All About Autism

[seoulover]

tyeogh:

Hi Seoulover,

Eipic for aspies is an all rounded program that teaches your child to follow classroom routines at a pace they can adapt to.

If your child is well behaved enough to follow all social cues, eipic could be an over-kill. However, in the absence of speech, it is likely that she is not getting all instructions 100% right. Hence, I think eipic is useful. The smaller teacher to child ratio as compared to a daycare centre is critical.

Your concern seems to be speech and really, the challenge is to get your child to talk. If your eipic comes with ST, I suggest keeping it. Any extra time spent coaxing her to talk is beneficial. It may seem meaningless to you at first as it was to me but there is a strategy to it. The teachers will teach your child how to sit still first. When she can do that, then they will draw her attention to a toy she likes. When they manage to get her attention, they will purposely not give her the toy in order to force her to point to it. When she can point to it, they will coax her to express it in words, else no toy. The key is to get her to imitate. When she can finally imitate, speech happens.

Now, this process is a long one. Each segment can take weeks or months. For example, it took my son a month to sit still, a month a find a toy he likes, 2 months to point to it, 2 months for a desire to imitate, 2 months to mouth the word that gets him the toy, 2 months to shape the tone of that word, 2 months for more words. Fyi, my son joined eipic at 2.5 yo and had private ST too. He spoke only at 3.5 yo. By 4, he formed 3 words in a sentence.

You have to be patient. There is no special formula in eipic or ST to bring about speech. Rather, it is about breaking down each process into a smaller bite size for your child. Eipic and ST complements each other . For example, if your child is not trained to sit, cooperate and imitate, ST alone cannot bring speech out.

I am not sure how different GDD eipic is from Autism eipic but it follows the above principles, it is worthwhile keeping till the Autism eipic comes along. My doctor did advise me, if not money is not a concern, go for everything first.

Lastly, my experience in this forum is no 2 child is alike. Autism is a spectrum. What works for me may not work for you. I am just sharing my experience. You have to make that tough final call for your child.

Hi tyeogh,

Thank you for your detailed reply once again! Really appreciate it.

My gal can sit still. She can point too. Her desire to imitate is getting stronger. Upon request, she is able to pronounce some sounds but not others. She can imitate a few single words, but they are not spontaneous enough to count as talking. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

You seem to be in a dilemma about your son's education path so if u don't mind, I'll like to chip in. From your description of your son, if I were you, I will opt for pathlight foundation year. My reason is similar to what you have shared with me: a smaller teacher-student ratio can only do wonders. The high teacher-student ratio in MOE schools means that there is a limit to what the teachers there can do. However, others have pointed out that there's Learning Support Programme where the teacher-student ratio is better. I don't know much about the LSP to comment. If students are pulled out during curriculum time, fine. But if it's extra lessons after school, I would say forget it cos I feel that there's a limit to what kids can absorb especially after a long day in school.

Another reason will be that Pathlight offers mainstream education so their students do not lose out in terms of academic achievements. For your son, it just means achieving at a slower pace. I honestly think a difference of one year is no big deal. Moreover, your son is a late dec baby. The destination (PSLE for now) is still the same.

Follow your heart. Choose the option which will make both you and your child happy. I believe that if your child is happy, you will be too.

JMHO as a parent and teacher. Cheers!

[seoulover]

ImMeeMee:

Seoulover

Never underestimate the gut feel of a parent. Having been on this journey for the last 5 years or so, I find that gut feel has helped me in so many occasions when there was no other thing to fall back on.

However, having said that, you may want to keep an open mind at this stage since your child has just stared EIPIC. Talk to the teachers, share your expectations and raise your concerns. The teachers and therapists are trained in special needs, and while we do not have to follow their words blindly, we can distill their strengths. It also helps that they can offer another perspective which we as parents may have missed. Every child at EIPIC center has a IEP, and this is a tool to help parents and the EIPIC team set goals for the child.

So keep the gut feel with you, but put in actions in your current situation to see how to make things work. If after trying things still dont look up, then it may be time to change. But at least when you make the change you know that you have tried.

JMHO. Hope this helps.

Hi ImMeeMee

Thanks for your advice. I'm taking it! Will continue to place my girl in EIPIC until this Nov before I review the situation. If you don't mind, can you share with me which EIPIC centre your child went to last time? Thanks.

[seoulover]

Niu2009:

Hi Double E,

Considering send my son to Brainy Wave too. Is group class based on age? How long is the duration? How about teacher student ratio?

Hi Niu2009

The company's name should be Brainy Moves. Anyway I called them up to enquire cos I'm kind of interested so thought I'll share the info with you. The group class should be based on age cos the person who picked up my call asked me my gal's age. Each session is 50 mins long. Teacher student ratio is 2 instructors to 6 children. Fees are $600 for 12 sessions while reg fee is $40. They offer trial classes at $50 for a trial session.

Still thinking if I should let my girl try it out. Would 3 years old be too young? Hmmm... Any comments from mummies who have tried out Brainy Moves? Thanks!

[tyeogh]

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to write. Appreciate it. I read all entries carefully. ImMeeMee nailed it. You had me at Hello. Well, your hubby did. LoL. To trust Pathlight’s judgement since they did the assessment.

Double E,
I am a strange fella. I may argue strongly for something but it may not mean I want it. Just throwing up arguments from all angles. Then I will sleep on it. Got to do with the ageing process? zzz

phtthp,
It is easier to transfer from Pathlight to mainstream than vice versa. I can always get into mainstream again as long as my other son is still studying there?

CChan,
Sorry no time to do your survey. Pai seh. With 4 kids, everyday is a fight for time….I mean fight for survival….lol

pinkamoon,
Fortunately, unanimous so far. Keeping my fingers crossed. Remember, I am from Mars and she is from Venom……oh, all women here….I mean Venus, of course! Kekeke

Couragemom,
Sometimes a “non-expert” view is the best because we are too busy viewing it from our own lens. If you mean the Learning Support programs managed by Allied Educators, I no need hide. Already quickly quickly raise my hands. Informed them to expect my boy. Even checked the “Autism” box in the data form.

seoulover,
Yes, I am eyeing the lower teacher student ratio. I can just imagine the mainstream teacher going OK class, 12-7=5, this and this is 20, blah blah blah, OK class over, remember to copy your homework from the board and pass up tomorrow……. and my boy going "Huh?"…if he even knows how to "Huh?"

ImMeeMee,
What more can I say? Your entry was detailed and enlightening. I like the “confidence and self esteem are important building blocks” part. Academics can indeed be acquired along the way. I was practically nodding at everything you wrote. You know what, you are now the official Oracle in this thread! When slmkhoo is on mc….kekeke.



But just when I think I got it figured out, life throws a spanner at me again. In my face some more. I found out the Pathlight bus will reach my place at 5.45am!! Like seriously, 5.45am! This means my boy has to get up 5.20 am latest. Who is the world wakes up so early? Is this like normal?

I am a big believer that children must sleep more. If my boy has to wake up at 5.20 am, he has to sleep by 9pm?!

[Double E]

tyeogh


Are u able to send your boy to school yourself? 5.45am is crazy! the poor boy will be so tired. BUT that said, I do hear of kids taking school bus as early as that. Is not uncommon.

[pinkamoon]

Hi tygeoh! Isn’t this a good reason to go house hunting?

[ImMeeMee]

tyeogh


Thanks for appointing me as Deputy Oracle ... though I dont know what it means ...

Anyway, PL has a carpool system where you can look for other parents staying around the area for carpooling. Its a small community, so its not too difficult to seek one another out where they are available.

My girls sleep at about 9pm during weekdays, later during weekends. We are warriors ... I am sure we can find ways to adapt ...

Good luck in your decision making!

[tyeogh]

Double E,

The last time I got up at 5.20am was … hmmm. Hey! I never ever got up at 5.20am before in my entire life even during school days! Yay! Me thinks it is easier to stay up late till 5.20am…

pinkamoom,
mai lah. Cannot go house hunting. My 2 girls walked to school now. If I shift near Pathlight, these 2 must walk very very far. Very chek ah…

ImMeeMee,
Ah. Thanks for the carpooling tips. Maybe I can Uber my way out of this. Or is it easier to get my helper to learn Class 3. Hmmm…

Have a good Friday everyone! Park tor time!

[Couragemom]

Hi Seoulover,


My son joined brainy moves when he was around 3 years old too! It is fine, the trainers will moderate the difficulty of the movements to the kid’s ability (and my son is one clumsy boy!)

Btw, your daughter’s condition sounds quite mild, perhaps you want to consider an integrated pre-school (all private)? Integrated pre-school is one where the school offers a mainstream class but also have support for special needs children. I know a few - Ichiban nurture land, St Gerard’s and ZeeHouse.

For my son, what I did was to find a normal 2-hr playgroup for him and then go for intensive therapies for 6 months. He started when he was around 1 year 10 months old. Then when he was around 2.5 years old (condition is better but limited speech), I found a mainstream pre-school for him with shadow support for 5 months. Now he is in N2, the first 6 months weren’t that good but now the complaints are getting fewer! His therapies are still ongoing.

[seoulover]

Hi Couragemom


Thanks for your reply! Ya I think i’ll send my gal for a trial class first before deciding. My gal still cannot jump. Do u think the instructors there can help in this aspect? Heh, I seem to be stinging on OT but no choice her private SLT is making me broke.

Thanks too for sharing your journey thus far. It’s good that your boy started intervention so early. Yes, my girl’s condition seems mild but the lack of speech is worrying. Due to her lack of speech, she was "retained" in playgroup in her daycare though she should be in N1 this year. So young kena retained, lol. Integrated pre-schools r too expensive to consider. Seriously very very expensive. I’ll prefer mainstream + Eipic but for now she’ll just have to do without mainstream. That’s why I’m considering Brainy Moves to let her have a chance too to interact with neurotypical peers.