All About Autism

[Fizz]

helplessmum3:

Mashy, you mean MMI?


800++/mth i can't afford.

The ST gave me a list of schools including childcares which may consider kids with special needs. They include the following among the rest:

- TOUCH Childcare (Hougang/Clementi);
- Mother Goose (Jalan Halijah in Bedok);
- Presbyterian Community Services (various locations)

The above ones looks more affordable than Eton, which is also in the list :evil:

[optrex80]

DEL.

[optrex80]

Hi,

Anyone of you know where i can send my 3 years plus kid for preschool for speech delay n mildly autistic. I stay at punggol area, so was hoping for somewhere nearer to my place.

[Fizz]

mashy:

Fizz:

[quote=\"mashy\"]

Hi Fizz,
All books on ASD are v expensive. Our psychologist even recommend one book which cost $100+ to buy locally :yikes: . I still hvnt buy those books, just borrow fr library to see see first. But unfortunately, that $100+ book cannot be found in our local library, so looks like got to just buy.

Re primary school support for ASD kids
Do you know if the school will give assistance to ASD kids upon their entry immediately? Or will they be treated like normal kids first and the teachers will observe them for 1-2 terms first to see if the kids can handle the demands of the school before AED/school counsellor step in? Do you know if any assistance will be given to ASD kids during recess and assembly time?

How many AEDs/school counsellor does your boy's school have?

Hehehe ....U can tell I'm getting worried even though my boy is not due for P1 until 2014.

All schs have different levels of support. So before enrolling, check out their website. They will have a list of AEDs in their schools. Some schs have more, some lesser. I've checked the no of AEDs in my boy's sch, there are quite a lot. Got even more this yr.

For my boy's sch, during orientation, we have to fill up a form on whether our kids have special needs. Coz during that time, we haven't had a confirmed diagnosis, so we didn't say anything. But once we confirmed, we sent an email to the AED of the sch and asked to arrange for a mtg with her. We first met her and the form teacher two weeks after first day of school. We had a mtg about his quirks, any special things she should take note of, how she can handle him etc. As the class had 2 autistic kids, she requested for an AED in the class during lesson time. The AED is there for English and maths classes only. During the mtg, the AED said will have social groups etc but so far nothing leh. But she also said my boy's condition looks not too bad as she has also observed him for the first two weeks. She said have autistic kids who still needed help toileting at Pri 5.

Nope, it's not SA. Having gals in the sch is much better coz they are more nurturing. 1 AED and 1 lsc is so little. I saw my boy's sch have at least 6 or 7. Can't remember how many but there are a whole row of them. My boy is also studying HC. Jia lut. His other classmate seems to be coping well with it though.[/quote]I saw the PD today. She seemed to be skeptical as to why I did not want to try Pathlight as recommended by the psychologist, but instead put my kantang in a HC school which has little AED support. Haizzz...this school is my alma mater and is within 1 km of my place. I seriously did not look into this AED matter till he was diagnosed after the P1 registration.

[Fizz]

specialboymum:

hi parents,


need your advice.
my son's case has been with KKH CDU since he was first diagnose with ASD. We did not go through any of the service they refer us to (all his therapies are at private practice) but we do go back there once a year for follow up and also get psychological assessment for school enrollment.

Now he is in primary 1, KKH has to discharge him since they only handle pre-school kids. The nurses at KKH told us that we could send him to Child Guidance Clinic at Institute of Mental Health. The nurses also added they could refer him to CDU but that doesn't mean they are transferring his case to CGU for continue follow up. . However, if I don't have any referral from them and if I need to go there in future.. I will need to go through the whole process of getting referral at poly clinic... do series of assessment to confirm he is ASD...

I'm a bit lost and don't know how to proceed from here. On one hand, I don't require any of the CGU service for the various kind of therapies, since I'm already making my own arrangement. However, at certain point of time, I may require some letters from the doctors or other recognized professionals to help him to get additional support at school for example exemption from oral exams or mother tongue (if it really get too difficult for him to handle).. where else can I go to get such help?

I just saw the PD this afternoon. I was asking her about the options after CDC KKH since he is going to P1 next year. She gave me the opetion of going private totally or being referred to CGC at Outram. I am still undecided. But I asked her for referral to CGC (meant for P1 to teens) due to cost and there is continuity (they will transfer his records there).

I guess you can still call up KKH to see if they can refer you there based on your prior records. My next appointment is June next year. I guess they will discharge him too.

[Blokus]

Fizz, can you apply exemption from Chinese for him?

[ImMeeMee]

Fizz:

The ST gave me a list of schools including childcares which may consider kids with special needs. They include the following among the rest:

- TOUCH Childcare (Hougang/Clementi);
- Mother Goose (Jalan Halijah in Bedok);
- Presbyterian Community Services (various locations)

The above ones looks more affordable than Eton, which is also in the list :evil:

The pre schools above offer the Integrated Child Care Program under the Centre of Enabled Living.

These pre schools are certified to have special needs children along with their NT peers in the mainstream enviornment.

You need to submit an application to the CEL and this can be done through the psychologist.

Check it out:
http://www.cel.sg/Services_Child_Integrated-Child-Care-Programme.aspx

[Fizz]

Blokus:

Fizz, can you apply exemption from Chinese for him?

The PD can write a letter to RECOMMEND Chinese exemption. Ultimately, it's up to the school if they can downgrade HC to Chinese, or if there is no such option, to exempt him totally from Chinese. We are encourage to try first before seeking the letter.

[mashy]

slmkhoo:

specialboymum:

[quote=\"mashy\"]Specialboymum


Yes, we got a psychological report from them last year, which I also submit to his school before he started primary 1. The report is prepared by psychologist and must be sign by doctor at KKH CDU in order to be valid.
I understand the report will not be valid forever leh. If I need to apply for any exemption, I will need to submit an updated one. Our plan is to let him go \"blur\" through lower primary, and when he still show that he couldn't cope when it is closer to PSLE, we will then apply for exemption.

That's so silly right? Didn't they say that autism is not curable? It's like shooting themselves in e mouth. Ok, I better ask the CDU dr when I see her in nov.

Are you referring to the limited validity period? I don't think it's that silly because the child's ability to perform andcope will change over time. That's why we are taking so much trouble with therapies and training, right? It also allows for re-evaluation because diagnoses can be wrong.[/quote]Yes, their abilities may change but it will not change the fact that they have autism and for those with language delays, it impairs their capacity to learn two languages. If diagnosis is wrong, then it shouldn't come up incidentally while trying to get exemption from Chinese. It's like those who tell u that u have a terminal cancer, then after that say u don't have it after u have spent all your money on your bucket list. If diagnosis can change then I can also declare that autism can be cured and not like what they insisted that autism can't be cured.

[mashy]

Regarding preschools, I guess I’m lucky in the sense that I didn’t get it diagnosed till end of k2. So nothing to tell. The teachers are also not equipped to handle special needs kids but they just managed it well. We had issues as well but we worked together to improve the situations.


So long as your kids aren’t exceptionally disruptive, it should be ok even if u don’t say. Nothing wrong with it. In fact sometimes it’s better not to say else the teachers will treat them differently in a worse sense.