All About Autism

[Karkar]

Blokus:

Kar kar,


Hello!

I think we're both at the same stage. The knowing yet not knowing stage. So I can relate to how you feel now. I'm also suspecting my son is on the spectrum but test is only in oct.

However, the best advice I've got is not to wait for the diagnosis. Because whether they are on the spectrum or not, they need help. So what you are doing now is right. Unfortunately, I am equally lost, so I hope other moms would be able to recommend private assessments for you.

Blokus:

Thank you. Hugs!! Hugs!! it's never so easy. Lets keep our faith and work hard for our dears. are you trying out some private assessments? how are you organizing your kid's daily activity? maybe some parent assist programe or non parent assist might work. after 3 lessons of playgroup, i feel my son becomes slightly more disciplined and the smile he had to me was so unforgettable when i picked him up after the end of first lesson, although he cried at the 2nd and 3rd time.

My dear colleague told me the future is only to be better. i thanked him for telling me that.

[Karkar]

mashy:

Karkar


He's not too bad. Can talk at 22 months. Mine started 2.5 yrs old, so that's about 30 mths.

Have u gotten his hearing checked? Sometimes ear infections can affect hearing and that's why he started ignoring u while he was not doing that when he was younger. Go have a check on that first. And boys can be really occupied with their toys. Try getting toys that promote interactive play instead.

Mashy,

Thank you. I dont even know if this is considered talking. to me, he's simply just reciting what he hears but he doesn't' understand what he's saying. as first time mum, i dont know if this is normal or abnormal for kids of this age or kids who's learning to talk.

We had his ears checked at 16 months, PD said he's okay. he reacts to sound / music so we know his hearing is fine. maybe he finds us uninteresting to listen to, or he doesn't understand what we talk and why we talk. do you know what are the toys that promote interactive play?

[Karkar]

Double E:

Blokus

Dr Kelvin didn't ask my boy many questions but asked us parents. And while we were talking, he was observing him and let us know his assessment. Or maybe I offered him alot of information, and he had no chance to talk much about the programmes.

Leapfrog offers ST, OT, Special Ed either individually or in a group. They also offer EIPIC at $2940 per term (think about 2.5 to 3mths each term). So far, I like the way they manage my boy and when I expressed my interest in their EIPIC programme, they didn't immediately let me sign up or just share with me the programme. The therapists are actually discussing whats best for my boy, assess how long does he need to be on EIPIC and after EIPIC, whats next for him. So I thought they are quite good, not just out to make money from parents.

For Weecare, I must say they have a bunch of very passionate teachers, always so patient with the kids and try their best to engage the kids. Too bad, my boy's progress became stagnant there, hence I have to find other therapy to push him up the next level. But maybe when my boy is more ready for their social group therapy again, I will go back.

Kar Kar,
All of us went thru your stage. I suspected my boy to be on the spectrum when he was around 22 mths too. At that time, he can't even speak a single word. At least your boy can still recite and sing songs.

When u say assessment, what kind of assessment are u looking at? A full psychologist assessment to confirm if he is in the spectrum or an assessment by the therapist to identify the areas he need help? At a tender age of 22 mths, psychologist would normally not recommend a full assessment as they are deemed too young. If you think your boy is mild, then the more they will not assess as the signs though are present but not obvious enough for the psychologist to make a precise diagnosis. He may end up with a PDD -NOS label which is not conclusive.

IF you are looking for therapists to assess him on the areas that he needs help, there are a few centres around:

1. Leap frog
2. Wee care
3. Bridge Learning
4. Kidspace
5. Dynamics
6. Kaleidoscope
7. Kidz OT

The above provide therapies for early intervention in ST, OT, behaviour or EIPIC. Based on my experience, they will not confirm with you if you kid is on the spectrum or not as they are not psychologist but they will identify the areas that your kid is weak in and recommend the necessary therapy. So you can start on these programmes first while waiting for your appointment at kKH in Nov.

Double E,

I am fully aware of the assessment outcome of being told everything is fine. I know he needs help, we as parents need help too. I know his problems in words, but i cant pinpoint to which area he needs help in professional terms. i am in the confusion. so i guess to let the professional guide me is a right way to go forward right now.

My DS doesnt share joint attention much. He doesn't look in the direction you point to. He likes to run around in playground, and not show any interest in other kids. once he finds something interesting in the playground, he will keep looking at it and playing with it. even though we pretend to leave, he doesn't care much and continue with his obsession.

How can we make him feel the love we have to him?

after reading some posts here, i worry about wasting time trying out not trustworthy centres/therapist, who are out there for $$. Hence i need recommendation so i dont waste my DS' precious time and of cos $$.

any idea which of 7 centres i should bring my DS first? or do each of centre have their specialized area?

[ImMeeMee]

kar kar


A lot of parents of ASD children usually start with speech therapy and occupational therapy as the most standard forms of early intervention. I started off with ST and OT as well. My daughter was on ST for about 2 years before we stopped as her current school offers speech therapy and she is beginning to have a lot more incidental learning. Along the way I have placed her on coaching classes with special education therapists to build her academic and cognitive areas. My key challenge with her currently relates to her social play skills and social interactions which are lacking.

Since you have assessed that speech may be an issue, this could be a possible area to start off with. Do note that the therapists specialize in their respective areas and they may only be able to advise you on specific areas. Usually psychologist is the one that provides the diagnosis to the condition, and with the condition, identifies the areas that need working on, while the therapists make an assessment within their domains on the specific areas that need working on.

Centres like Kaleidoscope offer ST and OT and hence there could be more cross discussion on strategies within the team. There are also centres that only specialize in speech or OT.

Hope this information helps.

[Double E]

Kar kar, from what I understand no. 1,3,4,5,6 offer ST, OT and early intervention in the academic and cognitive areas. No. 2 is in social skills and No.7 in OT.

My boy is with No.1 and No. 7, I hv a fren’s boy in No. 3 and another fren’s boy in No. 4.

Can’t tell which is the best but usually what’s suitable for one kid may not be suitable for another. It does takes time and some trial and error to find a therapist that can connect well with the kid. Perhaps u can read more from the websites or call up the centre to find out more.

[Blokus]

Kar kar


Again I can understand. I’m also very confused. Something is not right but i don’t know what exactly! It is especially hard because we dont know the exact problem and hence difficult to find the right solution or centers to help.

I was hopping the 1st visit at wee care would help me at least identify some areas. But no.

So my take is, don’t expect too much at the first visit. Ask ALOT of questions before deciding if you should book an appointment for the first visit. Make sure you are on the same page as them. I think you have to choose very carefully because most of the first consultation or not cheap. It’s ridiculous to hop from one center to another paying exorbitant fees each time.

I think you are off to a good start. You have identified some areas to work on like joint attention, etc. For instance, Try to google ‘how to teach joint attention’ & get some ideas so that you can work with at home while searching for centers. The best therapist is not out there, it’s at home, its you.

[Blokus]

Double E


So in your list, only wee care has social programs? Looks like I've to stick to them?

[Double E]

Blokus:

Double E


So in your list, only wee care has social programs? Looks like I've to stick to them?

Seems like it but You can call other centres to find out. For example like Leapfrog, they do have programmes that are conducted in groups, so for this programme, not too sure what it covers. No harm calling, you may find something suitable.

Maybe I share with you what the social skills class in Weecare entails. The whole lesson is an hour. For the first 10mins, all the kids (from different classes) will gather together to sing songs (with actions) follow by story telling. After that, the kids will go back to their own class. For my boy's class, there's a theme each week eg, insects, pets, at a canteen etc. Then the main teacher who is Denise will introduce the theme of the week with an object and she will teach the kids to describe the object in proper sentence eg, is hard, is soft, is salty. After that, each kid will partner with another kid to go through the items set up in the class eg, ask each other questions like \"What is that?' \"What are u doing\". One teacher will be assigned to the two kids to help them in the conversation.

After that, they will sit around a table to do art and craft. And at this session, Dennis will teach the kids what to say when asking for an item to do his craft and after doing the craft, the kids will be taught to show his craft to a friend or teacher.

Lastly which is also the most enjoyable for the kids is play time. They will play group games or games that require them to 'compete'. So you can see at such social programme, it includes social speech, joint attention, turn taking etc which are all part and parcel in a social engagement situation. Is that something that you are looking for?

[Blokus]

Double E


Really appreciate that you took time out to describe the details of the social class to me.

I think the part where they get to ask a friend questions is exactly what I'm looking for. Something like initiating a conversation & having a conversation? Also the showing his work/craft to his friend or teacher.

The rest like describing an object, turn taking, he is able to do them.

It's exactly like a typical playgroup hor? Except that it teaches the children how to involve others. what I'm looking for is a setting where he's guided to initiate play & conversation with peers. Sounds like this is it?

Oh and joint attention. I'm very confused with this. What does it exactly mean? I read joint attention are like sharing a book together, being able to look at what the other person is pointing at etc. All these my son can do. But he rarely, bring his work or toy to me and show him. Instead he might just say something about it from where he is I.e at the table like the building (he drew) is 19 floors. Sometimes he might come to me & tell me but won't bring the object to me. Is that considered lack of joint attention? Also he might point at something but rarely looks back at me to check if I'm looking at the same thing. So he's like can do joint attention but cannot. :? Aiyah very confused :scratchhead:

[Double E]

Blokus:

Double E


Really appreciate that you took time out to describe the details of the social class to me.

I think the part where they get to ask a friend questions is exactly what I'm looking for. Something like initiating a conversation & having a conversation? Also the showing his work/craft to his friend or teacher.

The rest like describing an object, turn taking, he is able to do them.

It's exactly like a typical playgroup hor? Except that it teaches the children how to involve others. what I'm looking for is a setting where he's guided to initiate play & conversation with peers. Sounds like this is it?

Oh and joint attention. I'm very confused with this. What does it exactly mean? I read joint attention are like sharing a book together, being able to look at what the other person is pointing at etc. All these my son can do. But he rarely, bring his work or toy to me and show him. Instead he might just say something about it from where he is I.e at the table like the building (he drew) is 19 floors. Sometimes he might come to me & tell me but won't bring the object to me. Is that considered lack of joint attention? Also he might point at something but rarely looks back at me to check if I'm looking at the same thing. So he's like can do joint attention but cannot. :? Aiyah very confused :scratchhead:

Hmm...I think your boy has some form of joint attention but you need him to reach the next level? Just like speech. My boy from no words to having words but most of the time he is labeling the object but not using the word into a conversation. For example, when I ask show him a red square, a green circle and a yellow triangle, he can tell me what shapes and colours are they. But when I ask him what colour does he likes? He will answer me 'circle'. So my aim is to bring him to the next step, to be able to generalise and use the words he understands and know into a conversation, not just labeling. And alot of times also depend on the age, the therapist will say if he is 2, is ok if he just label but when he is 3 or 4, he should be able to reach the next milestone i.e use it in conversation. So if he can't, means he is delayed and we need to step up.

So perhaps for your boy, need to find out at his stage, what level of joint attention should he display so then you know if he is delayed and needs help? Just my two cents worth.