All About Autism

[belachanbabe]

tyeogh:

So happy today.This afternoon, ds performed at his mainstream kindy school concert. He got on the stage, did his dance item together with his classmates, then left the stage. Got most of the moves right. Well, none of his 20 odd classmates did it perfect anyway. The sight of him stamping his feet with his NT classmates at a certain part gave me an indescribable joy. Its like he can hold his own with his peers.


One year ago, they could not handle him so he had to watch his classmates from the spectator seats. This year, the Holy Grail - school concert. And the boy was visibly happy to be a part of it.

A teacher from another class came to congratulate us saying she saw the difference in him. I feel so blessed

:congrats:

Can imagine your heart almost bursting out of your chest

[fluttershy]

tyeogh,


so happy to hear such an encouraging news!! :boogie: :rahrah:

[Liany12]

congratulation !!!

[September_21]

There is an upcoming workshop held at September 21 for kids with special needs with a leading specialist from UK on 26th-28th November. Interested parties, please view the following link for more info.


http://september21.com.sg/PDFs/Workshop ... kshops.pdf

regards,
September_21

[pinkamoon]

For those who are interested to learn more about sonrise techniques, there are two very good seminars coming up in Singapore.


1) The Son-Rise Program Question and Answer Forum on 18/11/2014

2) Autism Help - New Tools To Help Your Child Now on 14/2/2015
Raun K. Kaufman will focus on effective methods of autism treatment, including
an introduction to the techniques of The Son-Rise Program

My son benefitted from the sonrise program. I did not do a full sonrise at home but spending about 4 hours each day with my son in a room helped with bonding. When he scripted, I scripted with him. Basically I joined him in things he liked to play.

Autistic children seem to be in their own world because they lack the social skills and face problems with verbal communications. Instead of trying to change them, we can accept them and go into their world.

For more info, pls visit the website below.

http://embraceautism.sg/events.htm

[Snow24]

Hi


How do you support a high functioning autistic child in academic area ,school support and daily life?

[sharonkhoo]

Snow24:

Hi


How do you support a high functioning autistic child in academic area ,school support and daily life?

It really depends on what the issues are and how severe the deficits are. I have an Aspergers daughter who is now 17yo. I have too many stories to tell! Maybe you can be a bit more specific?

[humpty]

I’m really confused about whether my boy needs intervention. sigh where do I begin?


If he goes for screening and is labeled, will it be in his medical records? Can it somehow be done anonymously? I’m concern about labelling him at such a young age.

And if we do decide to send him for screening, where are the best places to go for assessment? I’m thinking that psychology is more an art than a science. To someone, he may be completely normal… to another he might be on the spectrum… how can we be sure that we aren’t going some place that is just out to make money or to conveniently mark anyone who is quirky as being on the spectrum?

Do the therapies really work? Or will being treated as "special" make the child’s self esteem be lower? How can we find out what therapies are available and which ones the child needs?

Has anyone tried a holistic therapy like the GAPS diet/NAET treatment? Did it work?

Also, we tried the sitting exercise. It seems that he can "sit" if he is moving some other part of his body. e.g. his hands, or his legs… I just did lego with him for a full hour and he did not once move his butt from the chair. He did the whole thing from start to finish… does that count? Or does he have to sit with nothing else to do? His teachers often punish him by making him sit on stools and "reflect upon what he has done"… he can’t do that…

There are moments when he can be completely "normal" and have very good conversations and eye contact. But there are times when his behaviour can be completely inappropriate. It’s just so frustrating!

[sharonkhoo]

humpty:

I'm really confused about whether my boy needs intervention. *sigh* where do I begin?

How old is he? It's not really possible to diagnose young kids and even the professionals only give you probabilities, especially if it's borderline.

If he goes for screening and is labeled, will it be in his medical records? Can it somehow be done anonymously? I'm concern about labelling him at such a young age.
I don't think it will go on public record, but I'm not sure about this. However, if you are asked, you will have to decide whether to declare. I didn't send my daughter for diagnosis until she was 14yo, so I could declare 'nothing' with a clear conscience. However, we knew she had issues and dealt with them ourselves as her issues were not very severe.

And if we do decide to send him for screening, where are the best places to go for assessment? I'm thinking that psychology is more an art than a science. To someone, he may be completely normal... to another he might be on the spectrum... how can we be sure that we aren't going some place that is just out to make money or to conveniently mark anyone who is quirky as being on the spectrum?
This was exactly my concern in the early years. We were only fairly sure when she got to around 6yo. And some manifestations of the traits became clearer as she got older and her life experiences expanded.

Do the therapies really work? Or will being treated as \"special\" make the child's self esteem be lower? How can we find out what therapies are available and which ones the child needs?
Therapies work differently on different kids, and must be tailored to the kid. Read up - there's lots of info available online and in libraries. For less severely affected kids, I believe nothing works better than a loving adult who understands him and provides the training and support tailored to his needs on a daily basis.

Self-esteem issues are tricky - again, I decided not to go for formal diagnosis so that I didn't have to label my daughter. However, as she grew older, we did explain to her that she had certain weaknesses that she would have to work harder to overcome compared to other kids. She's 17yo now, and I know she does sometimes feel a bit badly about it (not too much), but it's something she has to come to terms with. We have another daughter who is doing extremely well in most areas, even the areas which my Aspie girl is fairly strong. It's just something we have to cope with in the family.

Has anyone tried a holistic therapy like the GAPS diet/NAET treatment? Did it work?
Not tried.

Also, we tried the sitting exercise. It seems that he can \"sit\" if he is moving some other part of his body. e.g. his hands, or his legs... I just did lego with him for a full hour and he did not once move his butt from the chair. He did the whole thing from start to finish... does that count? Or does he have to sit with nothing else to do? His teachers often punish him by making him sit on stools and \"reflect upon what he has done\"... he can't do that...
I think that you need to talk to his teachers. Even discipline measures should be tailored to the child. Some kids are just more restless than others, and forcing them to do something that they always fail at is not reinforcing the right behaviour. Ask them to lower the time limit to something he can manage first, then gradually work upwards.

There are moments when he can be completely \"normal\" and have very good conversations and eye contact. But there are times when his behaviour can be completely inappropriate. It's just so frustrating!
All kids behave inappropraitely at one time or another. It's the frequency and severity that distinguishes NT from ASD. Also, basic things like environment, lack of sleep, emotional issues etc affect all kids, both NT and ASD, with different degrees of severity. And since it's a continuum, it can be hard to know where to draw the line. My approach with my daughter was to just deal with her behaviour and never mind trying to get a label. Always try to encourage the behaviour you want to see and 'extinguish' the ones you don't. What I did with her was essentially what is called ABA if you look at formal therapies. I also did various things to help her in her speech and physical skills as and when the opportunities occurred. The label is mainly helpful if you need to get accommodations in school, but sometimes they may be counter-productive. Just my thoughts.

Clarification - I do believe in therapies and early intervention, but I believe it's not always necessary to go the professional route, especially if it's a borderline case and there is a concerned adult at home who can DIY. But that's a personal choice for each family. I do not advocate doing nothing and hoping that the child will 'grow out' of it.

[Couragemom]

Hi Humpty,


I think you need a hug!! "Tight squeeze sending out to you virtually"

Ok, first and foremost, in your first posting, you mentioned that your son is suspected of being on the spectrum. Who made this statement? Is it his pre-school teacher? Or his regular PD? Or did you visit a developmental PD or psychologist? This ‘suspected ASD’ label is not just for anyone to give to your son and NOBODY can say your son is or is not on the spectrum except for the experts, and in Singapore context, that would be either the developmental PD or a child psychologist.

Like for my son’s case, I brought him to see a child psychologist when he was less than 2 years old and she was the one who said he has ‘suspected ASD’ and wanted him to do the full ADOS assessment but I refused! The general protocol in KKH and NUH CDU will be to assess the child after 3 years old and above, unless in cases where the symptoms are too "obvious" and thus there isn’t any need to wait until the child turns 3 of age.