All About Autism

[SAHM Chew]

tabgha:

SAHM Chew:

Can I check with the exemption for Chinese?


Since it is exempted in PSLE, how about sec school? Are the kids required to take another second language in sec school?

No. The exemption continues in sec school.

Are they required to take another second language for O' level?

[sharonkhoo]

SAHM Chew:

Are they required to take another second language for O' level?

No.

[ImMeeMee]

af7680:

Hi ImMeeMee,
Thank you for your kind advice. has been hectic to search for info for my son on how to help him better and read up stuff on the website.
there is vast information everywhere and as I am not a fast reader, it takes some time to read. for the first time in my life, i feel that i should have improved my reading speed and skill.
Recently we visisted one of priviate EIPIC to find out more but the person who brief through said that it might be too taxing for my son to attend half day morning CC x 5 a week and EIPIC 3 x a week as he is still young kid (he is 2.5yr old now) and as he might be tired, whatever he learnt might not be absorbed fully by him..
so i am actually in dilemma to decide.....

af, take your time reading up. I too have a lot of difficulties reading up on sensory processing cos the concept somehow doesnt sink into me. I have to re-read for a couple of times.

When I first started EIPIC preparatory program for my doter, we started off with 3 days a week @ 4 hours each, cos we were not sure whether she could take it. It was only after a couple of months when we were sure that she was enjoying herself and there were no major issues that needed dealing with that we increased to 5 days a week.

If the private EIPIC has concerns that he will be tired out, perhaps they would have their recommendations on the frequency of attendance to phase him in? You may want to start a bit slow and increase the frequency along the way.

Hope this helps.

[helplessmum3]

Summer tan:

A mother sent me this website:

http://autismsingapore.com/

It uses biomedical, I wonder how effective this is?

http://autismrecovery.com.sg/

[SAHM Chew]

slmkhoo:

SAHM Chew:

Are they required to take another second language for O' level?

No.

Thanks for the information.

[Mdm Koh]

I have recently started teaching a special needs student. Sadly, I discovered that he is capable, but the people around him are holding him back. It has been a very frustrating experience. :frustrated: In fact, the student is similar to all my other students, albeit he has some learning difficulties. He is disciplined, he does his homework and he starts and ends the lesson on time. He's no different from other kids in that sense.


It's the people around him, however, who request to be treated differently and want to have special privileges... such as switching lesson slots as and when for no good reason, reducing the number of tutoring hours even though it was already agreed upon, telling me to refrain from saying too much so that the child doesn't irritate them with questions about what I say.... It appears to me that the child is not asking for special treatment, but the people around him are.

And it's really sad, I feel. The student is not doing well in his studies.... but the people around him aren't helping and are instead more concerned about getting their own needs met.

[helplessmum3]

mummies, where can i find the milestone charts for toddler that are most reliable?

[ChiefKiasu]

Mdm Koh:

I have recently started teaching a special needs student. Sadly, I discovered that he is capable, but the people around him are holding him back. ...

Are you referring to his parents or his caretakers?

[Mdm Koh]

Parent and another senior tutor.

[sharonkhoo]

Mdm Koh:

I have recently started teaching a special needs student. Sadly, I discovered that he is capable, but the people around him are holding him back. It has been a very frustrating experience. :frustrated: In fact, the student is similar to all my other students, albeit he has some learning difficulties. He is disciplined, he does his homework and he starts and ends the lesson on time. He's no different from other kids in that sense.


It's the people around him, however, who request to be treated differently and want to have special privileges... such as switching lesson slots as and when for no good reason, reducing the number of tutoring hours even though it was already agreed upon, telling me to refrain from saying too much so that the child doesn't irritate them with questions about what I say.... It appears to me that the child is not asking for special treatment, but the people around him are.

And it's really sad, I feel. The student is not doing well in his studies.... but the people around him aren't helping and are instead more concerned about getting their own needs met.

You are a great and concerned tutor! However, since you have only just started tutoring a special needs child (exactly which special needs?), I would like to raise a few issues in case you have not encountered them before. My Asperger's daughter is 16yo and has other learning issues too, so I will speak from my experience, which may not be identical to all others, but should be comparable.

It could be that the parents are concerned that too much stress can push the child into a meltdown? Maybe they, being more familiar with the child, can spot the signs more quickly than you? My daughter was also a willing child, but would get frustrated and stressed more quickly than NT kids and what an NT child could take could quickly push her into a meltdown. If you haven't experienced a meltdown, it's something you don't want to! Besides being unpleasant, it can also make the child resist the thing that caused the meltdown, which is something we all want to avoid. I have learned that it is better to accept lower achievement and avoid meltdowns than to push to the limit, even if it seems the child is under-achieving based on her intelligence and ability. This may also be the reason for reducing tutoring hours if they find the child is over-tired, which can trigger meltdowns. I don't know the reason for changing lesson times as regular schedules actually work better for kids.

About asking you to say less, it could be that the child obsesses over a particular fact or phrase, and the parents find it irritating or hard to answer the questions? I personally wouldn't make that request, but handling repeated questions about something they didn't hear themselves can be very irritating. The child may not just ask once or twice a day, but may ask every hour! Perhaps you could suggest that when it occurs and they really don't know how to answer, they can call you so you can help answer the questions?

One thing that I have had to explain to teachers over and over again through my daughter's school life is that her disabilities, though invisible, are very real and limiting. Teachers often expect that if a child can do a small quantity of work well, eg. 2 lines of good writing or 3 correct Math questions, then they should be expected to produce a whole page of good writing or 10 correct Math questions because her NT classmates can do it. But her concentration and energy level peters out much more quickly than NT kids of the same age. Many have said \"By this age, she should be able to...\" without considering that normal yardsticks should not and cannot be applied to my daughter.

I hope you don't take this as a criticism, because I know that you probably haven't had much exposure to such kids. I just want to give you some possible reasons why your student's parents might be acting the way you describe. Hope it helps.