All About Autism

[ImMeeMee]

Tamama:

Hi there,
I am very quiet all along but periodically I check back this forum. My boy is now 6. He is autistic, his diagnosis will be out soon...
Since few years ago we noticed my boy was different. Then we went thro similar stages as all of you have experienced. When my boy was four years old, we adopted a dog. I personally am an animal lover. And my older girl loves animal as well. So when the chance came up, we adopted.
Our beloved pet is a golden retriever. She is a darling to everyone. She was four years old when we adopted her. My girl loves her, I love her, and my boy loves her.
As day goes by, we noticed our dog is not just a dog. She is one of my boy's therapist. When I taught my boy how to react with animal nicely, my pet opened up lots if chances for him to learn. Their interaction increases everyday. The learning is never ending, and so much fun. My dog is my awesome partner to guide and teach my boy (and my girl as well). Even the ABA centre is using my dog as a topic to teach my boy pragmatic. He also learns to take care of others, to observe others feelings, which is uneasy for a lot of autistic kids.
So for me, I will say it is fantastic to have a pet. I never thought that she is hugely beneficial to my family. She is my kids' teacher indeed. She also is my psychotherapist. When I have down time as a mom, she is always by my side and offering her big golden furry body for hugging. Did you hear this before? When everything fails, hug a dog! So true!
Two years since we kept her now, the love between us is still deepening. We are inseparable now.
So if you ask me if a pet is good for our special kids? I definitely give a positive answer. Only thing is, it is a long term commitment to take care of a pet. They may only live for ten years. They aged. They weakened. Illness may invade. At the golden age of our pets, we must be there for them. Because to us, they are just dogs, but to them, we are their world, their everything. :please:

Tamama, thanks for the touching post. :hugs:

[Tamama]

nugget:

Double E:

I would go for a second opinion too if my son is to show such astounding improvement that in no way I feel he is in the autism spectrum. But I have somehow come to terms with my boy's condition and sometimes I think , is not that bad too if he is autistic yet can survive mainstream curriculum because I can use his autistic condition as an excuse to get him more help. I am saying this because I have heard of cases that the child is neither here nor there. Not autistic thus can't get additional help or exemption yet have difficulties surviving in mainstream.

I agree with you on this. Its because he has a formal diagnosis, we are able to get more help. Have this option to send them into pathlight.

I have met parents whom their kids are GDD , ADHD + speech delay they have nowhere else to go as their kids are also high functioning but will have a lot of problem coping in main stream. The rest of the SPED schools are too low function for their kids.

In a way, yes, we are \"lucky\" our kids are diagnose with ASD and they do have a chance to go pathlight if they are unable to adapt to mainstream.

This is so true to me too!
My boy has done the assessment in jurong medical centre. We are going to receive the report next week.
At the last session of the assessment (FYI it contains of 3 sessions) I kind of asked the cp how's my boys doing in terms of his IQ, cos I understand that pathlight school is only accepting ASD kids with normal IQ. She made a quick look at his scores and told me that my boy is pretty safe to fall into normal IQ category. However she said she would need more time to look at his scores for assessment of ASD cos she suspected that he may not be into the ASD category. Wow, frankly speaking, that really worry me. :xedfingers:
For years of heart pain and tear shedding, we have accepted that my boy is on the ASD side. We have diverted our mindset for him. We have planned different ways for him. I know that he would have a hard time if he goes to mainstream school. The awesome choice is pathlight. Particularly after I worked as parent volunteer for my girls school and I see how the teachers usually reaction to kids, I don't think my boy will have happy school life in a mainstream school. So If now telling me he is not ASD... I will :? and lose my direction. Kill me...

So lucky or unlucky... We will wait and see... Keep praying... Strange la, pray that he has ASD?! Heehee... Dilemma... :spank:

[Tamama]

ImMeeMee:

Tamama, thanks for the touching post. :hugs:

My pleasure.
Even talking about my dog makes me happy too.
Some more tips for whoever like to keep a pet:
If possible, adopt.
Puppies are just lovely like newborns.
But Adult dogs in general are more stable in mood. And they most likely have received some kind of training already. Everything is a lot easier.
So you will save the hassle to train a puppy to pee and poo in the appropriate place (to toilet train a puppy can be tricky, and they simply just keep forgetting it haha), to get it socialize with people in a correct way (puppy loves to run around and may be jumpy and licky), to avoid the accidental biting on you or may be the kids due to teething (it may take several months to a year and they feel urge to bite in something constantly), to take care of their excessive puppy fur shedding (constantly dirty floor you may experience)......
Keep the yearly vaccination and month dose of de-flea and de-heart worm.
If you need some more advice on adoption places in singapore just feel free to pm me. I am glad to see more special kids to share their love to more lovely pets out there. It is just simply precious. :grphug:

[iFirefly]

tyeogh:

What a weekend!! I have a good report ...
:
:

Hi Tyeogh.. You are so different here, compared to over there (THAT thread, you know)..

This song is for you, and for all the great parents here.. :hugs:


[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfpE8xYBmY][/youtube]

[helplessmum3]

mummies, wat are the iq test for 5yo?

[wamin]

same question as helplessmum3?

My son is turning 5 this December and will go for IQ test next year, anyone have any idea what they do in IQ test?

[Nebbermind]

firefly38:

tyeogh:

What a weekend!! I have a good report ...
:
:

Hi Tyeogh.. You are so different here, compared to over there (THAT thread, you know)..

This song is for you, and for all the great parents here.. :hugs:


[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfpE8xYBmY][/youtube]

Geese...you are here too!

[tyeogh]

ImMeeMee,

Dont worry about it. I concur with you and nugget, Double E, belachanbabe and Tamama. Removing the autism diagnosis will leave our child with no SPED primary school to go to. I considered very hard too. Just that in my case, I suspected a material change in my circumstance.

[tyeogh]

Hi firefly38,

The parents here more genuine ma. Thanks for the song. Love it. Rushing to a swimming pool now. Talk more later.

[Tamama]

wamin:

same question as helplessmum3?

My son is turning 5 this December and will go for IQ test next year, anyone have any idea what they do in IQ test?

The IQ test of my boy is included in the three sessions assessment of ASD. We did it as referred by the doctor of CDU in Jurong medical centre. The waiting time was long.
The last session (2 hours/session) is IQ test. The CP took out piles of folders with her. I sat in the same room too. She asked me to keep quiet unless she would need some parental assistance like to explain the child's reactions or wordings. So most of the time I could not make a sound.
It was about twenty tasks to do during the two hours. Each task was slightly more than ten questions / sub-tasks for the child to do.
I remember she asked my boy to arrange the blocks with red and white color on it according to her folder page, that is, to copy the picture on her page by using the blocks. The picture can get pretty complex.
She gave my boy puzzles pieces to make a picture. She got a lot of pictures like apple, trees, house... The pieces of puzzle increased.
She gave a chop chop stamp for my boy to chop out all of the pics that is related to clothing on the worksheet. She timed the task and see how many he has stamped. She repeated the task a few times with different category to stamp on.
She let him see the page which starts with three items and let him choose the items that he just saw on the next page. The number of items will increase.
She asked him questions about category. For example, red and green are both... My boy was supposed to say 'colors'. Lots of this kind of questions. Depends only on auditory path.
She asked for steps of brushing teeth and have to show her how to do.
She let him choose pictures that is related to each other. Lots of pages to ask.
She let him choose pictures that is not belong to others. For example three out of four are fruit, one is a hammer. Then you should choose the hammer. Lots of pages to ask as well.
Can't quite remember the other questions. It's really a lot of work! My boy was so tired after it's done. The CP was so busy writing down his score.
In my opinion the test is all on grouping items, what does belong what doesn't belong, short term memory checking, name things, colors and shapes, build the blocks according to provided pictures, etc. those things I believe they are taught in the early intervention program already.
My boy is verbal, and the cp said non verbal kids will have other tasks for them to do.
One thing to make sure is: the cp is getting the right age of your kid! Just a few month difference is still affecting the score. Do double check with the cp.
Hope the info will give you some ideas. :hugs: