All About Autism

[star89]

Hi,


My boys is diagnosed with GDD. The doctor mentioning he is not autism eventhough he did show some strange repetitive behaviour. Now, I am looking for special school for him. He is delayed in his speech and cognitive skill. It is very hard to find a special school. The location is all far away from my home. Recently, I have shortlisted Zee school. They have 2 branches, one at Bukit Timah and another one is at East. The therapists and teachers are Filipinos. Anyone have feedback of this school? Please pm me if you think it is not appropriate to post here.

For government subsidised school, Rainbow. The charges range from $350 to $850. Do you know how much is the family income will be charged $850 per month? Any feedback for Rainbow at Yishun Park?

Thanks.

[Double E]

Star, for rainbow the charges r reasonable cos apart from subsidy fr government they also provide their own subsidy. I was quoted less than $400 per mth and we are from middle income family.

[Miloqueen00]

Hi blokes,

Actually, his child care supervisor was the one who highlighted the issue to me. Said he may have ADHD or autism. He usually plays by himself or will read at the reading corner. He will also wander off to look at posters or hide under tables at times. On the other hand, the teacher said he could be bored as he could read the words she wanted to teach and children of his age (4 at that time) seldom reads on their own most of the time. He may not have found friends in the class.
After much discussion, we took him to kkh child development. There was no diagnosis except he was very reserved n does not have much eye contact with strangers. She realized that he had eye contact with us but not With her initially. Only after playing and talking to him did he finally respond and have eye contact with her. The dr referred us to an ot where he would learn some social skills. He then went for a social skills workshop earlier this yr. We also transferred him to another school. Not sure if it’s the change in sch or he’s older or we persistently remind him to look at others when they were talking, things started to pick up. He started interacting with his peers (although not much initially) n having more eye contact (needs more reminders). Things seemed better but there was still this worry inside me that he was different from others. He seems to be in his own world at times esp in a new environment, refusing to participate or shy away in big groups and is childlike (not sure if he was overprotected) which is different from my friends’ kids. Hence, the initial diagnosis asperger.

[Miloqueen00]

Hi mashy,

My boy still needs to see the doctor for a review next yr. Only the ot discharged him as she saw him after the assessment.

[helplessmum3]

Uh what is GDD, wow! So many labels

[helplessmum3]

Milo,

What do u mean by "initial aspergers"
Labelled already then discharged from kkh?

[Miloqueen00]

Hi helpless mum,

Yup, doctor’s initial diagnosis is asperger. However, the assessment shows that he is not. Assessment is done by senior psychologist and not doctor.

[Blokus]

Thanks miloqueen. Your sharing makes me hopeful. I always thought all children who has poor eye contact are sure to have autism. My son gives fleeting eye contact when he is expected to talk one on one. But gives eye contact when there’s informal play.


Would you say the therapies/classes you sent him prior to the assessment helped him to avoid the diagnosis? My son is in social class now, and the therapist is hopeful we can avoid the diagnosis for him if we focus on teaching him some social communication skills.

[helplessmum3]

Mummies ,


Most mummies here are educated could u teach me how to improve handwritting and also write speedy ?

It’s for me. I take too long to write n also very messy worried the examiner can’t read what I write . I also need to write speedy to catch up the time allow during exam.

I’m too get use to IT resources that write using computer n self spelling correction …
Been very slack on manual stiff especially hand written skill.

[ammonite]

Blokus:

Thanks miloqueen. Your sharing makes me hopeful. I always thought all children who has poor eye contact are sure to have autism.

Not all kids with poor eye contact are on the spectrum. Sometimes it is due to sensory issues. Avoiding eye contact can be a way to avoid overstimulation, a protective mechanism. It is only a symptom, not a cause.

Someone asked about GDD. That is global developmental delay. I have watched a child with the diagnosis grow up to prove it wrong. The child was expected to go to a special needs school. Instead the child is now in a SAP school. The mum has made important changes to intervene; in addition, it now appears there may be an underlying sensory issue giving rise to the initial diagnosis.

So do keep an open mind and keep observing your child even as you carry out interventions. Professionals do disagree with one another as well.