All About Autism

[Double E]

tyeogh:

Double E:

I see. Parents know best .
My boy is with Berries for Chinese, has maths tuition and I am going to start him on I can Read soon. He has been on Berries and tuition since 4 years old. He is 6 this year.

Thanks. DS is also 6 this year. His mom started him on Berries this year for reasons still unknown to me (sorry, forgot about this). I plan to get him exempted from Chinese.

Was thinking of I Can Read too.

His kindy wants me to teach him to read and write at home. So I am spending my nights teaching him phonics for 3 letter words. Tiring. When he can master those, I will then sign him up for I can Read.

Same for you? Do you have to prepare your son for I Can Read?

I guess yr wife's reason is the same as mine, get him exposed to mandarin early in the hope that he can cope in Pri and no need to ask for exemption.

I can read should be helping u with what u are teaching yr son now, that will spare u from having to teach yrself. Sorry , dun understand why u need to prep him for I can read.

For my DS, he is ok with reading , writing n spelling. I hope I can read can help him with things like comprehension and composition.

[tyeogh]

DoubleE,

Thanks.

Couragemom,
Daylight robbery if you asked me.

[phtthp]

tyeogh:

Daylight robbery if you asked me.

Those people who increased the school fees by $200 (from $500 to $700, per month), are ROBBERS !

Autistic children & parents already so pitiful, so stressed, so financially strapped, to raise up a child. These people so greedy for $, so wicked to raise school fees. They have no heart.

Imagine those autistic kids, born into poor family.
At $700 per month, how can they possibly afford to receive Early Intervention help, at a young age ?

Government, beg you to pls do something to the situation, to help autistic parents plus children

[scang]

tyeogh:

Hi all,

Is anyone's child in EIPIC? Did you experience a fee increase in 2015?

My son is in AWWA early intervention. His fees went up from $500 a month to $700 a month. Its a whopping 40% increase!

No more money in CDA. Had to withdraw him from early intervention. Very upset.

The logic or reason given from SG Enable is the higher income, or middle income household will be the ones subsidizing the lower income family.

So, if the increase is $200 for your household, then those lower income household will have their fess reduce (but amount reduce is dependent on the per capital household income).

So the increase in the monthly base subsidy of $500 (from $300) is only for show, but the actual subsidy is based on the Subsidy Rate (in table 1)
http://app.msf.gov.sg/Press-Room/More-Support-for-PWDs

they increase the monthly base subsidy but reduces the subsidy to the EIPIC centres resulting in higher fees for higher income or middle income household, in order for lower income household to enjoy the lower fees.

Do note that it is not based on simply monthly income, but total annual income inclusive of bonuses etc. divided out per month, then divided by no. of people in that household.

https://www.sgenable.sg/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/EIPIC-Service-Matrix-2015.pdf

Actually, it is better to focus on life skills and skills that they can use in their lifetime, rather than academic (where 50% or more of what is learnt may not be used or applied in life).

[scang]

Couragemom:

Hi tyeogh,


Withdrawal from eipic may not be a bad time as you mentioned that your darling son has made tremendous improvement for the past year. Perhaps you want to consider joining a private social class if you are worried?

$700 for 6hrs of eipic means $100+/hr which is pretty steep for a group setting.

It should be $700 for 50hrs of eipic per month, or 12.5hrs per week for AWWA.
So it is actually $14/hr.

For $100+/hr, that is the rates of the private centres, and normally, only the higher income households or the rich households can afford those.

[tyeogh]

Its BS. AWWA raised the fees to $1,530 a month. I get $500 plus $250 other subsidies. With GST, net cost became $830. Then they wrote that they recognize parents will incur additional cost so they are holding off the increase till end 2015 and will charge $700 instead. Which is still $200 higher than what I paid in 2014 for the same 3 day program with the same subsidy! I didnt get into another income bracket overnight (not that I know of unless wife is hiding money).


This type of tactics I also know. Instead of charging you $5 for a burger, I raise it to $20, then discount it to $10 and proclaim out of goodwill, I will hold off this increase and charge you $7 instead so please thank me on your way out.

Their premise is owned, not rented. Same teacher student ratio. So where did the increase come from? Teachers got 40% pay rise?

Sounds like the MRT story. Somebody is missing profits KPI.

[tyeogh]

phtthp:

Government, beg you to pls do something to the situation, to help autistic parents plus children

Someone answered your request. They kicked the MSF Minister out. Haha!

[Couragemom]

Hi Scang,


I beg your pardon for my poor Maths skill! I was offered 6hrs eipic on a weekly basis, not monthly. Yes, $150+/hr is the going rate for private therapy session.

[totalstranger]

Hi tyeogh.


Are you going to withdraw you child from the EIPIC program of AWWA? Have you contacted other EIPIC centers e.g. Rainbow to see if they can offer an early intervention program at a more affordable price?

Is you child a high functioned ASD? Is he/she verbal? Does he/she have behavioral problem? If without early intervention, can he/she adapt to the mainstream school life when he/she reaches 6 years old?

[belachanbabe]

Totalstranger, it’s not so easy to switch EIPIC programs because all Govt subsidised ones have year long waiting lists. Parents really have no choice but to go private and kena ker tok $$$. Also logistics wise, these EIPIC programs only run 2-3 times a week for a couple of hours. For the dual income family, means your child also has to go to a kindy for the rest of the time, double whammy. Less intervention means more parental involvement which from personal experience, puts mental strain the marital and family relationships.


Poor Tyeogh. Heart really goes out to you and the frustration you must feel. All parents want the best for their kids wor.

40% increase is criminal but not unheard of unfortunately. My boy’s schoolbus fees increased from $270 to $320 this year but bo pian as that is only bus plying the desired route. With his PL fees of $420 per mth plus after school care with intervention of $950 (no subsidy as it is private). That’s $1.690 just to go to school not counting enrichment or tuition. Here I thought going to primary school would be cheaper than his early intervention years.

This is only for one boy. And before you all ask, there are not many after school programs for primary school years and above with learning intervention in Singapore. That’s why they dare to charge such fees. (Business idea though)

There has been many articles recently on Singaporeans sense of entitlement. However, this area certainly warrants more examination to help ease the financial burdens of the middle class sandwich generation who is not poor enough to get assistance and not rich enough to provide necessary support