things easier. The blind school refuses to accept her saying she is incapable of looking after herself and the spastic school refuses her because she is blind. So, we just teach her at home. 
                                          In the early stage, my husband refuses to accept that she is blind. He always was positive that she would see. i on the other hand accepted fate. I teach her to recite her A,B,C&#039;s ,name&#039;s of animals, fruits,things, vehicles,planets,months ,days,numbers and so on. She learns fast.At three years old she recites her surah well. She sings well and she has a very sweet voice. She can recite &quot;YAASIN&quot; and we love to listen to it. Alhamdulillah  for such wonder. 
                                         But then when she grew older, when she was ten she stopped singing or reciting. She would start a few lines and ask me to continue. If i pretend not to listen she will repeat the words again and again and again until i continued. And this is going on until now.
                                         Now she is sixteen years old. A sweet, beautiful and wonderful person who is always smiling and making others laugh at her words. Although we go through problems like she does not let us sleep at night and she repeats words all the time and she still users diapers and we have to feed her, bathe her, bring her to the toilet, wait with her while she finishes her business and we are pretty handicapped like she is because we cannot go to a wedding or a movie or a gathering, we are still very happy. We will never give her away even for millions and millions of dollars.
                                         She brings great joy into our family especially in me and I thamk ALLAH for it

Thank you sister Abez for your wonderul sharing. I am so blessed to come across it.Syukur Alhamdulillah..</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>IZZAH<br />
                                        Assalamualaikum. My husband and I have a child who has autism and she is blind too. She can&#8217;t take care of herself. She does not walk on her own.She holds one&#8217;s back when she walks and she refuses to hold anything which can assist her to walk. She is very strong though. She refuses to listen to anything we tell her. We feel if only she listens it will make things easier. The blind school refuses to accept her saying she is incapable of looking after herself and the spastic school refuses her because she is blind. So, we just teach her at home.<br />
                                          In the early stage, my husband refuses to accept that she is blind. He always was positive that she would see. i on the other hand accepted fate. I teach her to recite her A,B,C&#8217;s ,name&#8217;s of animals, fruits,things, vehicles,planets,months ,days,numbers and so on. She learns fast.At three years old she recites her surah well. She sings well and she has a very sweet voice. She can recite &#8220;YAASIN&#8221; and we love to listen to it. Alhamdulillah  for such wonder.<br />
                                         But then when she grew older, when she was ten she stopped singing or reciting. She would start a few lines and ask me to continue. If i pretend not to listen she will repeat the words again and again and again until i continued. And this is going on until now.<br />
                                         Now she is sixteen years old. A sweet, beautiful and wonderful person who is always smiling and making others laugh at her words. Although we go through problems like she does not let us sleep at night and she repeats words all the time and she still users diapers and we have to feed her, bathe her, bring her to the toilet, wait with her while she finishes her business and we are pretty handicapped like she is because we cannot go to a wedding or a movie or a gathering, we are still very happy. We will never give her away even for millions and millions of dollars.<br />
                                         She brings great joy into our family especially in me and I thamk ALLAH for it</p>
<p>Thank you sister Abez for your wonderul sharing. I am so blessed to come across it.Syukur Alhamdulillah..</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Abez</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-87404</link>
		<dc:creator>Abez</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:04:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-87404</guid>
		<description>JazakAllahuKheiran, and Ameen :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>JazakAllahuKheiran, and Ameen :)</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Abez</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-87403</link>
		<dc:creator>Abez</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 07:03:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-87403</guid>
		<description>JazakAllahuKheiran, Hibah- for sharing as well.  SubhanAllah, may Allah increase you in sabr and ajr and open the gates for Jannah for you and your very special children. :)  At the very least, any time we think we have it hard we can always find someone who has it harder, and is probably doing better, too!  

Lots of hugs, Sister Abez</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>JazakAllahuKheiran, Hibah- for sharing as well.  SubhanAllah, may Allah increase you in sabr and ajr and open the gates for Jannah for you and your very special children. :)  At the very least, any time we think we have it hard we can always find someone who has it harder, and is probably doing better, too!  </p>
<p>Lots of hugs, Sister Abez</p>
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		<title>By: hibahmac</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-87379</link>
		<dc:creator>hibahmac</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2011 23:56:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-87379</guid>
		<description>As-salaamu &#039;alaykum,
AlhamduliLlah for coming to this page and reading this post. It&#039;s a tear-jerker for me - I&#039;m also a special needs mom. Of my four children, three have diagnosed special needs. My oldest was born with spina bifida and we&#039;ve gone through multiple surgeries to deal with associated brain, spinal, orthopedic and urological concerns as well as therapies for her developmental issues. Our second and third child have ADHD and PDDNOS, respectively. And our little one - he&#039;s following suit with speech delay which we plan to have evaluated soon and also see if it&#039;s part of something else.
MashaAllah, so many have made absolutely beautiful points, points that I intend to carry forward with me, inshaAllah. So many times I&#039;ve been asked - how do you do it? - and my answer is always &#039;How can I not &#039;do&#039; it?&#039; As in, this is Allah&#039;s decree - there is no way to go with this but forward in the best way that I can. You rise to the occasion, advocate for your child, and do the best you can, forgiving yourself a little each day that you did not do a,b,c or that you missed x,y,z of the ideal for your child.
What a great service to the ummah this post as been. Jazaakum Allahu khairain. Wassalam ~ Hibah</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As-salaamu &#8216;alaykum,<br />
AlhamduliLlah for coming to this page and reading this post. It&#8217;s a tear-jerker for me &#8211; I&#8217;m also a special needs mom. Of my four children, three have diagnosed special needs. My oldest was born with spina bifida and we&#8217;ve gone through multiple surgeries to deal with associated brain, spinal, orthopedic and urological concerns as well as therapies for her developmental issues. Our second and third child have ADHD and PDDNOS, respectively. And our little one &#8211; he&#8217;s following suit with speech delay which we plan to have evaluated soon and also see if it&#8217;s part of something else.<br />
MashaAllah, so many have made absolutely beautiful points, points that I intend to carry forward with me, inshaAllah. So many times I&#8217;ve been asked &#8211; how do you do it? &#8211; and my answer is always &#8216;How can I not &#8216;do&#8217; it?&#8217; As in, this is Allah&#8217;s decree &#8211; there is no way to go with this but forward in the best way that I can. You rise to the occasion, advocate for your child, and do the best you can, forgiving yourself a little each day that you did not do a,b,c or that you missed x,y,z of the ideal for your child.<br />
What a great service to the ummah this post as been. Jazaakum Allahu khairain. Wassalam ~ Hibah</p>
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		<title>By: Rafiq &#38; Zarina</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-84856</link>
		<dc:creator>Rafiq &#38; Zarina</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 19 Dec 2010 13:52:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-84856</guid>
		<description>AssalamoAlaykum,
My Son Altaf has the Nuerological disorder. Born in Houston, Texas. He is 18 but his brain is at the age of 4-6. He looks normal. Hi is a very social person. Wants meet everybody and talks to every body he meets.
This is the first time he want to pray Tarabih al,ost evryday and prayed with the Zamat al 20 Rakats.
He is in school in the 10 grade. The Public School is the best think happed to him. His present and all past teachers and fellow students Love him and respect him a lot. 
Altaf has the most loving family, his mother (My wife) is like a slave to him and has dedicated her life for him. His two sisters just love him and take him to mosque, movie, shopping, friendly get together. 
Sister Tamarah I can understand what you are going through and reading your article has given us the strength and courage to prepare us for the future. May Allah help us all.
Wasalam
Rafiq</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>AssalamoAlaykum,<br />
My Son Altaf has the Nuerological disorder. Born in Houston, Texas. He is 18 but his brain is at the age of 4-6. He looks normal. Hi is a very social person. Wants meet everybody and talks to every body he meets.<br />
This is the first time he want to pray Tarabih al,ost evryday and prayed with the Zamat al 20 Rakats.<br />
He is in school in the 10 grade. The Public School is the best think happed to him. His present and all past teachers and fellow students Love him and respect him a lot.<br />
Altaf has the most loving family, his mother (My wife) is like a slave to him and has dedicated her life for him. His two sisters just love him and take him to mosque, movie, shopping, friendly get together.<br />
Sister Tamarah I can understand what you are going through and reading your article has given us the strength and courage to prepare us for the future. May Allah help us all.<br />
Wasalam<br />
Rafiq</p>
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		<title>By: HUMA</title>
		<link>http://muslimmatters.org/2010/07/21/bittersweet-a-spiritual-perspective-on-special-needs-parenting/#comment-82464</link>
		<dc:creator>HUMA</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 05 Dec 2010 19:25:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://muslimmatters.org/?p=16309#comment-82464</guid>
		<description>I was looking for printable autism cards online for my son when i came upon your article. I too am a mother with a 10 year old son with autism. He was a perfectly normal child, reaching all his milestones on time. Then at age 2 he began to change, he lost all verbal communication, stopped playing with his toys, lost eye contact and became aloof and in his own world.  It was as if my loving, playful full of life child was replaced with sadness, emptiness, and hurt. i would not hear Mama from his lips again until 6 yrs later. My son is now 10 yrs old, he communicates thru pictures and is able to say words.He is still far from a typical 10 year old but he has come along way from when he was diagnosed. I have all the same concerns about his future and his life after we are gone. I was very touched by your article. My son has receive services for Early Intervention till age 3, and is still receiving a multitude of services provided by the state. There are a lot of resources out there for parents like us, and valuable information about special needs trust. You can check out Autism Speaks website for more info, just google them.
I believe Allah has given us these special children so that we can learn acceptance, patience, and love and in the process we become  better human beings and much better muslims.
I hope that you will communicate with me so that we can continue to share thoughts and help eachother

Huma</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I was looking for printable autism cards online for my son when i came upon your article. I too am a mother with a 10 year old son with autism. He was a perfectly normal child, reaching all his milestones on time. Then at age 2 he began to change, he lost all verbal communication, stopped playing with his toys, lost eye contact and became aloof and in his own world.  It was as if my loving, playful full of life child was replaced with sadness, emptiness, and hurt. i would not hear Mama from his lips again until 6 yrs later. My son is now 10 yrs old, he communicates thru pictures and is able to say words.He is still far from a typical 10 year old but he has come along way from when he was diagnosed. I have all the same concerns about his future and his life after we are gone. I was very touched by your article. My son has receive services for Early Intervention till age 3, and is still receiving a multitude of services provided by the state. There are a lot of resources out there for parents like us, and valuable information about special needs trust. You can check out Autism Speaks website for more info, just google them.<br />
I believe Allah has given us these special children so that we can learn acceptance, patience, and love and in the process we become  better human beings and much better muslims.<br />
I hope that you will communicate with me so that we can continue to share thoughts and help eachother</p>
<p>Huma</p>
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