special Needs- to declare or not declare?

[phtthp]

It’s a Christian mission school, and they do emphasize on character building as well. Just that it is sad that not all classmates can accept him, although there’re some boys who did. Sad but unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of life. For his case, his behavior is obvious to everybody. So whether declare or don’t declare not important, because his behavior in class says it all. Time will tell.


i) understand from a teacher’s view point …
in a real classroom teaching situation - during lessons, if he wants to go toilet and pee, the subject teacher had to stop & pause where she is teaching at the moment, get another boy classmate to accompany and follow him go toilet. Because teacher scared that after going toilet, he may run off somewhere else to play when he got mood swings refuse to return back to the classroom to continue study. The teacher came up with a duty roster to rotate. Different day of the week, different classmate(s) accompany him go toilet. If the boy goes missing in school, the teacher will get into serious trouble as she is held accountable, because the boys’ parents will come after her and question her, "My son was in your class but he’d gone missing. So, Where is he now ? What happen ? ". Thus, teacher had to wait for both he and his classmate to return classroom safely, before proceed to teach and carry on from where she had paused and left off. The teacher just cannot continue to teach while the 2 boys go to toilet, because it is not fair to the other boy who accompany him on goodwill go toilet, and missed out listening to the teacher’s explaination. Hence, all lessons had to pause and stop until they both come back safely.

ii) from school’s view point
at P1, he failed all language subjects (English, Chinese), and passed only Maths one subject. The school doesn’t practise retention at P1 to repeat P1, so school automatically push him up to P2. Same thing happened in P2 - also push up.

[MandyMummy]

I understand your concern. I guess for PSLE, you will have a tough decision to make. Annotation on certificate VS compromising the T-score (assuming if that's the case).

Anyway you have about 6 years to decide if you want to apply for special consideration. Maybe his condition will improve by then.

[mum02]

I do not agree that there will be no stigma.

I have a friend whose child is in a "brand-name" school. She informed her teacher about it and the teachers started to discuss among themselves about this child. This child had quite a difficult time…
So she advised me not to declare officially.
However, if the teacher is understanding, it is good to let the teacher know on a private basis.

[Audvis]

I understand where the school is coming from. I guess parents hv to be realistic as well, if the child can’t cope in mainstream school even with support, they shd transfer the child to special school even though the mainstream sch doesn’t practise retention.

[allamanda]

mum02:

My kid is mildly ADHD i think.

I told the teachers of my suspicion so that they know how to handle him.
But I did not get it checked.
All the symptoms are pointing towards ADHD.

For my son's case, we thought he is ADHD, but he was diagnosed as ASD.

[pingsped]

Audvis:

My boy is going to mainstream Pr 1 next year. He has high-functioning ASD. Would like to check with parents of special needs children - did u declare yr child's special need to the school/ MOE? If yes, what did the allied educator do to help yr child? What benefit did yr child get?

I am now struggling with this decision. On the one hand, I think it's better to declare to ensure he gets some support (of course, how gd the support is is another issue). On the other hand, I am concerned that by declaring, he will be \"blacklisted\" forever in MOE's database. Next time he will not be given opportunities due to his ASD, eg entry to a competitive course at University (assuming that he can make it till there). Also, some teachers may not be discreet. They may announce the child's ASD to the whole class and the chil suffers incessant bullying from the classmates as a result. I have spoken to some young ASD adults and they told me this was their experience.
Any experience to share?

Hi

These r the questions I will ask myself if I have a student with ASD going mainstream school:

What r your child's symptoms/behv? What kind of support/accommodation does he receive from kindergarten teachers? Will he require the same kind of support in primary school? What kind of kindergarten is he enrolled in? Does it prepare him for primary school STELLAR (a lot of floortime, small group discussion, reading aloud, etc)? Does he require exemption from taking Chinese?

If he doesn't require school support or language exemption, it is probably safe not to declare officially.

I have advised parents to declare & NOT declare based on the child's needs.
Sometimes, I will write a letter stating some symptoms eg sensory processing difficulties. To me, a child must show interest in peers (regular socialisation & playing) and able to accommodate peer request/demand sometimes, to be considered to have \"normalised\" or have mild ASD.

Some kids may daydream for months & not receive any help. It is very difficult to get the child to participate in class once everyone, incl teachers & classmates, is used to this behaviour.

In some schools like St Andrew's Jnr Sch, the AED will not offer regular support unless the child is diagnosed with ASD. I understand from some AEDs that the school is required to keep a special needs register for \"admin purpose\".

To me, it is advisable to declare at least \"special needs\" to lodge a record for National Service. ASD is a lifelong condition; NS is very tough even for regular kids. With early intervention & therapy, adults with ASD can probably work or have families but no therapy can prepare them for rigours of NS.

No AED will understand your child better than a parent. It would be helpful if a parent can volunteer his/her services in P1 to help ease the transition & help teacher manage any anxieties.

I think certain popular schools actually don't like parents to volunteer/help out in classrooms. Some neighbourhood primary schools welcome parents to coach/read to slow learners in upper primary. Volunteering gives parents a reason to hang around and get to know teachers, classmates, canteen vendors, etc. Teachers are usually kinder to the kids cos they know parents personally. Parents will have to exercise their social networking skills :celebrate:

[phtthp]

are special needs boys exempted from National Service (NS) in SG ?


if No, maybe before the time is up to serve NS - can write in years beforehand to appeal to relevant government authorities to attach son to join Cantonment Police force HQ for NS period to do 2 to 2.5 years light admin work, instead of being automatically routed to join Army & then get attached to Pulau Tekong for first 3 months initial, strenous & tough army training (eg: crawling under barbed wire, or carry a rifle and sleep at errie grave yard, on guard duty ) ?

[Audvis]

Hi pingsped, my boy is currently in mainstream K2. Teacher did not complain about him except that he is mischievious. There are no special accommodations or support given to him now. I intend to let him try taking Chinese first. If he really can’t cope with it later on, we will ask for exemption, but of course it means we hv to declare then.


Hi phtthp, I hv not thought abt NS as it seems so far away. My first priority is to get him well-settled into a mainstream school. Other worries can come later.

[pingsped]

One of oldest former student is in 1st yr poly now. From what I understand from parents, there’s a psych assessment by MINDEF psych.


ASD is a developmental disability which is diagnosed in early childhood. Only children with Asperger may be diagnosed later as they usu hv no language delay (just difficulties w social use of lg).

Some parents tell me their friend’s sons do not get automatic exemption. They serve admin jobs. Not sure abt BMT. If u hv the necc paperwork fr 3 yr old, I suppose u can ‘suddenly’ declare child’s condition at 18 yr old. otherwise, MINDEF may not believe you, esp if your child looks very normal by then.

If u hv detailed report fr medical doc, esp govt or popular ones, it shld be good enough.

[windie]

For parents who have kids already in Mainstream Pri school, can you share what kind of documentations the school would require to support the child? This is really stressing me out