All About Autism
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Here's my experience. I had a rejection from Kinderland 2 yrs ago that was something similar. They said they already had one autistic girl there and they are unable to cope.
At first I was super angry :mad: of course but after calming down, I realise they have a point lah. If they are ill equipped to handle ASD kids then it is detrimental to force them into such an environment.
If you still want to go to a mainstream kinder, do note that they will probably not take in students that declare ASD. But even if you don’t declare, they will find out anyway and might advise you to put in a special needs school during the teacher-parent conference. By then, time and effort wasted when early intervention or EIPIC is crucial.
Do a bit of research around your area and do school visits to see if they are suitable.There are some preschools that take in mild cases but they will require a pre-assessment to see if the kid is able to cope.
Take care and don’t dwell too much on the letter’s contents ok? -
I don’t know what is the context before the response, but where this is a mainstream pre-school, I honestly don’t find anything wrong with the reply. In fact, I respect that the school is candid enough to inform that it does not have the capacity to take care of special needs children. This could be better than claiming more than what it can actually do.
I try to bear in mind not to be too self-righteous in expecting everybody to accommodate to my needs simply because I have a special needs child. Special needs or not, life goes on.
JMHO. -
Thanks imeemee.
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Thanks belachanbabe
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niu2009
speech delayed by 6mth - 1yr based on speech test
poor social skills eg lack social tact, space invader
impulsive, hyperactive, problem in focusing (as compared to same age group children)
poor handwriting skills
auditory hypersensitive
i dont mind most of them but nonverbal communication i find it worrying. its not easy to teach how you should react in each n every single social setting/scenario. it can be taught but it must be learned on his own eventually. how to teach him to read people or situations? he must understand before he can learn. -
boney:
Hi Boney,
If you can't find unsweetened almond milk selling in the supermarket, chances are that they don't sell it anywhere else. Even if they do, you'll be likely to have to travel very far just to buy it. And milk is heavy, still must carry home!af7680:
Dear mummies
My son has been drinking my breast milk as i had extra after feeding 2nd one but now I am weaning off 2nd one , has to find alternative milk as he still likes to drink .
So Tried rice milk but he reject immediately
Tried sweeten almond milk and seems he likes it. But i don't want him to drink it cos its too sweet !
Do you know where I can buy unsweeten almond milk ? Thank you
Why not you make your own almond milk so you can control the sugar level? If you go to the Chinese medicine shop to buy 'north and south' almonds or 杏仁 (ask the uncle/auntie there they know the best), they'll weigh the proportion and portion that you need for your one portion. At home, soak the almonds and then put the almonds and the amount of water they advise you to add into the blender and blend. After that put through coffee strainer and squeeze all the 'juice' out. Quick and easy.
Since you posted in this thread, I assume your child has autism. If he has sensory issues as well you might get him to help you to squeeze the almond out, he might enjoy the process and enjoy drinking homemade almond milk more because he likes to help to squeeze the almond milk.
Of course, a child with ASD might not be able to tahan the sudden loud noise from the blender, so if really bo bian maybe can help him by getting another family member to entertain him in a room far away from the kitchen or blend when he is not in the house. If not ear muffs might help (those noise protection type, not winter type). Also, if you were to pulse for the same number of seconds (e.g. you put timer for 90 seconds pulsing and then stop), and the serve him milk soon after, he might find the noise more bearable as he'll learn to associate the temporary noise with the milk drink that he likes.
Finally, if you cannot afford to squeeze almond juice for him all the time, what you can do is to slowly dilute almond milk with another alternative such as milk formula or soy milk (assuming no allergies). Also, if his reaction to homemade almond milk is not good, same thing, slowly dilute with something he is familiar with first. Of course, make sure you do this out of his sight. You don't want him to sense anything amiss.
What was he drinking between the time he stopped having breast milk and the birth of your second child? You can use that as a target, so say 9 parts almond + 1 part target, and then increase target proportion with time.
All the best & keep us updated on how it goes!
appreicate your kind advise in details.
based on your detailed advice, presume you are making almond juice by yourself too
i printed out your instruction and will go down to buy almond and try.
after posting here, i called coldstorage head office and asked them which brach carries unsweeten almond milk and manage to find one near my house. but then again, the package says it contains other ingredient other than Almond itself so i guess if i can make it , it will be best.
dr says my son is \"suspected\" asd (she said he might be borderline case).
she wants to monitor....however she said he needs early intervention to help him etc...
true that he got some sensory issue that he cant take \"blender\" and acume machine noise . he will scream/cry. but the thing is that sometime he will be ok when distracted but other times not ok. so really not sure if that noise really hurts him or not.
he has been drinking sweetened almond milk so far after stopping breastmilk.
now as i bought a unsweetened almond milk, he tried and he doesnt like.... i have to slowly unsweetened the milk by mixing...
right now, he is asking for orange juice which is sweet
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pixiepixel:
Hi pixiepixe，niu2009
speech delayed by 6mth - 1yr based on speech test
poor social skills eg lack social tact, space invader
impulsive, hyperactive, problem in focusing (as compared to same age group children)
poor handwriting skills
auditory hypersensitive
i dont mind most of them but nonverbal communication i find it worrying. its not easy to teach how you should react in each n every single social setting/scenario. it can be taught but it must be learned on his own eventually. how to teach him to read people or situations? he must understand before he can learn.
No choice, you must try your best. But before you went for test, you don't notice his speech delay? -
af7680:
Hi Boney,
If you can't find unsweetened almond milk selling in the supermarket, chances are that they don't sell it anywhere else. Even if they do, you'll be likely to have to travel very far just to buy it. And milk is heavy, still must carry home!boney:
[quote=\"af7680\"]Dear mummies
My son has been drinking my breast milk as i had extra after feeding 2nd one but now I am weaning off 2nd one , has to find alternative milk as he still likes to drink .
So Tried rice milk but he reject immediately
Tried sweeten almond milk and seems he likes it. But i don't want him to drink it cos its too sweet !
Do you know where I can buy unsweeten almond milk ? Thank you
Why not you make your own almond milk so you can control the sugar level? If you go to the Chinese medicine shop to buy 'north and south' almonds or 杏仁 (ask the uncle/auntie there they know the best), they'll weigh the proportion and portion that you need for your one portion. At home, soak the almonds and then put the almonds and the amount of water they advise you to add into the blender and blend. After that put through coffee strainer and squeeze all the 'juice' out. Quick and easy.
Since you posted in this thread, I assume your child has autism. If he has sensory issues as well you might get him to help you to squeeze the almond out, he might enjoy the process and enjoy drinking homemade almond milk more because he likes to help to squeeze the almond milk.
Of course, a child with ASD might not be able to tahan the sudden loud noise from the blender, so if really bo bian maybe can help him by getting another family member to entertain him in a room far away from the kitchen or blend when he is not in the house. If not ear muffs might help (those noise protection type, not winter type). Also, if you were to pulse for the same number of seconds (e.g. you put timer for 90 seconds pulsing and then stop), and the serve him milk soon after, he might find the noise more bearable as he'll learn to associate the temporary noise with the milk drink that he likes.
Finally, if you cannot afford to squeeze almond juice for him all the time, what you can do is to slowly dilute almond milk with another alternative such as milk formula or soy milk (assuming no allergies). Also, if his reaction to homemade almond milk is not good, same thing, slowly dilute with something he is familiar with first. Of course, make sure you do this out of his sight. You don't want him to sense anything amiss.
What was he drinking between the time he stopped having breast milk and the birth of your second child? You can use that as a target, so say 9 parts almond + 1 part target, and then increase target proportion with time.
All the best & keep us updated on how it goes!
appreicate your kind advise in details.
based on your detailed advice, presume you are making almond juice by yourself too
i printed out your instruction and will go down to buy almond and try.
after posting here, i called coldstorage head office and asked them which brach carries unsweeten almond milk and manage to find one near my house. but then again, the package says it contains other ingredient other than Almond itself so i guess if i can make it , it will be best.
dr says my son is \"suspected\" asd (she said he might be borderline case).
she wants to monitor....however she said he needs early intervention to help him etc...
true that he got some sensory issue that he cant take \"blender\" and acume machine noise . he will scream/cry. but the thing is that sometime he will be ok when distracted but other times not ok. so really not sure if that noise really hurts him or not.
he has been drinking sweetened almond milk so far after stopping breastmilk.
now as i bought a unsweetened almond milk, he tried and he doesnt like.... i have to slowly unsweetened the milk by mixing...
right now, he is asking for orange juice which is sweet[/quote]Thanks for your update af7680! I'm glad you found the info useful.
Is your son picky about other foods as well? -
pixiepixel:
Is your child attending speech therapy? I remember in your earlier posts you mentioned that NUH referred your child to ST and OT? Social communication is one aspect covered by STs.niu2009
speech delayed by 6mth - 1yr based on speech test
poor social skills eg lack social tact, space invader
impulsive, hyperactive, problem in focusing (as compared to same age group children)
poor handwriting skills
auditory hypersensitive
i dont mind most of them but nonverbal communication i find it worrying. its not easy to teach how you should react in each n every single social setting/scenario. it can be taught but it must be learned on his own eventually. how to teach him to read people or situations? he must understand before he can learn.
Written scripts can be useful to teach children with ASD social communication. You may think that scripts are 2D and 'dead' but they can definitely be generalised to different people and contexts by children with ASD. Of course, severity of social impediment and intelligence will affect the effectiveness of such forms of intervention but written scripts have been found to improve social communication in many children with ASD.
For example, a script teaching introduction can be:
A: Hello, my name is __A_____. What is your name?
B: My name is _____B____.
A: Nice to meet you B. How are you today?
B: I'm fine, thank you.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A: Do you watch transformers? (Or whatever is the most hit game/TV show at school)
B: Yes! My favourite character is ________
A: Same! I like ___the character's___ sword! / I prefer ___ (because ____) but I like ___ too!.
Or at grandma's birthday:
Child: Happy birthday Ah Mah!
Grandma: Thank you! You good boy/girl!
Child: *smile at Ah Mah* <- It is called 'social' script, so even body language is part of the script
There is a resource here for social scripts but of course it is a bit 'ang moh' style so some might not suit Singaporean interaction. Review and make necessary edits before using lah, otherwise a good resource also. http://blog.autismspectrumdirectory.com/2011/02/01/list-of-social-stories-and-visual-scripts-for-daily-living-and-social-skills/
You can practice the scripts by reading it off the paper first, and then without the paper with mummy, then later with daddy, then maybe later with jie jie/kor kor/mei mei/di di. Then maybe you can plan a situation for the child to use whatever social script you've taught. Practice the script before the situation you planned for, e.g. in the car or before leaving the house and tell the child explicitly when to use the script later. If the child uses the script later very good, if not can use prompts like \"remember what did before leaving the house/car?\" Once the child uses the script reward the child. Make sure the child knows what he/she is being rewarded for. For example, \"We're going to McDonald's because boy boy did a good job introducing himself to ____!\" Repeat for the same script a couple of times, in slightly different situations for generalisation, can also increase the length of the script, and make sure you keep monitoring that the child remembers say 3, 6 months or 1 year later.
Are there any other parents using social scripts here? If so, can share your resources here? Be it you wrote it yourself or your ST gave to you (post with permission). Culture defines our social norms and Singaporean culture is kinda unique plus we have so few people (even after 7mil, lol) so we will really benefit if we come together to brainstorm for our children with ASD.
Yes, it is a good idea to make more friends here and even bring your son out for outings with other children, be it with other families who have children with ASD or not. These outings can even be planned for the use of pre-practiced scripts (collaborate with the other family). Furthermore, it is healthy that your child has friends outside school. Like some have mentioned, children with ASD sometimes get bullied in school, etc. etc. At least with play dates and outings outside school, they can learn to interact with their peers in a safe and carefully monitored environment. Can expect that they will have difficulties making and keeping friends after they leave school so it would also be good that they have some friends that they are used to and can keep even after their leave school.
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Post note:
Some parents may think that it is very 'bo liao' and that where got people learn to communicate this way one. But you look back to when you were a kid. You teacher/parents also used social scripts to teach you, just that it was not as many, not as elaborate and with less support. For example in P1, you want to go toilet, teacher teach what? Raise up your hands and ask \"may I go to the toilet ms/mrs/mr xyz?\" Teacher will say \"yes\". And you must say \"Thank you\". This was also a script and you got it. Same thing, your child with Autism will get it. When you grew up, you learnt to generalise, nowadays you sit in meetings, you know how to say \"excuse me\" and then leave the room. People respond by nodding their head, smiling, or simply giving eye contact to indicate they know you are leaving the room. If you can generalise, so can your child with autism generalise.
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This post a bit obvious so I might as well say lah. I'm an undergraduate doing speech therapy in Australia just 'floating around' the forums to find out the concerns of Singaporean parents as I plan to return to Singapore to practice after graduation. That's why I write so much. Even if pixiepixel has already received advice and intervention from a ST I'm sure there will be other parents who will benefit from the information I posted. I'll continue to give my 5 cents as time permits to posts in this thread and section of the forum for everyone's benefit and I sincerely hope you guys can give me feedback on my explanation and the advice given by the health professional you consulted if you have visited one so I can compare and learn.
For example, if your ST recommend video modelling or other forms of intervention to teach social skills, please let me know so I can compare to what I know and recommend and learn from the process. Other parents can also have an alternative approach to consider. If you think I very rubbish by telling you to squeeze almond milk yourself please tell me as well, as I want to know what actually is feasible in a busy Singaporean context.
I like to use a bit of singlish here and there to make it more 'kawan kawan'. Who wants to talk to a health professional with a 'know it all' attitude right? Also, please please ask if there are any terms I use that you don't understand so that I can improve on my future explanations to other parents.
Thanks for reading this uber long post. hahaha. -
Hi Boney, I like to thank you for your time and effort to share.
I have not been to many speech therapist (ST), but few will mention the benefit of the child having circle of friends outside school in details(Yes, they encourage having more friends. That's all.) The concept of generalising or tuning in and transferring the skill to match the circumstances seem quite hard to attain by most ST. It takes a long time and more applicable for those ASD kids who are very high functioning.
Almost all ST I seem are into Hanen program, some used a mixture of floor time approach and Hanen. Some used the Social thinking approach. Their fees are high for the private sector. Unlike some countries, insurance do not cover this kind of expenses. Continued effort of the parents to execute the practice at home on daily basis are the main factors that determine the improvement of the ASD kid. ST who have established referral network and client base can choose the kid they like to conduct therapy with. Many years of dealing with stressful parents and kids with learning difficulties may have somewhat nipped the initial passion of most ST over time. But it also applies to most jobs anyway.
I think it is wonderful that you are looking beyond the textbooks and methods. You gave me the impression that no therapy is more effective than coming close to those who needs them, and understanding the needs before reaching a conclusion on how to help.
I feel that any form of successful therapy need to first focus around the relationship between the parents and the child who is having the learning difficulties. It is vital that the parents and the child need to accept and understand the situation (whether it is ASD, Dyspraxia etc), then we move on to ensure the \"technical aspect\" - non verbal communication, single word, phrases, sentences etc..... are being taught to the child. Actually these 2 aspects can be carried out at the same time...
Hope your learning journey continue to be fun and enriching to the soul :rahrah: :rahrah:
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