All About Autism

[pinkamoon]

twinstar3393:

Hi, i have a question - my 5 yrs boy has been going through EPIC, ST, OT & 1-1 tuition by special needs teacher on top of his mainstream. While all of them always tell me he is quite smart, the learning is very slow as he has task avoidance and high personal agenda behaviour. Till now, they are repeating him the basics of numbers, alphapets etc which he knows very well. No transition to simple addition, subtractions etc.

Hi Twinstar3393!
It has been a long time since I last visited this forum as I was busy my son's P1. He is attending mainstream (1 year deferment) this year and it has not been smooth sailing but I am glad to say that he has managed to adapt to school life.

My son was not recommended for mainstream and I did not bring him for any school readiness test. He was not very verbal at 6 years old and it was this reason I decided to defer him. He was very hyperactive and had low attention span.

He had little interest in what teachers taught him so most of the syllabus was taught by me at home. He had low muscle tone too and could neither catch a ball nor could he ride a tricycle. Like your son, when it was something of his interest, he could jump and run like no one's business.

To start my son on work, I designed learning around his interest. He liked numbers, so he did a lot of dot to dot exercises, puzzles with numbers etc. Because he liked alphabets, I bought phonics fridge magnets for him to learn phonics and spelling. So all learning through play was fun and engaging for him.

My son has come a long way. He used to hit his head against the sofa everyday and had difficulties with speech. He could not stop running when he was outside. I did GAPS diet for 3.5 years with him, giving his body only true organic food. When his body started to heal, he started to be able to sit down and listen to instructions. I spent half a year on full Sonrise programme while doing neuro feedback with him daily. Everything contributed to his improvements that I see now.

So, my message to mummies and daddies is to never give up on our children. They are what they are now because their body is loaded with toxins affecting their behaviour and learning. Playing and real interactions make them understand social skills. Neuro feedback speeds up the brain's ability to rewire and improving the desired brainwaves.

I always feel that teachers and therapists can only do that much. Everything else has to be done by parents. Loving them and spending time with them is the most important thing. For me, learning can always come later. Speech and sociability was priority.

[Snow24]

Hi


How do we get our kids to be more ‘regulated’ when outside so that he can listen and follow instructions, not running around.

[sharonkhoo]

Is he very different at home? If he is, then compare what triggers the less-regulated behaviour and see what you can do to minimise it. At the same time, you can give him limited, controlled exposure to those triggers and slowly get him used to them. For my daughter, when she was young, we had to limit the time she spent in crowded, noisy, highly-stimulating environments. Usually, we would only plan to be there for short periods and then leave. If errands needed to be run, we would take turns or do them when she wasn’t with us. We also taught her to cover her ears when things were too noisy, wear a cap when lights were too bright, and we would find quieter spaces for her to recover if necessary. If we needed to deliver instructions, we would find a quiet place, get her calmed down, make eye contact, and speak slowly and clearly. It also helps if the same standards of behaviour are expected at home as outside, and the instructions are given with the same words. She got much better as she got older but still avoids noisy and crowded places if she can. Hope this helps.

[pinkamoon]

Snow24:

Hi


How do we get our kids to be more 'regulated' when outside so that he can listen and follow instructions, not running around.

I agree with Slmkhoo. The environment outside bombards their senses too much and they find it overwhelming, thus they regulate themselves by running around. They are trying so hard to make themselves feel much better and has no time to listen to our instructions.

So, as a sonrise mum, spending less time outside and more time playing at home will be better for your son.

Next, I would change his diet. My son was able to calm down better and walk beside me when I started to give him real food. I boiled soup, cooked organic food and meat for him and used salt and pepper to season his food. He was on no carbohydrates diet for more than 1.5 years (after which I introduced potatoes and rice)and everywhere I went, I had to bring homecooked food. After that, I started to ferment vegetables for him. The change in his diet made him understand instructions better. Within 3 months of GAPS diet, he started to come back looking for me after running away to look at lifts. In the past, he was like Forest Gum and I had to use Ipad to control him. Do google GAPS diet and you can buy a book at amazon. GAPS diet lays a good foundation for his body to expel the toxins and for his gut to heal. I saw improvements but it takes a long time for our children's body to heal. I always believe that because of food interventions, my son's body is able to heal, so by the time I implemented sonrise and Neurofeedback, he was able to make tremendous improvement in his speech and behaviour.

Just sharing my son's journey. :rahrah:

[scang]

Nice sharing.


Found the GAPS diet book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603585613/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1603585613&linkCode=as2&tag=g0eb1-20&linkId=D2CL2TFRQUP26EHE

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ElEeajRpL._SL110_.jpg\">

[pinkamoon]

The GAPS book is by Dr Natasha Campbell- Mcbride. scang's link brings us to a cookbook which is nice to have but not necessary. I did not invest too much money on cookbooks because as Chinese, we have our own cooking. Just invest in steel pots and utensils. I boil soup ( don't use slow cooker because it contains high level of lead) in stainless steel pots, use soup to boil the veg n meat (till soft for about 15 mins) season with salt n pepper, add raw garlic n turn off heat.


Some people like to make pizza with cauliflower etc. I really salute them because I did not have time to do all these. Baked goods are also no no as these are not gentle on the stomach, so skip them. There are some oils recommended and probiotic foods that are included in the diet.

Below is the link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/095485202 ... ref=plSrch

[ImMeeMee]

slmkhoo:

Is he very different at home? If he is, then compare what triggers the less-regulated behaviour and see what you can do to minimise it. At the same time, you can give him limited, controlled exposure to those triggers and slowly get him used to them. For my daughter, when she was young, we had to limit the time she spent in crowded, noisy, highly-stimulating environments. Usually, we would only plan to be there for short periods and then leave. If errands needed to be run, we would take turns or do them when she wasn't with us. We also taught her to cover her ears when things were too noisy, wear a cap when lights were too bright, and we would find quieter spaces for her to recover if necessary. If we needed to deliver instructions, we would find a quiet place, get her calmed down, make eye contact, and speak slowly and clearly. It also helps if the same standards of behaviour are expected at home as outside, and the instructions are given with the same words. She got much better as she got older but still avoids noisy and crowded places if she can. Hope this helps.

My daughter is also very sensitive to lights and sounds, especially the latter in an enclosed space like indoors makes her feel uncomfortable as she finds it too loud. Recently we were at a relative's house and the girls started chattering with their cousins. At times they got excited and raised their voices. Even that was unbearable for her and I had to bring her out for a breather. Not long before that we attended a birthday party with her and she was initially excited about the music and wanted to join in the dance. However, when the adults started cheering loudly and the music started to pump up, she couldn't take it and wanted out. I really felt sorry for her.

I do hope that as she grows, she will slowly get more used to this and be more comfortable. Else it will affect her social interactions as she shys away from these social settings. :sad:

[sharonkhoo]

ImMeeMee:

I do hope that as she grows, she will slowly get more used to this and be more comfortable. Else it will affect her social interactions as she shys away from these social settings. :sad:

I think they do learn to cope better with age and exposure. Try to keep exposing her but let her decide when she's had enough. Avoiding such settings will not build her tolerance. Try to find ways to cope without needing to leave altogether, such as stepping outside for a few minutes, finding a space that is not so noisy (stay away from speakers!), earplugs etc. My daughter and I sometimes use wads of tissue in the ears just to damp down the noise partially but not block it totally. Over time, she has increased her tolerance.

[pinkamoon]

On the contrary, my experience with my son is such that reducing exposure to outside environment and reintroducing these places do make a difference. These ‘button pushing’ environment only reinforce their ‘belief’ that these places overload their sensory. Our children can anticipate the ‘dangers’ and will typically exhibit the same behaviours.


Take for instance social skills. As outsiders have little patience with them and have unpredictable reactions, our children shy away from them. If we can keep them at home and allow them to be themselves and practice social skills with family members who are more understanding, it helps to build them interest in human interaction and make interaction less intimidating. When they have honed their social skills and are more able to communicate, their anxiety level also decreases.

My son had always been afraid of the loud noises from lion dance and my approach has always been using ear muffs and getting away. We slowly showed him videos of lion dance, playing with drums etc to let him overcome his fear. We told him it is absolutely fine to have phobia and we discussed our personal fears at home. When he bought him for Chingay this year, we brought along his ear muffs but he no longer show anxiety and even took the ear muffs off on his own. It was a big step for him and we were there to celebrate his success in overcoming his fear. I think the event has changed views on lion dance.

So, staying at home is not trying to avoid problems but really working on the issues so that they have ample time to build their confidence. It may sound absurd to some but it makes a lot of sense to me. Tried and tested method.

[Snow24]

Hi


Thanks for sharing.

Usually I try to limit the time outside with my son as he keep running ard cannot stay still even for you to buy and pay at cashier .Find it stressful as need to stay in the queue , wait and pay cashier while managing him.If he run away there is risk of him getting lost and I need to give up queuing and locate him. I find it challenging.