Southern Luzon State University

College of Allied Medicine

NCM17 – Psychiatric Nursing

“Our Special Love”: Candy Pangilinan and her son, Quentin

Filipina actress, Candy Pangilinan,
has long been very open about her
upbringing with her only child who
was diagnosed with autism from such
a young age. Since 2011, she has been
positively sharing through her
YouTube channel her life and
experiences while raising her son,
Quentin. At the present, Quentin is a
17-year-old teenager and Candy is
very much aware of the public eye’s
focus on her son. However, instead of looking at some of the negative implications of this set-
up, she, instead centers her attention on the positive aspects of it such as being able to share
to other parents with a similar situation as her, her experiences and tips on how to nurture
children like her son.
In the video I attached in this narrative, Candy was not reluctant in showing the side
of Quentin that she struggles with from time to time. In the beginning of the video, it can be
observed that Candy and Quentin are attending an online mass. During the first few minutes,
Quentin can be seen with the inability to just sit still, no matter how many times Candy has
told him to do so. He kept arranging or moving the chairs around, flailing his hands in the air,
talking over the television audio, singing and even yelling at times. During these moments,
his mother repeatedly told him to keep quiet and sit still. As refusal to these requests,
Quentin answers disrespectfully, brushes off Candy, and not do as told. There were even
moments when Candy would ask him if how he was behaving during the online mass can be
considered proper conduct (as Quentin is training to become a sacristan), which he
answered “no” to yet still continued his acts.
After some time, he began crying
loudly in the kitchen and slightly banging
on the table. Candy tried to get his
attention many times, however, he still
refused to follow. Quentin can be heard
yelling “no sorry”. According to Candy, this
meant that he realizes his mistakes but is
not yet ready to own up to it and apologize.
His mother continued to ignore his pleas
which escalated his tantrum. Now, he is on the floor, bawling his eyes out, yelling and even
hitting himself on the head. Candy approached him, however he refused to be touched so he
moved away instead. A few more minutes into the video, his grandmother was already trying
to convince Candy to give in to Quentin, but Candy stated that she had to remain firm and

LICOTO, GIANA MAE C.

BSN3B
 Southern Luzon State University
College of Allied Medicine
NCM17 – Psychiatric Nursing

consistent and not give Quentin what he wanted. According to her, if she does, Quentin will
think that it is okay to throw a tantrum and will use such action again in the future to get
what he wants.
Once some minutes have passed, Quentin can be heard calling his nanny and mother
from his room. At this point, Candy believes he is now ready to apologize. He came back to
the living room, sat down and was less fussy than he was a few minutes ago. He was still
annoyed but had already apologized and realized his mistake. As what Candy said in the
video, he ate a lot of “otap” biscuits, which Quentin also admitted. Because of this, his tantrum
was triggered and caused him to not finish watching the online mass. At the end of the video,
Candy stated that she will be talking to Quentin off camera so that he will realize his mistake
and learn from what had happened.
REFLECTION
With the title “Handling Tantrums”, I had observed a lot from Candy Pangilinan’s vlog
wherein he interacted with his son, Quentin. As we know, Quentin is a child who has special
needs and is part of the autism spectrum. Honestly, after watching the specific video I
previously narrated above, I became interested in watching the other videos on the actress’
channel. From there, I had seen how Quentin behaved whether in public or in his own home
and how his mother coped with the challenges of his condition.
From this video alone, I had observed
many of the manifestations of the
developmental disorder that children with
autism have in Quentin. This includes the
speech skills or his atypical speech pattern
and tone of voice, the limited eye contact,
repetitive speech and behavior patterns like
when he repeatedly walks around, jumps or
flaps his arms, inability to maintain or
respond to conversations, and impaired
attention span. Most especially, in this
video, I had seen how he had difficulty understanding others’ feelings as well as expressing
his own and how he has unusually intense and prolonged emotional reactions.
From that, I realized how difficult it must be to live with such condition. It is not only
hard for the patient himself but also to the people around him because he has special needs
which requires therapy and training for the parent. For a single mother like Candy, she
admitted that it was definitely difficult in the beginning, especially when Quentin was still
really young. Accepting that her son was autistic was not that easy but she showed in her
videos, time and time again, that it is a process. As a mother, she stated that, even though,
she felt tired and exhausted, it has never crossed her mind to give up her son because she
loved him. With this, I realized that it can be straining for parents of children with autism to

LICOTO, GIANA MAE C.

BSN3B
 Southern Luzon State University
College of Allied Medicine
NCM17 – Psychiatric Nursing

raise their kids as well. This is why help should not only be given to the child but also to their
caregivers. According to Candy, as soon as she knew that her son had autism, she joined
support groups, went to therapy and really did her best to understand the condition of her
child so that she knew how to properly deal with her son’s symptoms,
I realized that children with autism does not only need medical support but also, they
need to build a strong support system. There are a lot of children with autism who may not
be as lucky and privileged as Quentin for having a celebrity mom who can provide his needs.
With autistic children who fall behind in the economic class, it can be a lot more difficult for
them to access health facilities and consistently receive utmost care that this condition
requires of them such as therapy sessions. I also realized that some of these kids may feel
that they are different from others because of the way they behave in comparison to ordinary
children. This leads me to believe that they are also prone to developing depression and a
feeling of isolation. Like I said, a well-established support system should be one of the top
priorities.
MANAGEMENT
For patients who are part of the autism
spectrum, some of the nursing
management and interventions that may
be implemented include the following:

 Remind caregivers of regular health

checkups, diagnostics and health
promotion teaching
 Provide detailed instructions to the
parent or person with autism to ensure
that their requirements are satisfied and to avoid a negative outcome
 Provide a platform for continuing advocacy for the whole healthcare team, including
nurse education on how to effectively care for patients with autism
 Maintain a concise care plan for the patient, including the best means for comfort
and communication, utilizing a card, color-code system (green, yellow, red
connected to pain, need, and urgency), image board, and simple sign language (pain,
water, hunger, and medicine)
 Work with the family before visits or procedures, to practice planned activities with
expected behaviors, and provide regular reminders throughout post-intervention
care to lessen fear and outbursts while encouraging patient participation
 Focus on adapting care according to the patient’s sensory sensitivity and capacity to
communicate
 Provide soothing interventions such as reducing the lights, using a weighted blanket
or vest, and allowing repeated movement that does not interfere with care

LICOTO, GIANA MAE C.

BSN3B
 Southern Luzon State University
College of Allied Medicine
NCM17 – Psychiatric Nursing

 Give specific instructions, ideally with a demonstration, such as instructing them to

keep their lips open and utter "ah" while examining their throat
 Advocate straightforward, unambiguous comments that begin with the patient's
name to increase information processing
 Consider assessing one or two body systems at a time to determine sensory
tolerance Instead of performing the whole head-to-toe evaluation
 Set clear goals for pleasant interactions while avoiding excessive speech and
physical stimulation to avoid challenges in completing an evaluation
 Translate understanding of autism into action by listening to people with autism
and their families
 Include particular critical information in the care plan, such as the best ways to
communicate or sensory stimuli to avoid for consistency of care
REFERENCES:
McBeth, A. O., Gary, A. & Schnetter, V. (2020). Nursing Made Incredibly Easy!:18, 2,
28-36, doi: 10.1097/01.NME.0000653180.86134.05
Characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). (n.d.)
https://www.aboutkidshealth.ca/article?contentid=1494&language=english#/
Hope, I. (2018). Autism Nursing Management. https://rnspeak.com/autism-nursing-
management/
Video source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goAyOej8foI&ab_channel=CandyPangilinan

LICOTO, GIANA MAE C.

BSN3B