Shalani Weerawardana මට හම්බුනේ පෙජ් එක හරහා.අපි එකට සම්බන්ධ වුනේ අපේ දරුවන්ගේ විවිධත්වයට ගෞරවාන්විත ඉඩක් මේ සමාජේ නිර්මාණය කරන්න. මට අද දැනෙනවා අපි එකතු වෙලා අපේ දරුවන්ට Safe Space එකක් හැදුවාය කියලා මේ පේජ් එක හරහා.ඒක පොඩි ඉඩක්.ඒත් ඒ ඉඩ විශාල පරාසයකට වැඩි කරගන්න අනාගතයේ අපිට ඉඩක් ලැබෙයි.

මනුශ්‍යයින් විදියට අපිට ආදරය කරන්න පුළුවන් වෙන්න ඕනේ අනෙකාගේ විවිධත්වයට. අපිට පුළුවන් වෙන්න ඕනේ ගෞරව කරන්න විවිධත්වයට. ස්වාභාව ධර්මයෙන් විවිධත්වය එක්ක අපේ දරුවන්‍ට ලබා දීලා තියනවා සදාකාලිකව වෙනස් නොවෙනා පිරිසිදු හිත්. ඒ හිත් වලට සමහර විට මේ ලෝකය කොයිතරම් සංකීර්ණද සහ මනුශ්‍ය ගනුදෙනු වල හැඩය වටහා ගන්න අපහසු වෙන්න පුළුවන්. ඒත් මට ඕනේ අපි සමාජයක් විදියට එකතු වෙලා සෑම ඔටිසම් දරුවෙක්ගේම එයාලා දකින ලස්සන ලෝකය බිඳෙන්නේ නැති වෙන්න ආරක්ෂා කරලා දෙන්න. මේ ඉඩ ඇතුළේ ඇහෙන්න ඕනේ එමලිගේ හඬ විතරක් නෙමේ. එමලිගේ සහෝදර සහෝදරියන්ගේ හඩත් ඇහෙන්න ඕනේ. සමාජයට එකතු වෙන්න ඕනේ අපි තවදුරටත් Invisible නෑ කියන ඒ හඩ. Shalani ඔයාට ස්තූතියි මේ ගමනට මට හයියක් වෙනවට.

Meet Jithma

This is my son, Jithma. He is 21, nonverbal, and has level 3 autism, intellectual disability, and sensory processing disorder. He has the most beautiful smile and the sweetest laugh. The way he is growing in front of my eyes makes me realize that it’s okay to be different.

Over the years, I have faced massive regression, bruises, meltdowns, burnout, and constant head banging. You name it, I have gone through all of it and SURVIVED.

He taught me so much: patience that I never knew existed and acceptance of life’s challenges.

I am glad that I came across your page, and I love Emily’s content, which is loaded with cuteness.

You are an amazing mum. Your courage and strength inspired me to open up in the group.

I believe autism is something to Understand, Support, and Embrace; Real progress comes from Acceptance.

Understanding Jithma’s Eating Challenges

There are many unique reasons why a child might have eating challenges, so it was important to understand the hidden causes behind Jithma’s food aversions. His eating habits became very challenging ; there were days when he refused to eat and relied only on milk and juice.

Our supervisor suggested getting help from a medical professional to check for underlying medical issues, as these can contribute to selective eating. It turned out that Jithma had certain food allergies/intolerances and severe acid reflux. Later, he was diagnosed with IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). He still takes an IBS-support probiotic.

Once the medical issues were addressed, we noticed his eating patterns didn’t fully change, so we explored other possible factors. We looked at his sensory preferences, the foods he enjoyed, the textures he avoided, and his overall eating habits. With this understanding, we created a supportive plan that respected his comfort levels while gently expanding his food experiences. Teachers at school also supported these approaches during school hours.

Here are some of the strategies we used:

• Keeping a predictable meal schedule with balanced options.
• Presenting different foods together without forcing him to eat any specific item.
• Offering meals as a family so eating stayed social and pressure-free.
• Making mealtimes enjoyable and varied ; sometimes outdoors or at special settings (though not every idea happened, like picnics ).
• Encouraging gradual steps with new foods ; starting with looking, smelling, touching, or licking before trying a bite.
• Making food exploration fun and low-pressure, without linking it to rewards or punishments.

We adapted the plan many times based on Jithma’s needs. There were challenges along the way, but his food tolerance has grown, and now he tries new foods more willingly. Most importantly, his Nutritional needs are met, and mealtime is no longer a source of stress for him.