All About Autism

[chibi]

hi ImMeeMee,

my daughter goes to mainstream Kindergarten at PAP.
it wasn't a smooth journey tho her form teacher was stil abit ok.i remember her principal even give me option not to let my daughter get her kindergarten graduation certificate on stage during the ceremony saying that she might not be able to manage the loud noises.
my poor gal was sitting with me at the audience seat while her classmates n school mates go up to get their graduation certificate. she was asking me why she don't need to go up
but she was a good sport tho, clapping for her friends on the stage as they perform and took their certificates.
my daughter wasn't really participative during her kindergarten days as she will often be sitting alone , or out of the circle of friends.
the teacher doesn't really prompt her to play with her friends either, jus tell me let her be :siao:
i send my daughter to speech therapy, Occupational therapy as well as group therapy for social skills. she has been improving from what i see.
my mum was also saying she is really different now in primary school . seems to enjoy her school days more than her kindergarten days.
i think because she was often left alone during her kindy days, so she feel like it is ok not to join in with her friends when they play. :gloomy:
her principal asked me to defer her for another yr for primary school, citing that it may be better for her as she wil have another yr to improve on her social skills. i was in a dilemna really, but thinking, another 1 more yr for her to be left alone????
i am glad i make the right choice to let her go on to p1 :rahrah:

[helplessmum3]

Hi mummies. Who child are in primary school. May I know at what age they start to talk or communicate w you like how is school

N what happen in school. What they enjoy.

Or when ask them they know What u are asking

[helplessmum3]

nugget:

I read that for ASD kids, some will get better as they grow older (esp if you have intro early intervention before). As these kids grow bigger, they become more aware of their differences amongst the typical kids. And they would need to put in effort to integrate. Happy for you guys that your kids are doing well

Hi Nugget,

what kind of differences? in early intervention they dun close the gap?

[helplessmum3]

happystar:

Dear Parents,


It's really great to hear your children are settling well in mainstream primary schools. Does anyone know which schools in the Central area are supportive of high functioning ASD children? My child is registering for P1 this year.

Hi HappyStar,

how/what they found out that and classified as High Functioning ASD Children in Singapore?

High IQ. act normal but still have ASD traits? and why they still classify as ASD?

[helplessmum3]

blesseddad:

I still have some DVDs to give away, please let me know how you would like to receive them.


See my earlier posts http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?p=722344#p722344

HI Blessed Dad, do you have youtube to show a short preview?

[helplessmum3]

mashy:

Chibi


my boy also got the same 'cheeky' feedback from his teacher. He has also become more outspoken than before in kindy.

Hi Mashy,

After been to LEo Magan for awhile, i duno why i find older ASD boys are very charming...& attractive.. must be they have \"character\" :rahrah:


dispite they have the chances of getting bully but bad kids;

[helplessmum3]

specialboymum:

nugget:

Hi Mashy,


Thanks for your assurance. So you only declare to the school after your son have already been admitted? Cos I am visiting the schools right now and seriously dunno which one to choose. I am so worry my son will be outcast and left alone.

I did read up a bit and have shortlisted some schools that currently have ASD kids. So at least the school and teachers have the awareness and know how to handle these children.

One step at a time I guess. My kid has short attention span, how you manage to get him to complete his homework? He also likes to walk around in his class now in kindergarden when the teachers is conducting lessons.

Hi Nugget,

My kid is also in primary 1. For me I informed the school about his condition before I register him - this is so that I can find out the experience and support the schools have.

The first couple of weeks are tough so much so that I almost want to give up, but glad that I have support from the school principal and encouragements from folks in this forum to hang on.

The school assign an AED to guide him during the core subjects classes so as to keep up with the school work, but will slowly wean him off. I also gave the 'greenlight' to his teachers to be open about his condition to the rest of his classmates. I'm not sure how much the kids understand but they are willing to accept him and always ready to help and cheers for him. I'm really thankful to these little kids as their acceptance is important factor to help him to integrate into the mainstream - this is something we can't get from all the therapy we send him to.

It is also important to keep in constant contact with the school to find out how he is doing and the weakness which we need to pay attention to. Sometimes, I also share his behavior with his therapists so that they can suggest what the school could do to handle him better.

Now he settled in well, though he still have problem in focussing, especially if too much verbal instruction is given. His academic isn't that great too but at least he still do his work in school and will take the initiative to inform us on the homework he needs to complete and show us his work which required our signature. Also the good thing is unlike other NT kids, he isn't stressed out when he failed his test- He will still announce loudly that he got 7 out of 10 wrong for his chinese spelling.

For short attention issue, I guess the only way is to slowly build up. First, we need to apply sensory diet to 'start his engine and calm him down' before engaging in any work. Also use reward system to encourage him to sit and complete a task- start with 5-10 minutes and slowly increase the duration

hi specialboymum, what is AED stand for?

[helplessmum3]

mashy:

ImMeeMee:

dear mashy, specialboymum and chibi


your posts on your ups and downs for your children at P1 are really inspiring. I too am worried about dd3 when its time for her to go P1 in two years time, and this is one of the major things that keeps me restless. good to see that you have crossed the bridge and are coping.

in the meantime, could you kindly share what were your experiences in K1 and K2 before going to P school. did you send your children to special ed pre-school, or to mainstream pre-school/childcare, or both.

the reason I am asking is that dd3 is at K1 age this year, and is currently in a special ed pre-school under EIPIC. for some reason, we have yet to send her to a mainstream childcare centre, and I have been wondering whether this is a gap.

I have been told that a child needs mainstream environment for social interaction with neurotypical peers. I do observe that the environment under special ed pre-school is definitely more controlled and thus may have certain constraints. dd3 plays with her sisters at home, sometimes appropriately and sometimes inappropriately. she is beginning to show interest in her younger cousins when they visit on weekends.

Should we add on mainstream childcare environment at this juncture, we would also need to consider other issues like whether we are overloading her, and logistics as well. so there are pros and cons both ways.

Appreciate if you could share with me your own experience for my learning. TIA.

I sent my boy to mainstream childcare. He has some nurturing classmates who will help him along. Like when a boy snatched his toy, another gal will come over, take it back to give to my boy, then send him off to play elsewhere. He was still 'blur blur' and wasn't really aware of what's going on. I'm really thankful that he had nurturing classmates to help him.

I changed sch before coz the teachers and principal from the prev kindy wasn't supportive. So u may need to change schs if u can't find the right fit. Also, our kids need extra patience from the teacher, so it's important we get support from the teacher and principal. I only got him diagnosed towards the end of k2 so in a way it's good. Some schs will reject once they know it's special needs. I'm thankful that his teachers just thought of his high inertia as laziness. They only highlighted that he couldn't write well so we did OT on that. I'm surprised they could even understand him at nursery level when I myself couldn't understand his poor articulation. Lol.

We have not gone thru eipic, so dunno how they work. I think u can try out mainstream and see how he fits in. If cannot then change or withdraw.

i went to kWh EIPIC talk recently, they encourage ASD child to go to mainstream & combine with EIPIC few hrs session. that will work even better.

cuz what they have learnt from EIPIC they can some how able to \"ShowOff:\" to mainstream child care..

[nugget]

hi helplessmum3,


ASD kids when they grow older, they will be more aware that they are different from other children. They would need to learn how to cope with their differences and try to blend in with the typical children cos those social skills doesn’t come naturally to them.

If they have been through EIPIC, they have programs which teaches them how to manage such "differences" and "situation" like taking turns to play, social ques etc.

Remember Autism cannot be cured but there are many ways we can help to "program" our children so they can integrate with the society.

[ImMeeMee]

dear mashy and chibi


thanks for your sharing. looks like some form of mainstream pre-school environment could be good for them.