All About Autism

[ImMeeMee]

Wassant:

My friend ask me to hold first wait for formal assessment then start all forms of therapy....private therapy are very ex....$150 per hr btw one week need go how many times?dont know can afford or not?

Wassant, I have come across parents who send their children for therapy every day. It is a personal choice and there is no hard and fast rule. At the beginning we did it once a week for SLT and OT each, and trust me, with the amount of homework and practice required, it was already hard to catch up. You also need to allow sufficient time for you and your child to practice what the therapists have taught, and yes, finance figures greatly here too.

Notwithstanding the diagnosis, if you are already certain that your child has some deficit areas in speech, personally I find no reason to wait. The best window for early intervention is when the child is around 3-6 years old, and early intervention is evidence-based to help the children improve in deficit areas such as speech. Bearing in mind that you have to provide for some time to see if your child takes to the therapist, and if for whatever reasons the child does not, then find another therapist. All these will take time.

Sorry I am not trying to stress you up here, and ultimately the decision is yours to make. Its just that I have seen how therapy has helped my doter greatly, and I sincerely hope it does yours too.

[sharonkhoo]

Wassant:

My friend ask me to hold first wait for formal assessment then start all forms of therapy....private therapy are very ex....$150 per hr btw one week need go how many times?dont know can afford or not?

You can do some stuff yourself at home while waiting. There is a lot of info online and in books, and you can target your child's specific weaknesses without a diagnosis. Just work on one or 2 things at a time, whatever you feel is a priority at that moment. Professional therapists can only see your child once a week or whatever you pay for, but you can help your child daily or whenever that issue crops up. My daughter, now 16yo, has Asperger's, but we didn't take her for diagnosis until she was 14yo (for various reasons). We addressed her issues ourselves with what we learned through reading up. Her social skills are still rather weak, and she has some other learning issues, but she has coped with mainstream school and will be starting Pre-U soon.

[ImMeeMee]

Just wanted to share this seemingly hilarious joke (at least to me) before the year closes.


I have been reading Snow White to my doter. We came to this page where the old woman dropped her poison apple when she was attacked by the birds in their bid to protect Snow White from eating the apple.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2qut202.jpg\">

I used to read the same story to my two elder NT gals and they had no problems understanding the context of the picture.

But when it came to my ASD doter, she asked this question when she saw the page, \"Why is there an apple on the old woman's clothes?\"

When I looked at the picture closely using her perspectives, I suddenly realized that she may not be wrong. If you take the picture literally, you will see that there is an apple on the old woman's clothes!

Such is the difference in perspectives that our children have which at times add a lot of color and laughter o our lives!

Have a good year ahead!

[Couragemom]

Hi ImMeeMee,


Talk about this story issue, I have something to share with all. I met this mother during one of my son’s OT sessions and she told me that her primary school going gal looks at the pictures meant for composition differently and the teacher found her essay very creative!

[Couragemom]

Hi Wassant,


It is up to you to decide when you want to start your son’s therapies. Don’t be pressurized that because it is the norm to do OT/ST, then you have to follow. If time-wise, logistics and finance doesn’t permit, then you just see what you can do.

Simkhoo is right, you can DIY 1st while waiting for the assessment date. Meanwhile, do bring your son to playground more often, or do some sports with him. It is a simple form of OT and the kid can have lots of fun. For ST, you can buy the Hanen book to read up on speech techniques.

Do drop by the forum when you are free. Everyone is here not only to share practical advice on the therapies but also to ra-ra each other thru the high-and-low of our life.

[Wassant]

Couragemom:

Hi Wassant,


It is up to you to decide when you want to start your son's therapies. Don't be pressurized that because it is the norm to do OT/ST, then you have to follow. If time-wise, logistics and finance doesn't permit, then you just see what you can do.

Simkhoo is right, you can DIY 1st while waiting for the assessment date. Meanwhile, do bring your son to playground more often, or do some sports with him. It is a simple form of OT and the kid can have lots of fun. For ST, you can buy the Hanen book to read up on speech techniques.

Do drop by the forum when you are free. Everyone is here not only to share practical advice on the therapies but also to ra-ra each other thru the high-and-low of our life.

Thank u Couragemum.....for your advises....I brought him for walk daily hehe....he will wear his shoes n standby haha but he doesn't likes to go to the playground he will hold my hands n drag me away.... :roll: ...so I don't force him too.....Happy 2014 to u :xedfingers:

[Wassant]

slmkhoo:

Wassant:

My friend ask me to hold first wait for formal assessment then start all forms of therapy....private therapy are very ex....$150 per hr btw one week need go how many times?dont know can afford or not?

You can do some stuff yourself at home while waiting. There is a lot of info online and in books, and you can target your child's specific weaknesses without a diagnosis. Just work on one or 2 things at a time, whatever you feel is a priority at that moment. Professional therapists can only see your child once a week or whatever you pay for, but you can help your child daily or whenever that issue crops up. My daughter, now 16yo, has Asperger's, but we didn't take her for diagnosis until she was 14yo (for various reasons). We addressed her issues ourselves with what we learned through reading up. Her social skills are still rather weak, and she has some other learning issues, but she has coped with mainstream school and will be starting Pre-U soon.

Bravo!!!!Well done!! :celebrate:

[Wassant]

ImMeeMee:

Wassant:

My friend ask me to hold first wait for formal assessment then start all forms of therapy....private therapy are very ex....$150 per hr btw one week need go how many times?dont know can afford or not?

Wassant, I have come across parents who send their children for therapy every day. It is a personal choice and there is no hard and fast rule. At the beginning we did it once a week for SLT and OT each, and trust me, with the amount of homework and practice required, it was already hard to catch up. You also need to allow sufficient time for you and your child to practice what the therapists have taught, and yes, finance figures greatly here too.

Notwithstanding the diagnosis, if you are already certain that your child has some deficit areas in speech, personally I find no reason to wait. The best window for early intervention is when the child is around 3-6 years old, and early intervention is evidence-based to help the children improve in deficit areas such as speech. Bearing in mind that you have to provide for some time to see if your child takes to the therapist, and if for whatever reasons the child does not, then find another therapist. All these will take time.

greatly, and I sincerely hope it does yours too.

homework n practice?can brief me more on these?....are u doing private therapy as well as eipic ones?

[sharonkhoo]

Wassant:

homework n practice?can brief me more on these?....are u doing private therapy as well as eipic ones?

I haven't done these therapies, but I would guess that the therapists will ask parents to work with the child at home between sessions. From my experience, the exercises or remediation need to be done frequently, and especially when the issue in question crops up. A weekly therapy session alone cannot do all that much for the child.

[sharonkhoo]

Wassant:

slmkhoo:

[quote=\"Wassant\"]My friend ask me to hold first wait for formal assessment then start all forms of therapy....private therapy are very ex....$150 per hr btw one week need go how many times?dont know can afford or not?

You can do some stuff yourself at home while waiting. There is a lot of info online and in books, and you can target your child's specific weaknesses without a diagnosis. Just work on one or 2 things at a time, whatever you feel is a priority at that moment. Professional therapists can only see your child once a week or whatever you pay for, but you can help your child daily or whenever that issue crops up. My daughter, now 16yo, has Asperger's, but we didn't take her for diagnosis until she was 14yo (for various reasons). We addressed her issues ourselves with what we learned through reading up. Her social skills are still rather weak, and she has some other learning issues, but she has coped with mainstream school and will be starting Pre-U soon.

Bravo!!!!Well done!! :celebrate:[/quote]Thanks! It's been tough at times, and there is still a long way to go before we think she will be independent enough. We just received notification of her school placement and it's such a relief! We think she will really benefit from a larger school setting (she has been homeschooled for the past 6 mths, and was in a very small school before that).