All About Autism

[tyeogh]

Double E:

Recently my boy is starting to imitate too. There's a few commercials he likes and when the TV plays the commercials, he will follow the actions and sing along.

Congrats Double E!! Woooo.....it's good news galore!!

Merry Christmas ....indeed! LoL!

[tyeogh]

Just to give an update on DS. Someone here suggested swimming as a form of therapy and I kinda agree, so this school holidays I have been swimming every night with the kids whenever it is not raining (What's with the rainfall this year man! It's like raining revenge!?)


DS came back yesterday night totally poofed. He had spent the whole day out cycling and swimming. He missed his afternoon nap and whenever he misses one, he gets cranky at night. So he threw a fit upon reaching home. Was wailing over his dropped KFC \"popcorrrn chickerrrn\" and refused to bath. I let him rant for a good 5 mins before I decided to take matters into my hand. I took a cane, walked to him and lifted it to hit him.

Then he said. \"I am angry!!\" as if to explain the reason for his tantrum. Stopped his crying and looked at me.

I was stunned into inaction. First time he used the word Angry. And so accurately used......to a point he actually appeared cute. LoL.

I was impressed. LoL. Backed away to figure my next move. He continued to sulk away for a few more minutes. Then I decided I cannot let him win. It was one swift stroke of the cane regardless of his Angry, threats of a few more strokes, more crying and finally compliance - he went to bath.

But boy, am I happy with his progress!! It sums up what has been an incredible year!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

May your wishes come true this year.... because they really do!

[Couragemom]

Hi tyeogh,


ICCP is an integrated childcare program where a child learns with normal kids his own age but with support from special needs teacher.

Yes, early intervention is very important and I will continue to help my son. I am just grappling with the label issue as every time I see my son behaving so ‘aware’ and interactive at home, I just cannot believe he is autistic. But how? Like you say, the child development specialist/psychologist all have their own set of criteria, and it is a spectrum disorder after all.

Don’t intend to do formal assessment now, just see how he progresses until 5 years old then make a decision if need the black-and-white for his pri 1.

[Couragemom]

Hi Double E,


Yes, my child developmental specialist said she will ‘reclassified’ an autistic child to an ‘asperger’s’ label (assuming the child met the criteria) usually about the age they turn 5 as that is when most parents will bring their kids for the IQ test in prep for P1 enrollment.

[ImMeeMee]

Couragemom:

Anyway, the school visit was a blessing because if not I will become too relax in my son's therapies, as I keep having the thinking he is better from his GDD. I am just very grateful that my son is cognitively sharp, can sit down, have good listening skills (very compliant) and have no sensory issues at all (he does OT for his low muscle tone, he is not very stable on his feet).


I managed to find him a private ICCP and he will start in the new school next year. I did dropped the govt eipic slot because I feel that it is better for my son to learn social intent/interaction/cues from a normal kiddy with support. Let's hope I make the right decision! Sorry for the ranting and I know the right way to move on is to put the labeling aside and focus on how to help my DS be better. Just that wounds need to heal, and it is hurting bad now. I also want to feel better so that I can learn to celebrate his achievements and milestones rather than his weaknesses all the time. I must also learn to accept so that I can step back and pay more attention to my normal elder daughter.

Merry X'mas to everyone here!

Couragemom

It takes considerable courage and patience to walk this path, and all our paths are somewhat different in some ways. Kudos that you have the courage to do what you think is right for your child.

I used to rant hard too, but it helped a lot in my healing. We all know what needs to be done in theory, but we are humans after all, and at times things break down and it can become very difficult.

But take heart that we cannot be at the bottom low forever. One day things will start to look up. Feel low knowing that you are just feeling low and knowing that you will bounce back again. In fact, we may end up gaining more than what we sought out to do.

All the best!

[Couragemom]

ImMeeMee,


Thank you for your encouragement. Yes, the wound hurts but will heal with time. I must be strong. You mentioned you are looking for SpEd teacher for your daughter? The private ICCP offers such home-based services, but I am not sure about the quality as I am starting only next year. Cognitive learning centre at fusionpolis also provide group tuition for special needs children from K1 level onwards.

[Double E]

Couragemom,

I am sure u will see improvement as the time progresses, so press on.
Not sure if you are aware, Asperger is also a form of ASD. For KKH, they mentioned to me before that moving forward, they may drop the Asperger label and just give a standard ASD label for all who are in the spectrum.

Tyegoh
I think we are very alike in managing our boys. I also will not ‘soften my hand’ when I think he needs to be caned. But of course, after the canning, I always feel very guilty and start to think of Pastor Prince’s teaching and ask myself why am I so impatient and fiery because he is after all a special needs boy and some times, his actions are not within his control. But probably like you, when he starts to wail over small things, it just gets into me. Like yesterday, he dropped a piece of bread on the floor, instead of picking it up, he just cried and screamed "I drop it, I drop it". The more I asked him to pick it up, the louder he cried. My blood boiled and flicked my finger on his mouth to ask him to shut up. Then his tears, big drops of tears flowed down his cheeks. Sigh! So I tell myself, the next time I want to lay my hands on him again, I will shout to God in my heart "Pls help me to manage this well". Haha! Just like at yesterday’s service when Pastor told us how his uncle survived the car accident when the car literally stopped in mid-air and landed safely on the ground when the friends shouted to Jesus for help.

Anyway, we will be attending a few christmas gatherings in the next two days, I will pray that he will behave and not throw a fit at those gatherings.

Sometimes, I will tell myself, is ok if he did not make much progress in social comms, but as long as he stops his tantrums and can manage his anger well, I am contented already because at least, I will have some peace.

[Couragemom]

Hi Double E,


Sad to say, I do understand all the different terms under the Autism umbrella. According to my child development specialist, most of her patients usually see her when they are mostly younger (2-3 yrs old) and speech delay is almost always present but as they grow and develop speech, that is when she will ‘reclassified’. She said Asperger is considered high functioning autism. I guess the point of the ‘reclassification’ is just to help parents make a clearer decision towards Pri 1 schooling decision.

[tyeogh]

Double E,

Pastor Prince got say relax meh? No lah. He said if child naughty, just whack the bugger. It is biblical. Here are the verses.

Proverbs 23:13-14
Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. 
You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.

Proverbs 13:24
He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

I know what you are thinking next. That our child are special needs children, is it alright to cane. Well, the verses have no caveats to exclude special needs children and I reckon God did not make a mistake to \"forget\" to teach us how to handle special children. So just whack the bugger, special needs or otherwise. Like I wrote before, it worked wonders for my son's development. Maybe we are not canning our child enough thats why they are not developing well.

As I found out, there is something magical about the canning process. One would have thought the child will hate us after we cane them. But no. My son actually feels more attached to me after I correct him with a cane. Totally uncanny! It is as though our Maker designed all children such. Something inside him yearns for correction.

Of course do not go around abusing him or whacking him just because you had a bad day. Here's the verse.

Ephesians 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

(why fathers? I dunno....sigh)

How to know when to cane vs when not to provoke? You will just know in your heart. I believe in creation, that every parent will automatically know how to care and guide for her young. Even the monkeys and eagles do that. And you are God's greatest creation!! So don't feel guilty when you correct your child. You are just doing what you are built to do

[Couragemom]

Hi Double E,


You are right. Found the following paragraph while reading up on ASD:

It’s important to note that PDD-NOS or atypical autism will likely be removed as a diagnosis when the next edition of the DSM is released in May of 2013. According to the American Psychiatric Association DSM Revision Work Group, individuals meeting the previous diagnostic criteria for PDD-NOS will receive the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. This is also the case for Asperger’s Syndrome. According to Psychology Today, this change may mean that those who already carry a diagnosis of atypical autism may need to be re-evaluated and re-diagnosed.

I think Singapore Govt hospital CDU wants to follow US guideline change as well. Don’t know whether the Govt CDU will also follow up on the PDD-NOS cases and offer a re-evaluation.