All About (Global) Development Delays

[LJHLJH]

Hi mummyalways,

Your boy sounds so much like mine. He is a year older and is suspected of language impairment. And it wasn’t easy guessing what he is delayed in. We had to go by elimination as his delay signs were not very clear except for speech. We didn’t know if it was autism, ADHD, dyslexia that was preventing him from talking. But now, with SLT, we have more or less narrowed down to language delay. People also think that my boy is younger than he actually is due to his communication problem.

Having you started on speech therapy or getting him assessed for any developmental delay? We started off with KK too, and still going there for appts, but have supplemented with private SLT sessions as KK’s appts are packed, far and few which will delay his progress.

Wrt to defering P1, has his current preschool teachers said anything to you? Becoz mine kept telling me that my boy is not ready for P1 etc etc. which stressed me out. A year before he starts P1, KK will conduct a school readiness assessment to ascertain this. If he’s not ready, you can get a letter from KK to defer P1 enrollment. The decision is ultimately yours. And this is the difficult decision I will have to make soon as he’s due for P1 next year (2012).

For now, I think early intervention is best to find out what areas he is delayed in and work on it with him to see how he can progress and overcome it.

[IJJ]

LJHLJH:

For now, I think early intervention is best to find out what areas he is delayed in and work on it with him to see how he can progress and overcome it.

Agree. I am always for early interventions.

[mummy always]

Thks ljhljh for ur story. Wats slt? I enjoy my boy. I really wish there is a way he can be seen as a 3 yr old, that will be lovely. I am not in a hurry for him to grow up…

[LJHLJH]

mummy always:

Thks ljhljh for ur story. Wats slt? I enjoy my boy. I really wish there is a way he can be seen as a 3 yr old, that will be lovely. I am not in a hurry for him to grow up....

Your're welcome. SLT=speech & language therapy.
I wrote in another thread that I was really upset that my boy's preschool mates were asking why he talks funny, and inside me, I wished he could devt his speech normally. And as IJJ had rightly advice, we need to accept and love them for who they are. I think we just have to educate those around our kids that not all kids are alike, and every child is different and special in his own way. So if he's seen as 2 or 3yr old, or in my case, my 5+yr old is seen as a 4 yr old with a 2 yr old language ability... so be it. Becoz I know he's one of the sweetest and sensitive 'whatever age' boy in his class.

[mummy always]

Tks Ljhljh. I know what you mean. I feel worst when I wonder if I did anything wrong... Do share how ur boy does. We will celebrate every success!

[DesertWind]

Hi mummy always & LJHLJH,


I am glad both of you \"found\" each other. I read both your postings before and actually I got confused thought both of you were the same person since the problems sound similar!

All the best!
:celebrate:

[IJJ]

mummy always:

Tks Ljhljh. I know what you mean. I feel worst when I wonder if I did anything wrong... Do share how ur boy does. We will celebrate every success!

Have you come across the book \"Come into my world\" by Brenda Tan? The book carries testimonies of families going though tough times with their special need kids and even some written by the subjects (special need kids themselves). It is very encouraging and uplifting. The book is available in public libraries.

[LJHLJH]

IJJ:

mummy always:

Tks Ljhljh. I know what you mean. I feel worst when I wonder if I did anything wrong... Do share how ur boy does. We will celebrate every success!

Have you come across the book \"Come into my world\" by Brenda Tan? The book carries testimonies of families going though tough times with their special need kids and even some written by the subjects (special need kids themselves). It is very encouraging and uplifting. The book is available in public libraries.

wow! this must be a sign (a good sign), it's the book that my hubby just bought and is reading it. I've yet to start on it and will wait till he's done

[LJHLJH]

DesertWind:

Hi mummy always & LJHLJH,


I am glad both of you \"found\" each other. I read both your postings before and actually I got confused thought both of you were the same person since the problems sound similar!

All the best!
:celebrate:

actually, I'm not so much upset that my boy has a learning difficulty than I am frustrated abt not knowing exactly what he issue had and how to help him. Like mummy always, I went through the 'it isn't autism, and it isn't ADHD...etc' and schools like Pathlight will not accept him becoz he is not autistic. So he falls into the gaps of those 'borderline learning difficulty' kids and has to make do with mainstream school, yet he is not same as these mainstream kids. Well, am meeting up with a school principal next week to discuss what learning support is there in this primary school and see how he can be supported in every way in mainstream school.

[mummy always]

hello, thanks so much for everyone’s contributions. i am new to ksp, and it is great knowing others who are having the same issues as my son.


my theory is that singapore wants to push every child to his/her fullest potential and if this means forcing a borderline child to cope with mainstream school and emerge at least with minimum passes in psle/o/n level and if he also manages to scrapes through to ite/poly, if not university, it will do that.

meanwhile parents like LJHLJH and myself just have to put in the extra effort to push our child without causing them to become discouraged and feel inadequate. hopefully they will meet the grade and get through…

hey, LJHLJH - does your child also struggle with reading and writing? I think the fact that he is slow in reading (and i don’t know what else he is hearing from his teachers and friends), discourages him from trying. He just told me that he cannot read because he is "so small".

i realise i didn’t reply your question about assessment - yes, i am sending him for assessment - appointment in may.