All About Autism

[ImMeeMee]

Double E:

How about an Assistant in the library? they will have to catergorize and organise the books according to serial number and all.

As for my son, I think he will be very happy if he gets a job with SMRT due to his love for trains.

Not excluding these options now ...

to a certain extent its good to think about such things once in a while, even though they are still quite far away. If indeed the strength of my doter is in some form of vocation rather than academics, I am also open to explore those areas.

[ArielMermaid]

ImMeeMee:

Hi mummies, I am relooking into the area of social skills group for my doter. Could you share any personal experience at any of the local centers?


TIA.

Hi ImMeeMee,
My son is currently attending weekly social class at Speech Inc. It's a group of about 6-8 students with 2 facilitators. The class lasts about 1 hour, and 5-10minutes before the end of the class, the main therapist will come out to brief the parents about the activities done, the notable behaviour and reactions of the children, the recommendations, etc. She'd also encourage us to let her know any problems which the children experienced so that she can try to work on them during the class.

The activities done are varied- could be games, competition, social events- and the children learn how to behave approppriately during these activities.

Hope the above helps.

[ImMeeMee]

ArielMermaid:

Hi ImMeeMee,
My son is currently attending weekly social class at Speech Inc. It's a group of about 6-8 students with 2 facilitators. The class lasts about 1 hour, and 5-10minutes before the end of the class, the main therapist will come out to brief the parents about the activities done, the notable behaviour and reactions of the children, the recommendations, etc. She'd also encourage us to let her know any problems which the children experienced so that she can try to work on them during the class.

The activities done are varied- could be games, competition, social events- and the children learn how to behave approppriately during these activities.

Hope the above helps.

Arielmermaid

Thanks for the information.

Actually my doter's key challenge now is in conversations. She wants to participate in conversations but she doesnt know how. For example, the whole family could be having dinner or in the car, and my elder gals could be having conversations between themselves, or with me or DH. Many times I observe that my doter will interrupt the conversation to say something to me or the gals but which is out of syn, or she will make strange noises or do strange actions to attract attention. I think it boils down to her wanting to participate, but because the conversations are so spontaneous and fast-paced, she could be finding it difficult.

So recently I have started teaching her about conversations, eg. what is a conversation, what does it entail, and rules of conversations. Where my elder gals are having conversations between themselves, I will point out to my doter that there is a conversation going on, and ask her to listen to the conversation. Sometimes after the conversation has ended I will ask her some questions to see if she was listening. At times when the elder gals are having a conversation I will also ask them to slow down and get my doter to add in a question or two.

Sigh ... something as intuitive as a conversation to us is something that could be tough to them. So really cannot take things for granted. :sad:

Anyway, does your social skills group do anything about conversations like what I am facing above? I am also beginning to think whether the issue here is social skills, or speech and language, or both.

[sharonkhoo]

ImMeeMee:

Actually my doter's key challenge now is in conversations. She wants to participate in conversations but she doesnt know how. For example, the whole family could be having dinner or in the car, and my elder gals could be having conversations between themselves, or with me or DH. Many times I observe that my doter will interrupt the conversation to say something to me or the gals but which is out of syn, or she will make strange noises or do strange actions to attract attention. I think it boils down to her wanting to participate, but because the conversations are so spontaneous and fast-paced, she could be finding it difficult.

...
Sigh ... something as intuitive as a conversation to us is something that could be tough to them. So really cannot take things for granted. :sad:

Anyway, does your social skills group do anything about conversations like what I am facing above? I am also beginning to think whether the issue here is social skills, or speech and language, or both.

Don't lose heart - you're doing the right thing! I have no experience with classes, but I believe that one-to-one coaching as you are doing works better than a class. And you have other kids to give a context for practising which perhaps other families lack. You can try enlisting your older kids to help by waiting long enough for your youngest to insert a question or comment when she indicates that she wants to, occasionally including her in the conversation etc. At the same time, you can coach her along if she doesn't seem to know what to say or says something inappropriate or off-topic, or interrupts rudely. When my older girl was young, that was what we did for her. My younger girl (NT) is mature for her age so the 2-yr gap is not very marked, and she was my 'aide' in helping my older one handle conversations. My older one has an additional problem in that she has slow auditory processing which makes conversing with her rather slow. Most people won't wait long enough for her to process and reply, but I really don't know what I can do about that.

[ImMeeMee]

slmkhoo:

... My older one has an additional problem in that she has slow auditory processing which makes conversing with her rather slow. Most people won't wait long enough for her to process and reply, but I really don't know what I can do about that.

slmkhoo, how do you know that your daughter has slow auditory processing? Is it through an official diagnosis? I do realize that my doter takes longer than usual to respond verbally, and I tend to think that it could be due to her central processing, both input and output.

[sharonkhoo]

ImMeeMee:

slmkhoo:

... My older one has an additional problem in that she has slow auditory processing which makes conversing with her rather slow. Most people won't wait long enough for her to process and reply, but I really don't know what I can do about that.

slmkhoo, how do you know that your daughter has slow auditory processing? Is it through an official diagnosis? I do realize that my doter takes longer than usual to respond verbally, and I tend to think that it could be due to her central processing, both input and output.

It was unmistakable! We only sent her for an official diagnosis for ASD when she was 14yo but it was not one of the things we specifically had tested. She was shown to have slow processing speed overall anyway, which probably also accounts for the time lag in conversations. It's just our personal observation that she responds more slowly to info and prompts in speech than in writing. And she always asks for subtitles to be switched on when we are watching DVDs.

[Double E]

ImMeeMee

I think most ASD kids have slow auditory processing skills. My son too. Sometimes, he can answer me quite instantaneously but sometimes, he will take a while to response especially those that require more thinking and explanation. But my 3 year old girl will be quite fast.

My son also has poor conversational skiils and like your gal, he will say something out of topic. Eg, yesterday in school, the teacher was sharing a story about the rabbits and from nowhere, my boy blurted out "I went to watch the National Day parade.". And when other kids talk to him, he will sometimes ignore. Its either he can’t understand them or he doesn’t know what to respond.
But I am grateful for my 3 year old gal, she is a great help and she is persistent. If she asks my son a question and didn’t get a response, she will keep asking till she gets one. I think u are in a better situation because u have two older gals who can help to guide your youngest gal.

[ImMeeMee]

Double E:

ImMeeMee

I think most ASD kids have slow auditory processing skills. My son too. Sometimes, he can answer me quite instantaneously but sometimes, he will take a while to response especially those that require more thinking and explanation. But my 3 year old girl will be quite fast.

My son also has poor conversational skiils and like your gal, he will say something out of topic. Eg, yesterday in school, the teacher was sharing a story about the rabbits and from nowhere, my boy blurted out \"I went to watch the National Day parade.\". And when other kids talk to him, he will sometimes ignore. Its either he can't understand them or he doesn't know what to respond.
But I am grateful for my 3 year old gal, she is a great help and she is persistent. If she asks my son a question and didn't get a response, she will keep asking till she gets one. I think u are in a better situation because u have two older gals who can help to guide your youngest gal.

Double E, sometimes I wonder whether its slow auditory processing, or selective auditory processing. For my doter, she could be responsive one minute, and totally off the next. It depends on whether the topic is of interest to her. I also find that my doter peaks and troughs, and during her trough period her overall processing will be way down. But I am thankful that when she peaks after her trough, her peak seems to be a relatively new high each time.

Yes, I am really grateful that I have my two elder gals in this journey - my eldest serious one who is the 'little teacher' cos she teaches my youngest doter in about the same way that I do, and my second cheeky one who is the one to teach my doter the funny jokes and silly stories, thereby helping to break down her mechanical self. Sometimes I do feel bad that my bid of being over-protective of my youngest doter is at the expense of the two elder ones. And I tell myself consciously not to hold back their own developments just because I need to do pacing for my youngest one.

Its not an easy balance, I'm sure parents with both NT and special needs children would agree. At the end of the day, I can be totally spent, physically and mentally ...

[sharonkhoo]

ImMeeMee:

... sometimes I wonder whether its slow auditory processing, or selective auditory processing. For my doter, she could be responsive one minute, and totally off the next. It depends on whether the topic is of interest to her. ...

For my daughter, it's both! We asked the ed. psych. to also see if she was also ADHD but eventually the result was that she was just selective in paying attention, not that she was unable to sustain attention. And even when paying attention, she is slower than average.

... Sometimes I do feel bad that my bid of being over-protective of my youngest doter is at the expense of the two elder ones. And I tell myself consciously not to hold back their own developments just because I need to do pacing for my youngest one.
I've often wondered whether it's easier when the ASD kid is the younger or the elder? Mine is my elder, and her younger sister long ago caught up and surpassed her in many ways. That has also been tough to manage, especially during the 'overtaking' phase. They are now accustomed to the fact and they still get along well. I was really afraid that it would affect their relationship adversely. And there's also the self-esteem issue for the older one, but she seems to be OK with the situation.

[ImMeeMee]

slmkhoo:

I've often wondered whether it's easier when the ASD kid is the younger or the elder? ...

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slmkhoo, I suspect this discussion will be like mainstream vs SPED schools - no one size fits all!