'It Hurt But I Had To Let My Autistic Son Go To Let Him Grow – And For My Own Safety'

Being separated from her son was a solution this mother had to resort to for the sake of the family. Here’s her honest, heartbreaking story on raising a child with autism.

- Natalya Molok

It has been 24 hours and there is still no sign of Jean-Sebastien Choo since he stopped communicating with his parents. His mother, Choo Kah Ying, was worried sick until the call she had been waiting for finally came. It was the caretaker who was in charge of looking after her 22-year-old son all the way in Bali, Indonesia.

“I found him at home but he locked me out and refused to let me in for over two hours,” says the caretaker in frustration over the phone. “I don’t know how much longer I can go on caring for him when he’s like this.”

Kah Ying sighs. It is the same old story. Sebastien is autistic and she has been dealing with his erratic behaviour since he was diagnosed at just 18 months of age. She has become used to these meltdowns, which have become increasingly harder to manage as he grew from a shy little boy into an anxious young man.

After feeling threatened by her son’s growing physical strength and her inability to control his violent outbursts, Kah Ying made the difficult decision to send him away to Sari Hati School in Bali. It caters to children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities.

HEART-BREAKING SEPARATION