All About Autism

[sharonkhoo]

nugget:

How truthful and reliable IQ test is , I really don't know. Does that mean if you score super high marks means you are a gifted???

Some people might totally not be interested in animals but very good in maths or music can be considered gifted as well.

I think it depends on the definition you use. When I had my daughter tested (at 14yo, so it may be different for young kids), her IQ test results came in 4 categories. She came out above average in 2 areas and below average in 2 areas, and so the test was not able to give a single IQ score which is the normal result. So is she smart or not? It really depends on how you look at it, and whether you consider the individual sections or the whole. For us, it helped clarify our understanding of her, and we aren't bothered about getting a score.

[ImMeeMee]

slmkhoo:

That's something every test taker has to live with, and there will be NT kids who aren't interested in animals too. There should be a good spread of questions on a variety of topics in the rest of the test. Exposing the child to knowledge of various types should be a given for any child, ASD or NT, so I don't see that there is a need to do anything special for an ASD child vs an NT child. Except for the areas where my ASD child needed extra help due to her deficits, she absorbed other info in the same way as my NT child. Another thing to note is that while it can be tempting to advance a child mainly in his areas of strength, there is still a core of general knowledge that he should know just so that he is not too narrow.

agree, slimkhoo, but one thing worth noting is that NT kids are not subject to the kind of assessment and judgement that our kids are subject to, at such a young age. And the assessments determine the education pathway for our child, again at such a young age. We can always opt not to go for the assessment and place the child into mainstream school, but ultimately the mainstream school framework may turn out not being able to accommodate all our children. And that remains a fact.

To me its no longer an argument of fair or unfair. We exist within systems, and we have then to manage within systems to try to help our children as much as possible. Actually I agree with your advocacy to place adaptive skills above academic skills as the life long development plan for our children, but sometimes we have to run with certain things due to system constraints.

That's not to say forget about adaptive skills or social skills. Its multi-prong, and everything runs concurrently. But sometimes when opportunity costs set in, there are times where I find it becomes a struggle. But I take heart that this is a life-long thingy and everything has its place.

[nugget]

ImMeeMee:

nugget:

ImMeeMee,


Pathlight will have a open house in May. Think I should attend one of the open house and see how it is like, learn how is their environment different. So prep my son's mainstream primary school on how to help him.

Your dd screening wont start until end June. Good luck to you!
http://www.pathlight.org.sg/admissions/application.php

Thanks! Starting end June but will be ongoing for the whole of the second half of the year. So biting nail while waiting.

PL open house is pretty much an introduction to their school environment, teaching philosophies etc. But it may not provide a lot of prepping tips for mainstream school. Just giving a heads-up in case you cant find what you are looking for at the open house. Nonetheless, its a good trip to have a feel of the environment that supports ASD kids.

Thanks ImMeeMee,
I just hope my boy can adapt to mainstream. If he is really struggling very very hard, we definitely will enrol him into pathlight.

[nugget]

slmkhoo:

nugget:

How truthful and reliable IQ test is , I really don't know. Does that mean if you score super high marks means you are a gifted???

Some people might totally not be interested in animals but very good in maths or music can be considered gifted as well.

I think it depends on the definition you use. When I had my daughter tested (at 14yo, so it may be different for young kids), her IQ test results came in 4 categories. She came out above average in 2 areas and below average in 2 areas, and so the test was not able to give a single IQ score which is the normal result. So is she smart or not? It really depends on how you look at it, and whether you consider the individual sections or the whole. For us, it helped clarify our understanding of her, and we aren't bothered about getting a score.

Yup, There are different bands. My son score below average for other areas. They did warn me he will struggle a bit when he goes mainstream. Anyway, I hope his new mainstream school will be able to help him.

You are right that the test is more of finding their area of weakness. I am more know or less know which area which I should focus on. And I am glad that he is just not intellectually disable so he has more options.

[Double E]

ImMeeMee:

slmkhoo:

That's something every test taker has to live with, and there will be NT kids who aren't interested in animals too. There should be a good spread of questions on a variety of topics in the rest of the test. Exposing the child to knowledge of various types should be a given for any child, ASD or NT, so I don't see that there is a need to do anything special for an ASD child vs an NT child. Except for the areas where my ASD child needed extra help due to her deficits, she absorbed other info in the same way as my NT child. Another thing to note is that while it can be tempting to advance a child mainly in his areas of strength, there is still a core of general knowledge that he should know just so that he is not too narrow.

agree, slimkhoo, but one thing worth noting is that NT kids are not subject to the kind of assessment and judgement that our kids are subject to, at such a young age. And the assessments determine the education pathway for our child, again at such a young age. We can always opt not to go for the assessment and place the child into mainstream school, but ultimately the mainstream school framework may turn out not being able to accommodate all our children. And that remains a fact.

To me its no longer an argument of fair or unfair. We exist within systems, and we have then to manage within systems to try to help our children as much as possible. Actually I agree with your advocacy to place adaptive skills above academic skills as the life long development plan for our children, but sometimes we have to run with certain things due to system constraints.

That's not to say forget about adaptive skills or social skills. Its multi-prong, and everything runs concurrently. But sometimes when opportunity costs set in, there are times where I find it becomes a struggle. But I take heart that this is a life-long thingy and everything has its place.

I actually agree with ImMeemee. While I don't mean to mug my son through an encyclopedia book, I see it as a teaching material for me to expose my son to general knowledge which I may not have the opportunity to touch on. For example, what animals have feathers? if we go by talking more and learn on the go, I will still need to show him an example of a bird and the feathers right? So with the book, I can actually show it to him.

And like what ImMeemee said, like it or not, our kids are subject to the kind of judgement and assessment that are not cast upon other NT kids. If a NT kid cannot answer those questions but can talk well and sociable, pple might not associate him with being intellectually handicapped and just brush off as saying he is not interested in studies so he does not know. But for our ASD kids, if they can't answer, they will be given a below average IQ (for example).

What we all are doing now, sending the kids to ST, OT, Eipic, teaching them academics etc is part and parcel of learning. Not just for them to be adaptive but also to prepare them to pass Pathlight's assessment or mainstream school exams. Hence, in my own opinion, I see no harm in preparing them for these assessments, be it IQ or whatsoever if it helps to pave a smoother path for the kids future.

I am glad we have this conversation though, always good to hear others' opinions and learn the different schools of thought.

[Double E]

Nugget

Did they test your son on fine motor skills like cutting straight lines from a paper, threading etc?

[Nebbermind]

If the mainstream school knows that a child is ASD, does it not let the child go at his own pace? :scratchhead:


In any case, I personally know a kid who is high functioning asperger (correct term?) who got like 260ish for psle.

[Double E]

Nebbermind,

Not for mainstream sch, the kid has to catch up with the pace. That’s is the reality of the mainstream environment.

[Nebbermind]

Double E:

Nebbermind,

Not for mainstream sch, the kid has to catch up with the pace. That's is the reality of the mainstream environment.

It is perfectly ok to go at mainstream pace...but failing should not be seen as a sin mah. After all, these kids have their own limitation so cannot expect them to perform to perform like other NT kids. There are also other students who can't cope for other reasons, ya?

Isn't the one of the main purpose to have them in mainstream schools is to help them integrate socially and not so much in the academic areas?

[Double E]

I don’t mean failing is a sin but when the kid is at a mainstream environment, there is expectation for the kid to catch up with the pace. That is why we send our kids to IQ test to assess their suitability for either mainstream or special schools. If they hv ave or above IQ, it is deemed that they hv the ability to catch up with the demands of a mainstream sch.


Nebermind, how old is your kid? Do u intend to put him in mainstream ?