All About Autism
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With all this talk about the rigidity in applying the assessment and assessment outcome and some cases of ‘mis-assessment’ at hindsight, and coupled with the ST report this morning that there has been sharp increase in the number of special needs children in the last 5 years, it makes me wonder whether the whole system of diagnosing and assessing special needs children needs to be reviewed.
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I still can remember my reaction when I first heard that my son is ASD…
I think public education on ASD is very important those parents who can’t handle well might have not make it already…
So these diagnosis centre must handle such news to parents tactfully n sensitively …or explain correctly… As they may put the child n patents at risk n worst comitted suicide… -
specialboymum:
Later during a parent workshop organized by KKH and NUH, a senior psychologist from KKH advise me not to base on a single assessment outcomes to determine what to do for my son- I have to talk to his therapists, school teachers and also based on my own judgement on his ability. The psychologist (I think his surname is Chua) also said I should not be worried about making wrong decision because whatever decision I made for him will be the best decision at the point of time. I'm grateful for his kind advice. So far, we have not regret on our decision not to follow what the psychological report's recommendation. He is making good progression despite having still several challenges in mainstream school.
what is this full name of this psychologist Chua ?
can't find it here.
http://www.kkh.com.sg/SERVICES/WOMEN/PSYCHOLOGICALMEDICINE/Pages/Home.aspx -
specialboymum:
I totally agreed. My mind is set up to let my son goes into mainstream P1 when the time comes. I have already started volunteering in the school and thankfully I have spoke to some parents and meet a few teachers who tell me my son will be taken care of. Dun need to worry. I am taking that leap of faith, hope my son will be able to enjoy mainstram P1.Gifts from Heaven:
Actually, if kid doesnt cooperate during the test, psychologist is supposed to extend the time taken to conduct the test. The IQ test doesn't take 3 hours. It is the autism assessment that takes approximately 3 hours, and this components of this test can be taken on separate days so that the kid is not so stressed.
Mine also didn't cooperate during the assessment, partly because he was having flu. Based on the outcomes of the test, the psychologist actually suggested that I placed him in Chaoyang. When I got back home to check on the Chaoyang program, I realise something not quite right because the program doesn't seems to match with his ability. When I was about to seek 2nd opinion, the psychologist called to inform me she made a mistake in calculating the marks-based on the test results, he could qualify for Pathlight school, however she added that she doesn't think he will make it pass the Pathlight interview based on his performance during the assessment.
Later during a parent workshop organized by KKH and NUH, a senior psychologist from KKH advise me not to base on a single assessment outcomes to determine what to do for my son- I have to talk to his therapists, school teachers and also based on my own judgement on his ability. The psychologist (I think his surname is Chua) also said I should not be worried about making wrong decision because whatever decision I made for him will be the best decision at the point of time. I'm grateful for his kind advice. So far, we have not regret on our decision not to follow what the psychological report's recommendation. He is making good progression despite having still several challenges in mainstream school. -
Gifts from Heaven:
Yup, I will declare my son's ASD problem if I want to him put him into mainstream. Actually I have been looking around Primary school since beginning of the year.
This is possible only if you don't declare your kid's problem. Basically, you let the school find out itself and be prepared to receive feedback abt your kid's learning \"disability\". Your kid may feel that he/she is always being \"highlighted\" by the teachers, so he/she may develop a negative self image. If you expect accomodations fr the school, then you will hv to declare and they will expect to see the full psychological report, including the part on IQ and school readiness.nugget:
desertwind,
to put him at P1 or not is all up to me. not the doc nor therapist can decide.
One school I came across told me that no matter what, they cannot kick out the student. Its really up to that parent to withdraw the kid and put him/her into sped school. She a VP and she told me she has a girl with down syndrome in her school. But the parent refuse to put her into sped school, the school also cant do anything about it. But this VP was very kind, she said even that student is special needs, they teaches the students in the class about empathy, take turns to look after this girl. They are unable to expel a student based on their special needs.
All the IQ, School Readiness are just test to see where our child is at. Its not a entry or a denied to P1 registration. Unless you want to defer your kid for the P1 enrollment, then those reports come in handy. Otherwise, all singapore 6 years old children must enrol for Primary 1 Registration when the time comes. -
phtthp:
I also cannot remember his full name but I do recall his name got a \"mui\" or \"mei\" in it (quite unique for a guy's name)specialboymum:
Later during a parent workshop organized by KKH and NUH, a senior psychologist from KKH advise me not to base on a single assessment outcomes to determine what to do for my son- I have to talk to his therapists, school teachers and also based on my own judgement on his ability. The psychologist (I think his surname is Chua) also said I should not be worried about making wrong decision because whatever decision I made for him will be the best decision at the point of time. I'm grateful for his kind advice. So far, we have not regret on our decision not to follow what the psychological report's recommendation. He is making good progression despite having still several challenges in mainstream school.
what is this full name of this psychologist Chua ?
can't find it here.
http://www.kkh.com.sg/SERVICES/WOMEN/PSYCHOLOGICALMEDICINE/Pages/Home.aspx -
specialboymum:
Later during a parent workshop organized by KKH and NUH, a senior psychologist from KKH advise me not to base on a single assessment outcomes to determine what to do for my son- I have to talk to his therapists, school teachers and also based on my own judgement on his ability. The psychologist (I think his surname is Chua) also said I should not be worried about making wrong decision because whatever decision I made for him will be the best decision at the point of time. I'm grateful for his kind advice. So far, we have not regret on our decision not to follow what the psychological report's recommendation. He is making good progression despite having still several challenges in mainstream school.
:goodpost: This is really good advice from Mr Chua, thanks for sharing this specialboymum! -
slmkhoo:
I don't think there is a way to have an accurate assessment for young kids (certainly under about 6yo, I think). There is too much variance in 'normal' development even for NT kids in the early years, and kids are less likely to co-operate well when a long test is administered by strangers. Maybe parents should just be advised of this and supported in their decision not to get a child diagnosed too early. However, for kids who are diagnosed, it's important that parents and professionals remember that the diagnosis is not set in stone and may need to be adjusted as the child ages. I am not saying that a child who shows some areas of need should not be given therapies, but those can be specifically targeted at a specific lag at that particular time (eg. social, fine motor etc) without a full-fledged diagnosis of ASD, PD-NOS, ADHD or whatever.
yes, do agree that the gaps in children where they are present should be identified early and addressed through intervention programs as these are evidence-based to show progress. This is notwithstanding whatever diagnostic label is given.
However, to be given a diagnosis or an assessment based on scores at such an early age, and then placed in the school system based on certain cut-off points, and knowing how school placement could make all the difference for the child's future, does beg the question whether the system is objective enough. Coupled with the fact that we all know how the variance of scores can be confounded by various factors, whether in the assessor or the assessee.
And if parents are disputing the assessment outcome only to be proven right later on, then this could be more cause for concern about the system itself. -
update… son new cc teacher say.
my son will say "im angry with you" when teachers force him to do things he does not want… haahaaa. so funny… this has make my day…
Thank GOD for this. -
Give yoga a try. My fren’s young daughter with ASD benefited very much from these yoga classes. She learnt to open up more and her muscles tone improved greatly. More expressive as well. I send my 2 boys for yoga classes at the same school as well. Ohmsantih yoga and you can request for teacher warwar.
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