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[Sports Chosun Reporter Jo Yoon-sun] Jeong Jeong-a expressed her gratitude to those who have been worried about and supporting her and her son.
Jeong Jeong-a said on the 29th, “After watching the recent broadcast and articles, many people expressed their concerns and I’m thankful and sorry. Those who watched the broadcast until the end would know, but many people were surprised just by reading the article.”
She explained, “My son Haim received an autism diagnosis at 29 months, and then at another hospital, he was diagnosed with autism and intellectual disability for 2 years. I spent two years focusing on Haim. During those two years, we visited therapy centers, played and communicated with the child every day, and with prayers and efforts from those around us, my child received a recovery judgment in April 2024. Currently, we are only doing language therapy.”
She continued, “The conclusion was that Haim is now healthy and growing well, but because there were many articles with sensational headlines about autism, many people were worried. So, I want to say that now everything is okay. There are still cautious aspects since he is a child, but he is growing well.”
Jeong Jeong-a said, regarding revealing her child’s condition on the broadcast, “Two years ago, it was such a difficult thing that I couldn’t even mention it out loud, but now that it’s okay, I cautiously talked about it on the broadcast. The reason I talked about it on the broadcast is that there are too many parents like me raising such children, and there are too many difficult moments with the gaze of those around us, so I wanted to say that I hope our child grows up under more warm eyes.”
She added, “And these days, using the medical term autism spectrum, children are being raised in a situation where they are too confined and the circumstances force parents to have no choice but to raise them. I posted this with the intention of saying that there are many children like this and there are too many negative views, so let’s not be too desperate and overcome this together.”
Jeong Jeong-a said, “I receive many DMs personally. Many inquiries about how we treated it, what the treatment methods were, and where we received treatment. I have responded to them. However, it’s about how to treat our child. Not all children require treatment, so it seems that parents’ judgment is more important.”
She further expressed, “I think it is most important to better understand what kind of characteristics my child has and spend more time with him. When I first heard that my child had autism, I searched many websites and asked many questions. Everyone does the same. When your child is even slightly sick, don’t you want to know everything and be curious? So, I understand that feeling and will sincerely answer what I know, so please feel free to send me DMs without feeling sorry.”
Along with this, Jeong Jeong-a released a video showing her healthy son. In the video, Jeong Jeong-a’s son is seen playing happily with friends, striking a heart pose towards the camera, and displaying cute and charming gestures that make viewers smile.
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Meanwhile, on the 20th, Jeong Jeong-a appeared on MBN’s ‘Sokpulisho Dongchimi’ and revealed the heartbreaking story of her son, who she embraced after three miscarriages at the age of 44, receiving a past diagnosis of autism and intellectual disability.
Initially, Jeong Jeong-a couldn’t accept her son’s autism diagnosis and said, “When I had him examined at another hospital, he was diagnosed with autism plus intellectual disability. He couldn’t control himself, and his violent tendencies were severe,” shedding tears.
She then shared, “Even though he was the child I prayed for and gave birth to, I was anxious every morning, wondering what would happen next. I was pounding heartbeats in case he wouldn’t open his eyes. I finally couldn’t handle it, so I videotaped him and went to the hospital. The doctor saw him and said, ‘He is not autistic.’ He continued to receive autism diagnoses at other hospitals, but then they said, ‘He doesn’t have autism, but because of severe developmental delay, if left as he is, there could be personality disorders.’ They told me to always adjust to what the child wants. The cause of the condition was either severe violence or a deficiency disorder arising from parental neglect.”
Jeong Jeong-a, who focused solely on caring for her child for two years, stated, “In April, the doctor said that my child has improved so much that he no longer needs treatment. He can now go to kindergarten and even regular elementary school. Although he received that diagnosis, he is still receiving special education due to his disabilities. Nevertheless, he has improved a lot and received a lot of support.”