All About Autism

[nugget]

ImMeeMee:

slmkhoo:

The trick that all of us have to learn is how much to stretch our kids and how much to protect them. Too much in either direction is not good, but it's not always easy to decide where to position ourselves, and it will vary from child to child. My Asperger's daughter just started her Pre-U studies and it's been a bit nerve-wracking in some ways letting her go to take part in the orientation, find her classes etc. On the one hand, we know we can't handhold her forever, but on the other, I don't want her to be too stressed and have bad experiences. But with briefings and preparation, she seems to have coped OK. A bit stressed, still hasn't made many friends (and had to be reminded several times to try to ask people's names etc), but not as bad as I feared. I didn't actually tell the school about her diagnosis initially as I didn't really know who to inform, but I have now informed her form teacher who will alert the rest of her teachers. Your kids are all much younger, so your situations and considerations will be different, so just stretch them step by step. If you had asked me 10 yrs ago whether my daughter could have coped like this, I could never have imagined it.

Thanks for your inspirational moment, slmkhoo, and I really feel happy for you. It brought to my mind the part where Temple Grandin's mother had tremendous struggles while deciding whether to put her to a boarding school, for fear that she would not be able to cope. But in the end she adapted sufficiently, and went on to achieve a lot more.

I too cannot imagine what it would be like for my doter in ten years time. I can only take one step at a time, and already I am feeling grateful that she is settling somewhat OK into the primary school environment. We have to continue to hope for the best. :xedfingers:

I feel happy for your too slmkhoo. You really came a long way esp ASD is unheard and unnoticed many years ago. I do agree about stretching and protecting part.

I stretch a lot for my son but I protect a lot too. I keep reminding myself to protect less, to let him grow. And day by day, my son manage to surprise me. And day by day he managed to tell me things from his point of view.

Seriously, ASD people just see things differently. They are just different, not less.

I also don't know what my son will be like in 10 years time. We just have to take things one step at a time.

[Couragemom]

Hi mommies,


Thanks for all the feedback! Actually I think the schooling problem lies with me rather than my DS! I think I got traumatized by the principal’s feedback 1 month after he joined. ‘Lack of engagement, poor eye contact and cannot follow instructions’ and that got the whole ball rolling for me and my 21 mths old son (at that point of time) so as to say! Now, he can sit down up to 20 minutes for circle time, follow routine/ instructions, join in group activities, say bye to his teachers without prompting! I am so happy with his progress! I recently let him join berries Chinese class and after the 4th lesson, he actually can sit down and follow (according to the teacher, I won’t know as cannot observe class).

I think he can cope in his new school next year, as I still have 10 months to work with him, hopefully all the therapies and his own development milestones will help!

[Couragemom]

Hi Optrex80,


It really depends on what is your goal for ABA. For my son, I felt that ABA was too rigid for him as the child is expected to repeat certain tasks over and over again. The tasks are also too easy and doesn’t match my son’s cognitive ability at that point when we started. I dropped ABA after 1month.

Like for my case, the ‘real’ reason behind the wandering around in class for my son was due to his physical condition - low muscle tone (floppy muscles). Once we found the right OT, his sitting down skill improved after a while.

[nugget]

Couragemom:

Hi mommies,


Thanks for all the feedback! Actually I think the schooling problem lies with me rather than my DS! I think I got traumatized by the principal's feedback 1 month after he joined. 'Lack of engagement, poor eye contact and cannot follow instructions' and that got the whole ball rolling for me and my 21 mths old son (at that point of time) so as to say! Now, he can sit down up to 20 minutes for circle time, follow routine/ instructions, join in group activities, say bye to his teachers without prompting! I am so happy with his progress! I recently let him join berries Chinese class and after the 4th lesson, he actually can sit down and follow (according to the teacher, I won't know as cannot observe class).

I think he can cope in his new school next year, as I still have 10 months to work with him, hopefully all the therapies and his own development milestones will help!

Couragemom I think your 21 months old is doing pretty well! My 4 year old NT kiddo still cries when he goes into his chinese class! lol.

I feel happy for you too! My challenge right now is my son's social behavior. He still doesn't interact well with peers and speak very softly and slow. Luckily he has a classmate who likes him a lot and doesnt mind him speaking slow or funny sometimes. I hope their friendship will stay strong!

[Double E]

Mummies

Do you kids like lego? try getting them to build lego, those that with step by step instruction to build a certain car, plane, house etc. Is good to develop the kids’ fine motor and planning skills.

[Couragemom]

Hi Nugget,


My son was 21 months old when I got my 1st official complaint from his current playgroup Principal. He is now 2 years 4 months old liao. I think he just ‘blur-blur’ follow in the berries class lor. Right from the beginning, I was prepared to withdrawn him if the teachers got complained about him.

Hi mommies,

My son just got into his first ‘fight’ in school today!!! He saw his classmate holding a car and he started saying ‘I want this’ and gave his helicopter to his friend to exchange for the car. Luckily his classmate is willing to do the exchange or else I cannot imagine the ‘fight’ that will ensued. Phew! Close shave lor.

[mharcute]

Hi All,

Just wanted to have other perspective on my gal’s case.
She is currently in P2 , enrolled in mainstream school.
She was diagnosed with mild to intellectual disability.
She can perform if the teaching is 1-1 . She is enrolled under educ theraphy right now.
However, the Allied educator sent by MOE is really pushing us to transfer her to SPED school. Chaoyang.

Im a PR and my kid is only under student pass. I saw their school fees. it quite ok for the 1st 2years…however, if my gal is not converted to PR or Citizen, the school fees are aroung 2800 per month. Which I cannot anymore afford.

Do you think its best to leave her in the Mainstream school. She is learning, but not from school,. but from the 1-1 session she has with the Educ Therapy. Her Therapy cost about 1k per month with 1 session per week.

I want her to learn. But with this school fees, how can I continue sending her to school.

[Couragemom]

Hi mharcute,


If the child is not learning in a mainstream environment and learning social cue/interaction is not your top priority, I think it is better to move to a SPED school.

But that being said, how to cope 2 years later when the school fee jumps to $2800/mth? It is really a tough decision as I believe once you ‘downgrade’ to SPED school, I think not so easy to go back mainstream school right?

Have you called some private SPED school to enquire about school fee? I know 1 private school is Genesis. Perhaps you can call SgEnable to ask for other private schools in Singapore and see if really 2 years later you cannot get PR status for your child then at least got Plan B. Good luck!

[scang]

My nephew, who has mild Autism, went through the EPIPC program under Metta School.


He will probably be enrolling in Pathlight School next year as his parents don't want him to be under too much stress and pressure from mainstream school.

Going through early intervention and a proper program can help the child to develop more normally and also cope with future learning in school, be it in mainstream or otherwise.

Some info on helping the child to enhance their learning ability and coping with Autism and SPD.

http://tinyurl.com/AutismSpd

http://tinyurl.com/AutismSpd

[sembgal]

mharcute:

Hi All,

Just wanted to have other perspective on my gal's case.
She is currently in P2 , enrolled in mainstream school.
She was diagnosed with mild to intellectual disability.
She can perform if the teaching is 1-1 . She is enrolled under educ theraphy right now.
However, the Allied educator sent by MOE is really pushing us to transfer her to SPED school. Chaoyang.

Im a PR and my kid is only under student pass. I saw their school fees. it quite ok for the 1st 2years...however, if my gal is not converted to PR or Citizen, the school fees are aroung 2800 per month. Which I cannot anymore afford.

Do you think its best to leave her in the Mainstream school. She is learning, but not from school,. but from the 1-1 session she has with the Educ Therapy. Her Therapy cost about 1k per month with 1 session per week.

I want her to learn. But with this school fees, how can I continue sending her to school.

I have a relative's child who was a case like yours but hers was that they are Singaporeans. The girl was in Pri 1 and could not cope due to her mild intellectual disability cognitively. End of P1, she was recommended to go Chaoyang School. Her dad asked the school to give his child a chance to study mainstream p2. The school said the child could not cope at all and the teacher cannot be always providing 1 to 1 help to her as there are other students in the class too. Reluctantly, the father placed the girl in Chao Yang. Today, this girl is one of the smartest and outstanding student in Chaoyang and she really progress a lot in Chaoyang.