All About Autism

[ImMeeMee]

crabbygal:

Hello there, have been following this thread for quite sometime and found very useful information from all the mummies here. Jiayou!!! I have an autistic boy who is turning 7 years old end this year. Just applied Pathlight and will be bringing him for his interview assessment later today. Am very anxious and hope all goes well.


Have also gone through alot of various therapies for my boy since he was 18 months old. Meltdowns and major temper tantrums in his early years was something I experienced every single day, coupled with several breakdown from me.. hehe... He's diagnosed with mod-severe ASD. Anyway, he has improved much and manageable tantrums occasionally but I am glad that I have embraced his condition early and started early intervention the soonest possible way!

p/s: I was going through his therapy kit and old stuff and found his music therapy headphones and portable cd player and it is such a waste lying there since he has 'graduated' from his music therapy. If any of the mummies or daddies who wants to buy a new one, let me know, I will let it go at a fraction of the cost. PM me..

catching this post slightly late ... all the best and hope you get what you need for your assessment.

[crabbygal]

specialboymum:

Thanks schweppes..

think going to have a little notebook otherwise difficult to keep track, especially the little changes.

I tried listening to the music myself, got headache after 15 minutes because of on and off changes in frequency (muffling sounds etc), but my kid seem to enjoy it.

Hi specialboymum, schweppes is right. My son responded well in some CDs and some he reacted very strongly. Like right after he listened to it, he will start screaming. But there are some CDs he would appear quite calm and pleasant.

I tried listening to the music too and after 20 minutes, I had a huge headache and my head was spinning and pounding, so my son's OT therapist asked me to bounce on the gym ball after that.. but even after that my head was pounding.... so I immediately drove back home and jumped on my son's trampoline (no kidding!) to release the effect. haha..

So, lookout for any difference in mood swings and if your child have strong reaction, immediately inform the therapist... He/she will let you know what to do next...

After a while, the music becomes a norm for my son and eventually, I stopped the music therapy and bone conduction sessions.... Good luck!

[ImMeeMee]

phtthp:

Many kids may not be ready for P1, but they still go ahead.


If the psychologist feels deferment is the best option, then holding him back for a year is advisable - provided there is a very good Preparatory program available for him, able to prepare him for P1 well. However, if is just merely repeat K2 kindergarten which in your own opinion doesn't help much, then no point.... Just proceed to P1.

regarding school fees and saving a spot issue, that is best solved by calling up the school and talk to the VP (Admin) - who will advise you accordingly if they can / will keep a spot in the foll year, with or without paying. This the fastest & most direct way to receive clarifications to your concern.

Based on special circumstances, a file can be opened for your child noting unusual curcumstances, and a place might be saved. But that really is the school's call. In the event that particular school you choose is very hot & popular, where demand exceeds available vacancies & balloting is required within 1 km radius, normally not possible.

Try to get more information about the school that your child is enlisting to. Need to find out whether the school is very results orientated or they are more holistic in their approach. Are there cases whereby the school allow the student to repeat P1 ?

Parent's concern are definitely very real. We tend to worry because we are 95% not sure / 5% sure. If we spend more time finding out information to address our concern, the 5% certainty will move up by a bigger margin. Hopefully, it can move to 60% to 70% certainty for us to make a clear decision. Hence, time to find out information is critical. You can write to the school and set an appointment with the Principal, to find out more information to make an informed decision.

Seek God for wisdom and discernment. Life is not just about K2 and P1. It's a long journey ahead. God has perfect timing for every child and likewise every parent. To be still and be away from the daily noise, worries & disruption can help. We tend to be bombarded by peer pressure. We tend to worry for a child whom God has absolute control of.

If we place our palm too close to our eyes, we can't see clearly. If we move back our palm, we can see clearly our fingers and hand. Hence, when He gives us a child like that, we also need to look beyond the current situation. See the child fitting into the norm over time. See the child being a testimonial of God over time. See the child beyond his current circumstances. Not being able to cope now doesn't mean he is not being able to cope in future. God is a ever changing God. He can do wonders, right ?

From the read of your posting, I am sure your child is blessed with the right parents. Thank God for such an understanding parent. I am sure in God's perfect love, He will give peace to you on this decision to take.

:goodpost: phtthp

this is refreshing as it has helped me as a parent of a special needs child to put things into perspective. good point about looking beyond K2 or P1 and into the future ... I too have been caught up by clutter myself.

I hold the same faith as you, about my child and her future, albeit the same faith being driven by different strength ...

thanks for the reminder.

[mashy]

How does the music therapy work? Sounds interesting. Think my boy will need something to help him concentrate while he’s doing his hw.

[helplessmum3]

will babyplus , works the same way as music therapy?

[crabbygal]

ImMeeMee:

crabbygal:

Hello there, have been following this thread for quite sometime and found very useful information from all the mummies here. Jiayou!!! I have an autistic boy who is turning 7 years old end this year. Just applied Pathlight and will be bringing him for his interview assessment later today. Am very anxious and hope all goes well.


Have also gone through alot of various therapies for my boy since he was 18 months old. Meltdowns and major temper tantrums in his early years was something I experienced every single day, coupled with several breakdown from me.. hehe... He's diagnosed with mod-severe ASD. Anyway, he has improved much and manageable tantrums occasionally but I am glad that I have embraced his condition early and started early intervention the soonest possible way!

p/s: I was going through his therapy kit and old stuff and found his music therapy headphones and portable cd player and it is such a waste lying there since he has 'graduated' from his music therapy. If any of the mummies or daddies who wants to buy a new one, let me know, I will let it go at a fraction of the cost. PM me..

catching this post slightly late ... all the best and hope you get what you need for your assessment.

Thanks ImMeeMee, it was nervewrecking while waiting for him at the Auditorium not knowing what they did inside with him. So now we wait for the results within 2 weeks. Really hope he gets into PL. -_-

[ImMeeMee]

crabbygal:

Thanks ImMeeMee, it was nervewrecking while waiting for him at the Auditorium not knowing what they did inside with him. So now we wait for the results within 2 weeks. Really hope he gets into PL. -_-

I can imagine the anguish and anxiety during this period. its like everything is hanging on the balance. My best wishes. When he gets in, will it be for intake in Jan 2013?

[crabbygal]

ImMeeMee:

I can imagine the anguish and anxiety during this period. its like everything is hanging on the balance. My best wishes. When he gets in, will it be for intake in Jan 2013?

Thanks! It will be for 2013 intake. He's in St Gerard's now.. and has been there since he was 2.5 years old. He needs to move on and be challenged in terms of academic aspect since the past few years, I have been building foundation in terms of self-help skills, behaviour and regulation. Now that he is more stable and his cognitive skills suddenly pick up for a year now.. really hope he could get in to PL. There were so many kids during the assessments... not sure whether got enough placement... can only just hope for the best!!!

[schweppes]

mashy:

How does the music therapy work? Sounds interesting. Think my boy will need something to help him concentrate while he's doing his hw.

For Samonas and Tomatis, there is a series of CDs that comprises music pieces, usually classical pieces. This is not the Mozart Effect type of music.

Under Samonas, Tomatis and AIT, the music is filtered at various frequencies. So, there is a progression of low frequencies to high ones. A music/sound therapist or OT who is trained in the respective prog will decide which CD is bested suited to the child at that point in time of therapy.

The child listens to the music via premium quality headsets. The recommended brand is usually Seinnheiser. Must get those that cover the ears - not the ear buds type. Rationale is that it must filter out unnecessary environmental sounds so that the child only listens to the therapy music.

The music is hardly melodious. Actually I won't even call it music. More like sounds. Different ppl react differently. Like what some of the moms mentioned, after listening to the music for 15 mins, they get a headache after a while. On the other hand, for the child who needs it, is rehabilitative to him/her. Really music to the ears for them.

In terms of duration, again it depends on what the therapist recommends. Can be as short as 15 mins for a start to the whole CD, maybe about 45mins?

If your son is going thru OT now, can check with the therapist on this. Treat music therapy as part of the overall OT prog.

But, for parents whose kids are not on OT, don't panic or feel compelled that you must put your child on music therapy. It's not a must do. There's a time and place for everything.

In my dd's case, she went through Tomatis when she was about 3-ish. (Therapist has migrated overseas, otherwise she's well trained in the Tomatis protocol). That was the first therapy she went through before anything else. Really helped a lot.

The 2nd time was when she was about 6yo - under an OT who was totally rubbish. Didn't know what she was doing. After 3-4 months, dh and myself pulled her out. Horrible horrible OT. Would never recommend her to anyone!!

The 3rd time was Samonas (under Hand-in-Hand) when dd was sitting for psle. Think she was on it for 4 weeks only. By that time, it was more to reinforce her integration and keep her calm since it was psle year :nailbite:

HTH :grphug:

[schweppes]

helplessmum3:

will babyplus , works the same way as music therapy?

don't think they work the same way.

music therapy is dedicated for rehabilitative purpose.