All About Autism

[specialboymum]

Hi 2ppaamm,


Thanks for your post. It does cheer me up a little and give me hope. It is not easy to stay emotionally strong when we have to bear with the complaints from teachers almost every day. I guess I have to learn to see the positive side of him despite his negative sides are been constantly highlighted. He is pretty intelligent and have photographic memory. He memorized the whole singapore road map that now he is our walking GPS. He can tell us how to get from point A to point B (including details like which expressway to take, which exits)

I'm not quite sure if my boy is like yours as he isn't able to tell me what is going on in his mind, therefore I have to keep playing the guessing game. I admire you for taking the decision to homeschool him.. This thought came to my mind several times, but I never dare to raise this up to my family. First of all is the money issue, we can't afford to go single income, 2ndly my husband thinks that it is not healthy if I just devote all my attention to my kids.

Hi Schweppes,

I think my boy is having sensory overload problem.. I have increase his 'sensory diet' daily.. I even make him run around the park every evening.. but guess it will take a while to see effect.. but I am not sure what can we do now to prevent or stop him into lapsing those undesirable behavior..

chibi:

haha schweppes

i believe that group support is very important, and even in this forum, we supporting each other is so important, it gets us going on.
.

I agree. As much as I hope to get advices on the problem I faced now, I'm more than willing to give my 2 cents worth of help/advice on issues that I have faced and overcome in the past.

I was rather active in other forums such as shoulders.. but one problem with such online support group is that after a while the traffic dies down..

KKH also attempted to form a parent support group since they have the data base. They called me up some time late last year for their first meeting but only 4 parents, including myself, turned up. They have not arrange for 2nd meeting yet.

[DesertWind]

Anybody read that Straits Times article couple of days ago saying that in the U. S they are going to revise the criteria for ASD diagnosis due to an explosion in diagnosis in the U.S and worldwide? It was felt that the criteria now is too wide and they need to be narrowed down. They are also going to get rid of "Asperger" and another labels and lumping all just under one category of ASD.

[Audvis]

Hi,

Yes, I have read that article. But I feel that whether my son will get diagnosis of ASD under the new criteria is immaterial. The fact that he has difficulties with social communication and interaction, plus eye tracking problems, remains. The new criteria will not take away these problems from him.

[ImMeeMee]

Dear friends who wrote in with encouragement after my post, thanks once again for your support.


Just wanted to let you know that I am in the midst of swimming back to the top. The CNY break was timely to give myself some breathing space, and now that things are back to normal, its time to get back on track and continue to tough it out.

I salute the mummies whose kids are starting school, and the battles that you are fighting. You are emotionally so strong and I hope I can be like you when it is my turn.

I am still pushing for a few things to happen, including spending more time with dds, and I resolve to make it happen this year. That which does not kill us will make us stronger.

To a new year.

[Cathy Wu]

I had students diagnosed with Autism.

Physically, you won’t see that they’re mentally challenged, but once you get to talk to them, they tend to be different from the average students.
Some children with Autism are non verbal. This means that you need to use a new method to be able to communicate with them. Sign boards and cards can be used to talk to them.
Teaching children with autism how to communicate is essential in helping them reach their full potential. There are many different approaches to improve communication skills in a child with autism.
Others enroll their children with Autism in a speech therapy to improve their speech.

[mashy]

Just got the psychological report from the child dev. His IQ is so wide ranging that they can’t give him the FSIQ score or whatever scores. Can only go by category and each one range from below average to highly superior.


He is given exemption from MT. Anybody here who took the exemption? What will that mean in sch? I understand that they will still attend the class and do tests and exams just that it is not needed in PSLE?

[mashy]

The dr sugg that I look at English classes with comprehension and composition components. Any sugg on which one is good?

[specialboymum]

mashy:

Just got the psychological report from the child dev. His IQ is so wide ranging that they can't give him the FSIQ score or whatever scores. Can only go by category and each one range from below average to highly superior.


He is given exemption from MT. Anybody here who took the exemption? What will that mean in sch? I understand that they will still attend the class and do tests and exams just that it is not needed in PSLE?

It is quite common that kids like ours are given exemption from MT.
For my boy, I will just let him try for a few years, if he really cannot make it, I will then 'activate' the exemption for him

[mashy]

Specialboymum


Thanks! Have u found out what will happen after u ‘activate’ the exemption? Will they moderate the psle results like they do with other exemptions (foreign students and those who studied overseas)?

I’m now thinking what I need to do next. The dr said that kkh internal speech therapists aren’t good enough and gave me a list of private speech therapists to contact. She said waiting list can be a year.

Any advice what else to be done? I have already contacted the school’s AED and form teacher so they have been in the know.

[specialboymum]

mashy:

Specialboymum


Thanks! Have u found out what will happen after u 'activate' the exemption? Will they moderate the psle results like they do with other exemptions (foreign students and those who studied overseas)?

I'm now thinking what I need to do next. The dr said that kkh internal speech therapists aren't good enough and gave me a list of private speech therapists to contact. She said waiting list can be a year.

Any advice what else to be done? I have already contacted the school's AED and form teacher so they have been in the know.

I haven't check yet, think we will worry about it when we get there.

the therapists at KKH are usually fresh out of schools so lack of experience. Private speech therapist, especially those individual based therapists charge as high as $160/hr. My son went through close to 3 years 1:1 private speech therapy and it almost bleed us dry, but he improved a lot. Now we move him to small group based speech therapy so as to focus on social communication skill.