PCF/PAP Kindergartens
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From the perspective of this 自闭症儿童, she could have learned more things if she studied in a special school. Teachers there have specialised skill to train and guide them. And the earlier she is sent there for treatment, the bigger the chances she can be cured.
But teachers in normal school do not have the expertise and knowledge to teach and guide her. One teacher prob. need to look after 20 or more students. How can they be patient and spend time with 自闭症儿童. As a parent of any kid, u expect they learn sth from the school not just to kill time there. -
Seleste:
Hi Sophie80 and parents with similar thinking,
In your posting, you mentioned that special needs children shouldn't be with the normal children, and that they would harm their classmates. Were you referring to special needs children in general or to the autistic child in your child's class? I don't mean to nit-pick, but this distinction can determine whether you are discriminatory or just being objective.
You may be aware that autism is a spectrum, and no two autistic people have identical behaviour. There are some who are lower functioning and who require special care all the time; on the other hand, there are some who are high functioning, who do not really need special attention all the time, and whose main problem is in social interaction. These children would benefit from observation of and eventual participation in the social interaction with neurotypical children. Neurotypical children can in turn- with proper guidance from compassionate parents and teachers- learn empathy, compassion and patience from interacting with these special children.
That said, I would further ask for your understanding on why \"selfish\" parents leave their seemingly unsuitable children at normal schools. Special education is scarce and costly in Singapore. The route from the time of diagnosis to entry into special schools is very long and can take a long time. While a child is waiting for help, what can a parent do in the meantime? Even in a best case scenario whereby there is a caregiver at home to look after the child, would the parent choose to let the child languish at home with little guidance, or would the parent enroll the child in a school, hoping (no matter how unrealistically) that he can pick up some skills- social, self help or academic- from his classmates and teachers? And how about those families without childcare arrangement at home?
Now, your main grouse is that the presence of the autistic girl distracts the teacher and impedes the progress of her classmates. By the same breath, should we then generalize and say that handicapped people shouldn't be allowed to live, since not only do they not contribute to the economy, they consume precious resources that could be utilised to develop the potential of the normal people?
Most parents want the best for their children. In an ideal world, everyone is borne equal and without impediments. In an ideal society, each child- whether neurotypical or special needs- has an education that will develop him to his fullest potential. Unfortunately, this is not an ideal society. You are fortunate to have a normal child, and not have to experience the many additional worries that plague parents of children with special needs. Is it too much to ask for a little empathy and understanding?
All the while, i only refer to the girl in my daugter's class who has 自闭症 and needs teacher's special attention. This attention is not to teach her separately but to stop her from doing dangerous things.
I mentioned that she attacked others sometimes. There is one time my little girl was hit by her for no reasons. so What should I tell her? To stay close with her or stay away from her? To this 自闭症 girl， teacher could not let her understand right or wrong as she does not have the ability to communicate with anybody. So what we can do is to ask my girl to stay away from her. You could say this is being selfish. But i do not agree. I m protecting my girl from further hurt. Relations between students need to be worked out in both way. If one side cannot be changed, we can only work on our own side to avoid being attacked. -
Anyway, I want to make this discussion a full stop. We have different opinions on this issue, and they are not easily to be changed. I still stick to my point. None of us should be blamed.
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Chiew:
If you have a choice and financially ok, would recommend you to go elsewhere.Hi,
Any comments on PCF at Lor Ah Soo blk 125, please.
Thank you.
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sophie80:
Anyway, I want to make this discussion a full stop. We have different opinions on this issue, and they are not easily to be changed. I still stick to my point. None of us should be blamed.
Sophie80,
I agree with you. I don't mean to discriminate either but I think if a child is autistic, the child will need special attention which PCF cannot provide and the teachers are not trained to look after either. We send our kids to school in order to ensure that they are there learning stuf and well prepared for p1. But if there was an autistic child there that was taking up the teachers time, or worse going around disturbing other kids, what good is there for us to send our kids to the schoo
What I suggest is that PCF start specific branches for special needs children. -
kaitlynangelica:
Do you have special needs kids, or have worked with special needs kids or their parents? Any experience there? If not, you may want to validate those assumptions you made? ... there are several in there that have been discussed in previous posts.sophie80:
Anyway, I want to make this discussion a full stop. We have different opinions on this issue, and they are not easily to be changed. I still stick to my point. None of us should be blamed.
Sophie80,
I agree with you. I don't mean to discriminate either but I think if a child is autistic, the child will need special attention which PCF cannot provide and the teachers are not trained to look after either. We send our kids to school in order to ensure that they are there learning stuf and well prepared for p1. But if there was an autistic child there that was taking up the teachers time, or worse going around disturbing other kids, what good is there for us to send our kids to the schoo
What I suggest is that PCF start specific branches for special needs children.
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https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0Bx1lKh5_4vE6NzAxNTQ0MzYtMWRiNi00MjU0LTlkZjEtYWE4YWZkMTRlYzlm&hl=en_GB
Click on the image above to download a power-point file. Please note that the file is 12MB. -
Thanks for the powerpoint! Love it!
I totally agree.
Actually sophie80 you don’t have to be too worried about having a child with special needs in your child’s class. Maybe your child will even learn something that she will never be able to learn in her lifetime? All these values and all have to be learnt through life and academics will never be able to teacher her these. If everything is about just academics, the world will really be a cold place.
If i have a kid without special needs and then one with special needs, what am i going to do?Separate them? Buy 2 houses for each? Of cos i will love them both equally right?
Personally, i have been to a child care center where there was a austistic boy.Though he maybe a little disruptive at times, he learnt to sit down and his friends age 3 accepted him for who he is and learnt to share with him.
And if you really cannot accept the child,you could always change school. But if it happens that the other school accepts a special needs child what are you going to do? Change school again?
Even in primary schools nowadays they are incooporating special needs into the school.Some autistic kids are attending mainstream schools… so why not teach your child how to cope with the situation instead of avoiding it?
I personally came from a primary school and class where there was a special needs child.He was not autistic, smth else, but i must say through that 2 years spent with him, i learnt to care, love show sympathy and help people and have to have a heart for the weak, and i must say it was also how the teacher explained to us that helped alot.We did not discriminate against him instead we included him in our games and recesses. He brought joy to many of us being ever so cheerful and ready to help us in any way that he could.(Even if it meant bringing a piece of tissue to us when he saw us cry) -
Just to share my thoughts after reading all these. My friend’s autistic boy has just joined a PCF and settled in nicely. In his class, a normal kid is still acting up, disrupting the class and thus taking away the teachers’ time from other children. Sounds familiar to sophie80’s concerns? Except this is the reverse situation. My questions:
1) Should the other parents, including my friend, pressurize the principal to have this disruptive but normal kid remove?
2) If the answer is no, why are only children with special needs always under undue scrutiny and pressure such that every little undesirable behaviour puts them at risk to be asked to leave? Why is the focus only on special needs children? Why are normal children’s disruptive behaviour tolerated but not the one with special needs? We should start to ask ourselves what is our true concern - the behaviour or the label?
It also brings me to wonder what would have happened to my daughter who is normal but was crying for months when she first joined a playgroup. Her excessive crying was to the point of my deep embarrassment and apology (my heartache aside) but I was grateful that no one minded enough to make us leave the school. Instead, the parents were very understanding and supportive, assuring me that she would settle in soon (which she never really did till 6 months later).
Now reading the comments from parents like sophie80 and the like, I wonder if we would still have received the same understanding if she had been autistic or had some special needs. If the answer is no, it will be really disturbing and perhaps time for us to search our conscience.
You may also want to ask yourselves what kind of environment you want to expose your children to while they are young and impressionable. For me, a principal who is willing to take in a child with special needs despite the challenges (including undue pressure from some disapproving parents) speaks volume about the kind of values she upholds. Should we support what she’s doing or make her life difficult?
At the end of the day, we as parents have the ability to tell what’s right from wrong and the control to teach our children appropriately. The issue is not so much about the special needs child anymore, but what kind of upbringing we want to expose our own children to. -
sophie80:
自闭症儿童 = Autistic in English. Autism/Autistic has appeared few times in others' response so please do not conveniently say you do not know how to say it in English. Please make an effort to google & know more about autism. It is really not so scary after learning more about the condition.By saying special kids i mean 自闭症儿童 as i dont know how to say it in english. Any special kids other than 自闭症儿童 is not within the scope of our discussion. Sorry abt the confusion.
Thanks,
BTW, my special needs child is Autistic. He doesn't display \"BAD\" behavior that often except maybe when he melts down. When he melts-down, it is always due to some \"anxiety attack\" or \"there is a change in daily structure that he cannot accept\". Like I said in my earlier post, he displays good manners when he readily greets the seniors and this is an exemplary conduct (lacking in many normal children; including my (other; normal) son).
Since you only want to talk about Autism, generally, Autistic kids do not \"attack\" people, unless
1. they have underlying ADHD condition manifesting within ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) ; &/or
2. they have been provoked
My son attends a special school. I have seen all the rest of the Autistic kids in his school and none are as disruptive as you had described. Yes they cry (meltdown) but they don't \"attack\" one another. Due to their lack of \"spatial awareness\", they may push & shove & they may even lean against your body but hey, normal kids push & shove too! Normal kids may grow up slashing one another too hence normal kids \"attack\" too! I guess my point is \"it takes all sorts of people to make up this world\".
Although I disagree with your views, I respect that we are entitled our own views. I just feel that your views stem from the lack of understanding of Autism to begin with. At this point, if I could be granted my wish, I implore you to read up more about the condition so you can gain a better understanding of the condition & can assist to explain to your daughter what the condition is about. It is really not that scary.
And of course, thanks for raising this, for it reminds us, the parents of Autistic children & also the relevant authority, that we have a lot of work to do to help \"educate\" members of the public who are clueless about Autism & who would rather choose to remain clueless; there's certainly a need to help generate greater awareness amongst the clueless.
May the Force be with us. Bless us; Bless the people.
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