All About Autism

[nugget]

Mashy,


I am having the same line of thoughts as you. And totally agreed with you on the "2 years older so more matured part". My son is also a year end baby. So even till now, when compare to his peers he is still considered slower.

Talking to mummies here makes me feel so much more positive than talking to the therapist… esp when the SLT say my son shown good improvement and still need to delay 2 more years? Which makes me feel so puzzled.

[specialboymum]

nugget:

The SLT say my son weak in his language development. Most of the time he doesn't know the meaning of the words. He has very advanced reading skills but he dunno the real meaning of the words. This year he is 5 but she evaluate his speech to be at 3.5 yrs old. Well but the teachers at eipic is saying different things all together. Say he can communicate and understand words exchange between his teachers and friends in class. I am really confuse as well. So SLT say best delay him 2 yrs so he will be fully ready and excel when he go P1.


As for the self esteem, well at P1 he might or might not be aware that he is being purposely delayed. But when come to say P4, if I really delay my son 2 yrs, he will be 12 yrs old where peers in his same age are taking PSLE. I dunno how he will feel. And when he go Sec 1 (assume if he can make it) people ask him how come u 14 yrs old then come sec 1? Does he need to explain cos his parents delay his P1 due to asd??

Your boy sounds like mine. He was very early reader but he doesn't understand what he read. At 5 years plus, his speech was only about 3. We were being advised by various therapists and experts to delay his primary 1 by a year, but we decided not to listen to any of their advice. We felt that by delaying a year, we are only delaying our problem, which we need to face eventually.
It might still be too early to tell if our decision is right for him, but we haven't regret it yet. He made a lot of improvement within this half a year, which we aren't sure if he could if we made him stay back in K2.

[mayjoel]

I want to send my son to a group ST session. Any recommendations? I felt he learn better in a small group setting.

[nugget]

specialboymum:

Your boy sounds like mine. He was very early reader but he doesn't understand what he read. At 5 years plus, his speech was only about 3. We were being advised by various therapists and experts to delay his primary 1 by a year, but we decided not to listen to any of their advice. We felt that by delaying a year, we are only delaying our problem, which we need to face eventually.
It might still be too early to tell if our decision is right for him, but we haven't regret it yet. He made a lot of improvement within this half a year, which we aren't sure if he could if we made him stay back in K2.

Thanks specialboymum,

I discussed with hb yesterday and we both still want to send my boy in P1 in 2 years time and we will continue to prep him. He still have 1.5 years before he goes P1 and these 6 months he has already improved a lot. Let's us all keep faith and hope they improve over time!

[specialboymum]

mayjoel:

I want to send my son to a group ST session. Any recommendations? I felt he learn better in a small group setting.

I send my boy to Leo Megan. My boy was also on 1:1 (at a private ST clinic) for almost 3 yrs. He improved but reached a point when he couldn't progress, so we move him to group based therapy. The group setting does help since he needs to engage in 'conversation' with his classmates rather than just repeating what the therapist say.

[nugget]

Specialboymum,


Can I ask how much is your group therapy session? How many in the class and are they all in the same similar speech delay?

[specialboymum]

nugget:

Specialboymum,


Can I ask how much is your group therapy session? How many in the class and are they all in the same similar speech delay?

It is about $40 for practice session and $60 (I can't remember exactly) for therapy. Depending on the timing, sometime there are 2 only, sometime as many as 5. I think not every kids has the same problem. I do see some kids who are better in speech than my boy. They normally put the same age group together.

[nugget]

I see. My group therapy so expensive. Its $110. Anyway just give it a try first for one term. maybe will try leo megan for group therapy after this session is done.

[chibi]

my daughter is in P1 this year. her kindergarten principal actually told me to defer her by 1 year, saying that it might help in her social skills development. her OT , SLT and psychologist told me i can let her go mainstream primary 1 , but she has to be given lotsa support from the school, if not pathlight will be another option.

I was caught in a dilemna during that time, was contemplating to defer her? but she will be 1 year behind her peers . Then after serious consideration, i decided to go ahead with enrolling her in mainstream primary 1. I knew that i might be in for some difficult times but told myself, since i have decided, don't look back anymore. My views was that regardless of whether i defer my daughter anot, she will still face the same sensory issues, and social skills problem. She will have to go to primary 1 sooner or later.
I did a lot of preparation also, to prepare her for primary 1, especially on her first day. haha she was very cool on that day , even the allied educator commented that she was so brave and cool like a cucumber. but i am the scary cat there :stupid: peeking at one corner of the canteen to make sure she is ok during the assembly period.
We saw her kindergarten school teachers and principal sometimes when we go shopping at our neighbourhood now and they actually can tell my gal that they missed her alot ! why didn't she stay for one more year? :siao:
:mad:

But for sure this is not an easy road for us at times. My daughter does get complaints at times from her form teacher, saying that her attention span is short, not attentive enough. but on a positive note, the teacher did commented that she is the \" kai xin guo\" in class, always make the class laugh with her comments and actions. My daughter now has a few good friends in class too whom she hang out during recess time :rahrah:

[happystar]

Dear chibi and mashy,


I am very inspired when I read you both decided to enrol your children into mainstream without any deferment. My son was officially diagnosed at the beginning of K2 this year. Both my husband and myself have firmly decided to enrol him in P1 which is happening next month. We just started his SLT and OT and is beginning to see improvements. But can I ask what support or preparatory you did when your children started P1? I mean did you contact the AED way before school start? Did you need to engage a shadow teacher?