We invited Ahkee, a dedicated student in our Teen and Adult Program (TAP), to share his journey with us. His heartfelt reflections offer a powerful glimpse into the impact of our program, and we’re honored to share his inspiring words with you.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you enjoy doing in your free time?

Ahkee: I love watching tv, playing video games, listening to music, watching YouTube, being on Instagram, playing my word search game and drawing! 

What do you like most about being part of the TAP program at Dar-us-Sakina?

Ahkee: What I love most the most about Dar-us-Sakina is being around a lot of people and hanging out with them!

Have you learned something new in the program that you're proud of? If so, can you share it with us?

Ahkee: What I learned about something new in the program that I’m proud of is that you gotta love everybody around the world including Allah because he gave you life to do a lot of good deeds and be nice and kind to everyone so you can go to Jinnah and we all want that! 

What is your favorite activity or subject to focus on during the TAP program sessions?

Ahkee: My favorite activity to focus on during the TAP program sessions is money! It’s very easy to count money and you can do better if you keep trying by practicing every day so you can buy a lot of stuff!

Q. How has the TAP program helped you in your daily life or personal growth?

Ahkee: The TAP program helped me in my daily life by exercising and drinking a lot of water and being very healthy even though I haven’t been exercising a lot but I have been drinking a lot of water because it’s very important to feel better and have a lot of energy and your skin won’t look bad by having a lot of acne and you can lose weight and build some muscles!

What is a goal or dream you have for yourself, and how do you think DUS is helping you get closer to it?

Ahkee: My goal that I have for myself is to become the better person I am today so that everybody will love and support me because I want to do a lot of things that are very creative and productive so I can make all of my family and my friends happy and Dar-us-Sakina is helping me get closer to it and I really appreciate them very very much! 

Can you share a memorable moment or experience you've had at DUS that makes you happy?

Ahkee: I love going on field trips with one of my friends every month because it is fun and awesome and what I really loved the most about Dar-us-Sakina is that they had the gala and it was one of the most best experiences that I have ever had in my life because I had a chance to get on stage and sing in front of everybody! It was such an awesome moment! I love singing and dancing to music a lot and I was very happy being in a lot of choir performances with all of my friends singing at the Harris Center and it just feels so great! I feel like being at a concert performing!

Is there something you’d like people to know about autism or how it has shaped who you are?

Ahkee: At first, I didn’t know anything about autism because my brother Cameron has autism as well, but I learned that autism is something people don’t understand and me and my brother wish we didn’t have autism especially me because… I don’t know how to explain it. I really haven’t been doing a lot of research on autism but I just keep thinking about a lot of crazy stuff in my head and I can’t control it. I tend to do a lot of crazy stuff by acting upon my thoughts and it was very very hard for me. Sometimes I ask myself, “Why am I doing this when all I have to do is just sit down and do a lot of activities to get my mind off of things?” It seems like I do it on purpose but I try my best to control my brain. I don’t know what’s wrong with me sometimes. I always thought that autism was very difficult and I wish I was everybody else around the world who don’t have autism. 

Sometimes I just want to be normal and not do anything crazy. But my parents told me that everybody is different and Allah made them that way. The whole world would be boring if everybody had the same personality,  like if everybody was smart like me for example. So to everybody who has autism, I would just say love yourself. You don’t have to be like everybody else. There are some people out there who have behavioral problems where they can’t act right and don’t listen, but you gotta love them just the way they are.

January 30, 2025
Jami Sabety-Atto