All About Autism

[sharonkhoo]

fluttershy:

Eijmum, I think the reason why ABA is so expensive is because for it to really works, we need lots of hours (20-40 hours a week) & consistency. The team itself consists of several therapist & 1 behaviour consultant who will design an ABA program to suit to your child's need.


I can understand that it can be very expensive. I have to take out my savings since my husband's salary is not enough to cover the monthly therapy. But what choice do I have here? I just try to look at it that it's not going to be forever, it'll take maybe 2-3 years or 4 years at the most depend on how each child is progressing :xedfingers:

ABA is very intensive and tailored to the individual child, but that is why it works. Have you considered staying home and doing it yourself? A lot of it seems to be common sense and consistency, and you can do that yourself. I had never heard of ABA when my daughter was young (she is 17yo), but from what I read now about ABA, it's pretty much what I did with her with info gleaned from books and websites. The main thing is to have a plan and be very consistent and diligent, and review and update the plan regularly.

[fluttershy]

slmkhoo, thank you for your encouraging words. I think I will let him learn at his pace instead of forcing him into N1 just for the sake of my curiosity.


I'm a stay at home mom because I have to send & pick up him up from the centre. As for doing the ABA myself, at the moment the behavior consultant discourage me to do it myself at home is because she's worried that what I did at home is different from what the therapists did at the centre, thus it will confuse him (like we all know that, consistency & intensive hours is very crucial for ABA to work). What she suggests is that after my son mastered certain skills (eg. requesting: for help, opening the door, wanting to drink, fixed puzzles, play bowling), the consultant will train me to practice the same thing at home (they call it parent training). I find this very effective.

Also, they're recording, taking data & keep everything in a booklet folder everyday, so I know what's going on during each of his session. Sometimes, the consultant will send me a video when the therapists are practicing with him on various skills which me & husband find this very thoughtful of them

Since he's on 6 hours daily of ABA, 11-12 hours sleep, along with his meal times, bath times, etc he doesn't have so much idling time (which normally led to his stimmings & bad behaviours), I practiced with him during the weekends. Most of our weekends are spent outdoors, going to the beach or the playground. Both my kids love the outdoors.

[fluttershy]

Hi Fluttershy,


Can you share with me your ABA therapists contact. How much does it cost.

Thank you.

Hi little doggie,

I don’t know how to PM u, can u PM me instead? the ABA that my son is at is a centre where the founder cum director in the US is directly trained under the late Dr. Ivar Lovaas (the father of ABA), they have 2 branches in asia, 1 in Singapore & 1 in Hong Kong.

[fluttershy]

slmkhoo, how is your daughter coping with her peers now? and has she start to take interest in boys? also, how are you dealing with the puberty? I heard from lots of moms with teenage kids is that this is another challenge that sooner or later we have to face

[ImMeeMee]

fluttershy:

thanks slmkhoo! it's just the fact that he'll be behind his peers make me so sad and also deep inside i was thinking that maybe putting him in the mainstream kindergarten will hopefully made him

overcome his autism. i know it's a wishful thinking on my part that autism can't be overcome that easily. in fact, he may not overcome it

sorry to sound so negative just not a good day for me..i was imagining him going to mainstream kindy with his peers & having his birthday celebrated in his school in the normal setting. sometimes i just took a deep breath whether he'll be able to have a birthday celebrations just like other typical kids :please:

fluttershy

I have an ASD daughter aged 7 yo. Since she was in pre-school, due to certain circumstances, she has never had the chance of performing on stage. My two elder gals had their turns during kindy graduation and etc, but not this daughter. So I had a dream that one day she will stand on stage and perform.

Just recently her school had a stage performance during National Day celebrations, and my daughter was chosen along with some other P1s to go on stage and sing a song together. Even though I did not get to see her performance, but the thought of her performing on stage touched my heart a lot. It made me realize that dreams can be fulfiled, we just have to be patient.

So likewise, take heart that one day you can fulfil your dreams about your child too. One step at a time - it may come later than sooner, don't lost heart. :hugs:

[sharonkhoo]

fluttershy:

slmkhoo, how is your daughter coping with her peers now? and has she start to take interest in boys? also, how are you dealing with the puberty? I heard from lots of moms with teenage kids is that this is another challenge that sooner or later we have to face

So far, no problems. When she was reaching puberty, I had to teach her how to manage with the monthly issue, but it was fairly smooth sailing. I had prepared her in advance roughly what to expect, so it wasn't a shock to her. We talk a lot at home about all sorts of things, and I have a younger daughter (and no sons), so I guess we can talk a bit more freely.

Boys - so far, no particular interest. She's rather young/immature for her age, and seems more like a shy 14yo than 17yo in behaviour. Most people think she's younger than her 15yo sister even though she's a bit taller. We've also been quite strict about what our girls watch and read, and so they are quite sensible about what is appropriate about BGR at their age - ie. none! She was in a co-ed school from Pr school and also knows boys in our church youth group, so she's accustomed to boys around her although they generally ignore her, as far as I can see. She is quite introvert, so she just sticks with a very few girls mostly, and so far hasn't shown any interest in boys in that way. I guess my younger girl will lead the way, so she can observe and learn from that. We take it a step at a time!

[lavendery]

Fluttershy,


My personal point of view is he should still go into N1. Besides early intervention therapies, the environment and the people around him daily play an important influencing factor too.

My girl was preverbal and has little reaction when called upon her. She is easily identified as the odd one out. She was just at around three years old when she entered nursery. She was pretty much a loner and oblivious to her surrounding. She received speech therapy and later towards end of nursery, I added in EIPIC to her early intervention.

She is currently an outgoing and chatty girl who can talk with her kindergarten teachers and her kindy classmates at ease.

I feel that you should give it a try and let him have a chance to mingle with neuro typical kids. Due to constant interaction and peer pressure, our kids will progress and surprise us.

[fluttershy]

Hi Lavendery,


Thanks for your input. Before entering nursery & at home, does your daughter engage with her peers or any human being? making eye contact with them? doing odd behaviors repetitively if being left alone?

My son is doing all sort of things that typical classic ASD kids are doing. He’s very very different from my daughter who is a typical kid. My daughter was aloof & the odd one out in school when she was 3 in nursery, but at home she behaves like typical children & at 6 she already overcome everything. Now she has tons of friends, playdates, etc.

[Couragemom]

Hi fluttershy,


Our sons are just 2+ months apart (he is 2011 year-end bb) but my son is in his N1 class while yours is just going to start N1 class next year only!

Hmm… The psychologist whom I consult felt strongly that regardless of the hours of therapy a special needs child receive, generalization of learnt behaviour in the normal environment has to happen or else it is pointless I.e. our kids need to apply what he learnt in therapy to real-life situation. I sort of agree with her in the sense that her statement applies only when our child is ready. But the question or our fear is when will our child be ready?

My opinion in your situation is to send him to N1 class but only 2x a week and with a shadow teacher support while he continues with his ABA training. In this way, you get the best of both world isn’t it? A few private pre-schools do accept such arrangement.

[Couragemom]

ImMeeMee:

fluttershy:

thanks slmkhoo! it's just the fact that he'll be behind his peers make me so sad and also deep inside i was thinking that maybe putting him in the mainstream kindergarten will hopefully made him

overcome his autism. i know it's a wishful thinking on my part that autism can't be overcome that easily. in fact, he may not overcome it

sorry to sound so negative just not a good day for me..i was imagining him going to mainstream kindy with his peers & having his birthday celebrated in his school in the normal setting. sometimes i just took a deep breath whether he'll be able to have a birthday celebrations just like other typical kids :please:

fluttershy

I have an ASD daughter aged 7 yo. Since she was in pre-school, due to certain circumstances, she has never had the chance of performing on stage. My two elder gals had their turns during kindy graduation and etc, but not this daughter. So I had a dream that one day she will stand on stage and perform.

Just recently her school had a stage performance during National Day celebrations, and my daughter was chosen along with some other P1s to go on stage and sing a song together. Even though I did not get to see her performance, but the thought of her performing on stage touched my heart a lot. It made me realize that dreams can be fulfiled, we just have to be patient.

So likewise, take heart that one day you can fulfil your dreams about your child too. One step at a time - it may come later than sooner, don't lost heart. :hugs:

Hi ImMeeMee,

I was just thinking what happen to you, Nugget and Mashy and suddenly I saw your posting. Glad to hear that your daughter is doing well in her school.

Talking about school performance, my son's school is putting on a year-end Graduation concert and my son's N1 class is expected to perform! The teacher did ask me if I wanted my son to join in, I told her why not? If he really cannot at the end of the day, just put him at 1 corner of the stage or if really really cannot, then let me know and I will withdraw him from the concert performance. So for the past 2 months, I hear feedback from - can follow some actions to just sitting/lying down on floor during classroom rehearsal. Hmmm... then I think in my heart 'die already! Did I expect too much?' But just the past week, it seem that he suddenly just got it and can do a decent resemblance of the actual dance, phew!!!! Keeping my fingers crossed for the actual concert performance. Will go in disguise if not my son sees me below stage and might just burst into tears and run down to find me!