All About Autism

[helplessmum3]

Imeemee.

Rainbow keep saying their OT long wait time even those who Join them before my son is not yet see OT..

How ? Is private OT expensive ?? Then go eipic centre n no therapist given then go there for what

[florencetks]

Hi Ladies,


I am new to this thread. Reading all of your replies have been very informative.

I just went for the 3 hour Psychology Test with my 4yo last Friday but it seems that KKH is quite sure that my son belongs to the Spectrum. They say he has mild ASD - the highly functional type.

When he was younger I went to 2 GPs and 1 PD, 1 GP say he should be assess for hyperactive, 1 GP say he is fine, the PD say he probably as ASD. I was also confused by all these so called Professional’s assessment. So I went to KKH to get an assessment. I have a normal older gal so I observed that my son is developing much slower than my gal but everyone tells me boys develop slower.

My boy cannot express himself very well and sometimes does not understand us. He refuses to brush his teeth until I put him in a normal cc in Jan this year, his peers probably have some effect on him about wanting to brush his teeth, now he brushes his teeth daily. And he refuses to cut his hair, he would be screaming and crying if we walk near a salon. We had to resort to cutting his hair when he is sleeping at night -_-". However, I tried to get his permission to cut his hair while I shower for him last weekend and I pleaded many times before he is willing to let me cut it, I was elated. I brought some bath toys to distract him while I cut his hair. I have yet to try walking him into a Salon again, feeling paranoid about his public tantrums. The cc teacher also feed back that he would be walking around the classroom instead of sitting down to do his work, his attention span is very short academically but he can sit and watch his fav. tv show or play his toys.

I am going to a debrief in KKH next week and KKH will provide me a report of their assessment. I am deciding on which EIPIC to send him to, I am a full time working mother and my husband works too so I am limited to an EIPIC center that is near to my home and provides transport. Any parents with good reviews of EIPIC center near Hougang, please let me know. Any parents who are both full time working parents and had to send your child for EIPIC class? Wonder how to cope with no extra help!

May God give parents like us strength to walk this challenging journey with our child.

[sharonkhoo]

af7680:

hi slmkhoo

thank you for your comment and advice. its true that i am depending lots on therapist to help my son. i am full time working mother but now i am doing part time cos recently i gave birth to my 2nd one and still enjoying remaining maternity leave as part time basis ie i went back to work after 2 month maternity leave.
i try to help my son as much as i can but my knowledage is limited. i have been reading posts here whenever i got time and it really helps but i need some more knowledge/skill to apply to help my child. recently i changed ST and OT who allows parents to join the session so that i can learn. previous ones didnt allow.
could you share with me how do you equip yourself with proper knowledage or skill to teach/guide your girl on your own. if i can, that will be really the best. but i am not confidient that i am good enough teaching him at this moment and moreover sad to tell you but i am not that patient person.

hi helplessmum,
that was my initial thought as well. but dr also mentioned that our objective is to bring him to as normal as possible. and she also mentioned that too much therapies is better than lesser.... so she said to go for those things...

I believe that a lot of it is just common sense. I did a lot of reading up on general child development, not just ASD. What is called ABA is basically teaching kids to behave in a certain way by applying motivators and demotivators, with enough repetition that they eventually learn it. The only thing is that some kids take longer to learn, and maybe ours take even longer? Speech and occupational therapy - I just saw what my daughter had difficulty with and addressed those issues one at a time with games, repetition, practice etc. I am not patient either, so I am glad that my husband was always there to remind me not to expect too much too fast. I have a NT daughter 2 yrs younger, and basically, I was often teaching my older one a skill at the same time as my younger, and as they got older, my younger out-stripped my older one and is now sometimes helping the older one to decode social situations and cope with the unexpected.

I don't agree with your doctor that too many therapies is better than too few; of course, no help at all is bad, but many therapy sessions will mean that your child is often over-tired and stressed, and you will be too, and that will mean that the family atmosphere is less likely to be conducive to learning because there is less time and you and your child are less relaxed. I would say that you should be very selective and only send your child for therapies which are clearly needed and are helpful.

Also, be careful what you define as 'normal' - many people define 'normal' as being within the top range of physical, social and academic skills, and your child may suffer from stress and low self-esteem if you set unrealistic goals. My daughter has physical coordination issues as well as Asperger's, so she has always lagged behind in learning things that require motor coordination. But she gets there in the end, even if it's a couple of years later and not to a high level. With social skills, we know that she will always be lacking, but we will help her learn as much as we can until she is an adult, and if she seems a bit 'weird', well, there have always been such people around. Just some thoughts.

[helplessmum3]

Af,


Main objective for all special needs kids is : make then near normal…

Very general the way ur doctor advise. Never wait for physcologist report then…

[helplessmum3]

AF,

Does ur son able to ask u question or answering question ?

Can he feed himself ? Can he blow candle ?

Just to find out what is borderline vs typical ASD .

[ImMeeMee]

af7680:

hi slmkhoo

thank you for your comment and advice. its true that i am depending lots on therapist to help my son. i am full time working mother but now i am doing part time cos recently i gave birth to my 2nd one and still enjoying remaining maternity leave as part time basis ie i went back to work after 2 month maternity leave.
i try to help my son as much as i can but my knowledage is limited. i have been reading posts here whenever i got time and it really helps but i need some more knowledge/skill to apply to help my child. recently i changed ST and OT who allows parents to join the session so that i can learn. previous ones didnt allow.
could you share with me how do you equip yourself with proper knowledage or skill to teach/guide your girl on your own. if i can, that will be really the best. but i am not confidient that i am good enough teaching him at this moment and moreover sad to tell you but i am not that patient person.

hi helplessmum,
that was my initial thought as well. but dr also mentioned that our objective is to bring him to as normal as possible. and she also mentioned that too much therapies is better than lesser.... so she said to go for those things...

af, all mummies start off with minimal knowledge in this very specific area, and we learn along the way. It will take some time, but have faith that you can do it.

The professionals will teach you the techniques but as parents we need to apply to our children according to their unique personalities and addressing their specific issues. Where you can attend the sessions together with your child, these slots are the best opportunities to learn. Reading up a lot helps too.

There isnt really a short cut but early intervention is evidence-based to help ASD children improve and learn the required skills. You may think that you have no patience now, but when you start to work with your child, slowly you may find that you will improve in your patience along the way. I too am not a patient parent, and my ASD doter is my best teacher in coaching me in this area.

Stay positive, and tell yourself you can do it. If things appear too mammoth, break them down into smaller bites and manage your expectations. Take one step at a time and slowly things will fall start to fall in place.

Have faith. :hugs:

[helplessmum3]

Imeemee. Agreed . I think no one born with great patient . It’s through life experience …


When u expect u will loose patient … When no expectation I’m more calmer…

[mashy]

ImMeeMee:

af7680:

hi slmkhoo

thank you for your comment and advice. its true that i am depending lots on therapist to help my son. i am full time working mother but now i am doing part time cos recently i gave birth to my 2nd one and still enjoying remaining maternity leave as part time basis ie i went back to work after 2 month maternity leave.
i try to help my son as much as i can but my knowledage is limited. i have been reading posts here whenever i got time and it really helps but i need some more knowledge/skill to apply to help my child. recently i changed ST and OT who allows parents to join the session so that i can learn. previous ones didnt allow.
could you share with me how do you equip yourself with proper knowledage or skill to teach/guide your girl on your own. if i can, that will be really the best. but i am not confidient that i am good enough teaching him at this moment and moreover sad to tell you but i am not that patient person.

hi helplessmum,
that was my initial thought as well. but dr also mentioned that our objective is to bring him to as normal as possible. and she also mentioned that too much therapies is better than lesser.... so she said to go for those things...

af, all mummies start off with minimal knowledge in this very specific area, and we learn along the way. It will take some time, but have faith that you can do it.

The professionals will teach you the techniques but as parents we need to apply to our children according to their unique personalities and addressing their specific issues. Where you can attend the sessions together with your child, these slots are the best opportunities to learn. Reading up a lot helps too.

There isnt really a short cut but early intervention is evidence-based to help ASD children improve and learn the required skills. You may think that you have no patience now, but when you start to work with your child, slowly you may find that you will improve in your patience along the way. I too am not a patient parent, and my ASD doter is my best teacher in coaching me in this area.

Stay positive, and tell yourself you can do it. If things appear too mammoth, break them down into smaller bites and manage your expectations. Take one step at a time and slowly things will fall start to fall in place.

Have faith. :hugs:

Patience? Hahaha. I also don't have any traits of patience. In fact, I'm very kan Cheong type. Hahahha.

[helplessmum3]

Mashy … We know

[af7680]

hi slmkhoo

thank you for your post. your advice give me different perspective which is quite refreshing and give me a chance to think quietly.
actually I am kind of impatient and kan chong person like what mashy said... i should learn to relax a little bit and calm down before doing stuff with him.

Hi ImMeeMee
Thank you for comforting words. appreciate that.
your are very right that i should manage my expectation first. thats very true. i myself is perfectionist and very often i am frustrated to see my son thinking why he cant do such simple stuff and so on.... this morning before my son goes to CC, i just simply played with him with no expectation (i used to teach him someting every opportunity), i was very calm and relaxed for the first time. i will try more and manage myself first.

Hi helplessmum,
i guess borderline means mild case? the way dr explain sounds like it.
he can do self feeding but very messy. we only started to train him to eat by himself around 2 yr old. before that , his grandparents spoilt him lots while i was working full time. every time carry him if he wants. carry him to sleep. feed him all the time. basically he didnt need to say anything for his needs. but i took charge when about to give birth to 2nd one. regret i didnt start any ealier. he will try to blow candle but still not strong enough to blow it off.

all mummies,
I am considering to put him in eipic in the afternoon 3 times a week in addition to daily CC in the morning.
do you have any recommendation for mild asd child?
thank you.