‘He Taught Us What Life Is Really About’: Young Maltese Woman On Brother With Autism
A young Maltese woman spoke about the beauty and joy that her brother, Zayn, who has autism, has brought to her and her family’s life.
“He taught us all what life is really about and what’s important in life,” Kelly Vassallo said about Zayn – who is a non-verbal adolescent – on Andrew Azzopardi’s RTK103 program on World Autism Awareness Day.
Kelly, as well as her father – prominent businessman and ‘shark’ investor Christian Vassallo – spoke candidly on the radio show about the challenges and lessons that 11-year-old Zayn has taught them.
The Vassallo family opened Hand in Hand, a school in Rabat that offers intervention underpinned by the principles of Applied Behavioural Analysis which benefits children with specific learning needs, autism, ADHD and other developmental disabilities.
The school is run by Christian, his wife, and Kelly, who is currently writing her thesis within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing. With a team of around 40 individuals — the majority of whom work full-time in clinical psychology – Hand in Hand has a mission to support the transition from this specialised school to inclusive settings.
“In a perfect world, Hand in Hand wouldn’t need to exist,” Christian said.
Interestingly, Christian shared that autism taught the family the importance of creating the healthiest possible environment to help their son reach his full potential. Kelly shared this sentiment, saying Zayn taught the family that the most important thing in life is health and happiness.
That being said, Zayn’s father was very open about the struggles he faced having to let go of certain expectations he had when he first had his son.
“This broke me mentally. But my drive as a father was greater than my ego.”
When he meets other fathers in similar situations he encourages them to not think about their grief but to focus their energy on the child who needs guidance. By doing this, the space for improvement is created and things that were once really bad, become a lot better.
“Zayn wakes up each morning laughing. Zayn never asked me for a PlayStation or a new pair of shoes because he’s nonverbal. All Zayn wants is your attention, all he wants is human contact,” he concluded.
See the full interview on RTK103.
Featured images: FreeHour Malta