All About Autism

[Lavina]

Dreamgear:

But this is in P1. Dont you think the issue is with the 2 teachers, irregardless of condition?

Personally I think P1 students already not that innocent, capable of intentional bullying. Apart from teachers, classmates also very important. If you get hit in special school, it is probably \"unintentional\" as in that child cannot control and hit whoever is nearest. If get hit in mainstream, probably intentional as in target you.

I used to be afraid that my child will go into a lousy class and get bullied by those more gangster type. Then I learn that smart ones may not hit you but some can be very evil. Push your buttons (and that is so easy with ASD child) then act all innocent when teacher comes. You are their entertainment.

Sorry if I frightened anyone. Just my own suay experience.

[helplessmum3]

Another hospital is institute of mental health

[phtthp]

jme:

My friend's child is an asperger. She is a very very brilliant n pretty little girl attending p1 mainstream. You can hardly tell that she has asd.


Within 4 months, she got bullied by three different group of classmates. Two groups made fun of her due to her quirks n one boy hit her.

boys are quite rough in school.

for an asd child -
if is a girl and if is possible, maybe try to send her to an All Girls' school (mission based) instead of co-ed school (mixed with boys), with teaching support environment for asd children.

Anglican / Catholic / Methodist mission based All Girls' school is better, to try to minimize bullying as much as possible.

[ImMeeMee]

Www:

Is there another children hospital can diagnose on austism? We might want to see a second opinion other than the doctor from KKH.

In the public sector, KKH and NUH are the two institutions that provide services to support ASD for young children. I think IMH caters for bigger kids beyond 7yo?

As for private, the last that I know, TMC has a very experienced paediatrician that specializes in developmental issues such as ASD. There should be services for diagnosis there. There is a Thomson Paediatric Clinic at Novena Square that provides services for diganosis, OT and SLT support for ASD. You may like to check them out.

As for whether to stop intervention halfway, I think the question is whether you have seen any improvements in your child after the intervention. If there are measureable improvements, then its an indication that intervention is beneficial to your child and this could help you make a decision on next step.

Hope the above helps.

[sharonkhoo]

Www:

Should mild autism join Early Intervention? How accurate is psychology tests and other tests based on the behavior noticed from CC and parents? If join early intervention half way, can stop going? I find the cost very expensive. On top still have to go CC. :gloomy:

I will speak from my personal experience. I have an Asperger's daughter who is now 16yo. We knew she had issues but didn't get her diagnosed until she was 14yo as we felt we could manage her ourselves. In general, the younger the child is tested (up to school age), the less reliable it is. Also, many interventions are (to me) just common sense, and since I am a SAHM and willing to read up, we have done various things with our daughter but all at home, as and when we felt that it was the right time to address those issues. She has been in mainstream kindergartens and schools since she was 3yo, and while it hasn't been totally smooth sailing, she has coped OK socially (below average, but not too bad) and her academic grades are average. So my view is that early interventions are only necessary if you feel you cannot handle your child yourself, realising that mainstream cc will not be able to fulfill all your child's needs. I can't compare how my daughter would have been if we had sent her for all the therapies available, but it would have been stressful, expensive and even more time-intensive, so we are happy how things have turned out for us so far. Just my thoughts.

[sharonkhoo]

jme:

My friend's child is an asperger. She is a very very brilliant n pretty little girl attending p1 mainstream. You can hardly tell that she has asd. Within 4 months, she got bullied by three different group of classmates. Two groups made fun of her due to her quirks n one boy hit her. During one of the school outing, her sensory was kind of overloaded with activities n thus slower to respond to teacher's instructions. She got scolded by this teacher in charge (this teacher didnt know of her condition)several times in front of all the children n parents. Her form teacher n aed didn't help much to prevent or stop such bullies. I was upset when I hear all these but good thing is that she has the ability to relate incident to her mum n also added to the fact that my friend is a sahm n has more time to spend on her child n to teach her how to fend for herself.


Mainstream n PL definitely has it's pros n cons. 1 teacher to 30 students in mainstream vs 2 teachers to 20 students in path light? I guess it still makes a very big diff in helping a young child.

I think that this is price we pay when we send our kids to mainstream, and some resilience is call for, both from the child and the parents. My daughter (Asperger's) has encountered similar experiences, and we have had to deal with them too, mostly by teaching our daughter how to cope and avoid. Not all teachers are sympathetic and understanding, and although I will try to talk to them, some just don't get it. In my daughter's time, I don't think PL was an option, and anyway, we wanted her to stick with mainstream as long as possible, and for Asperger's kids, it's generally possible, I think. While we want other people to cut our kids some slack, our kids also have to learn to cope in a world where the majority will not understand.

[Www]

slmkhoo:

Www:

Should mild autism join Early Intervention? How accurate is psychology tests and other tests based on the behavior noticed from CC and parents? If join early intervention half way, can stop going? I find the cost very expensive. On top still have to go CC. :gloomy:

I will speak from my personal experience. I have an Asperger's daughter who is now 16yo. We knew she had issues but didn't get her diagnosed until she was 14yo as we felt we could manage her ourselves. In general, the younger the child is tested (up to school age), the less reliable it is. Also, many interventions are (to me) just common sense, and since I am a SAHM and willing to read up, we have done various things with our daughter but all at home, as and when we felt that it was the right time to address those issues. She has been in mainstream kindergartens and schools since she was 3yo, and while it hasn't been totally smooth sailing, she has coped OK socially (below average, but not too bad) and her academic grades are average. So my view is that early interventions are only necessary if you feel you cannot handle your child yourself, realising that mainstream cc will not be able to fulfill all your child's needs. I can't compare how my daughter would have been if we had sent her for all the therapies available, but it would have been stressful, expensive and even more time-intensive, so we are happy how things have turned out for us so far. Just my thoughts.

Yes. I also find it taxing to us. We don't find the issue very big for my child. Only less socialable as in not sharing the favorite blocks or toys.

Cc teacher cannot cope or what, said my child is not cooperative when comes to sit and listening to lessons.

I am also a SAHM, and also thinking of just purchase some books that are useful for mild autism to DIY. Any good books to recommend in terms of social interactions for children?

For eye contact wise, child just not focus too long. I don't even think is an issue. Look too hard into someone eyes could become a stare?

For academic wise, I find my child is slightly faster than the peers, can read newspaper article at the age of 4, can do writing pages of homework I gave. Though sometimes could be a mischief and draw all over the page purposely. Mischief child is normal I think, better than sit and do what others order all the time.

[Www]

ImMeeMee:

Www:

Is there another children hospital can diagnose on austism? We might want to see a second opinion other than the doctor from KKH.

In the public sector, KKH and NUH are the two institutions that provide services to support ASD for young children. I think IMH caters for bigger kids beyond 7yo?

As for private, the last that I know, TMC has a very experienced paediatrician that specializes in developmental issues such as ASD. There should be services for diagnosis there. There is a Thomson Paediatric Clinic at Novena Square that provides services for diganosis, OT and SLT support for ASD. You may like to check them out.

As for whether to stop intervention halfway, I think the question is whether you have seen any improvements in your child after the intervention. If there are measureable improvements, then its an indication that intervention is beneficial to your child and this could help you make a decision on next step.

Hope the above helps.

I might stop half way as too time consuming going to and fro and tiring for child and me. Also need to accompany child first few months to attend.

I am surprise the program is all the way to 6 years old. Doc suggest us to still continue cc and the add on the program all the way till 6 years old.

[sharonkhoo]

Www:

Cc teacher cannot cope or what, said my child is not cooperative when comes to sit and listening to lessons.


I am also a SAHM, and also thinking of just purchase some books that are useful for mild autism to DIY. Any good books to recommend in terms of social interactions for children?

For eye contact wise, child just not focus too long. I don't even think is an issue. Look too hard into someone eyes could become a stare?

Not all teachers are flexible. I use to ask the teachers to try to get my daughter to participate, but not to try so hard that other kids suffered. If she preferred to wander around at the edges, I said it was OK as long as she was not disruptive. She got better with age and could sit still by P1. Of course, we worked with her at home to build concentration and kept reminding her of what was accepted behaviour.

I mainly browsed websites and used common sense although I do have a couple of books. We got her to practise at home and with her sister, us etc. Our standards are not high - we just want her to be able to cope without being too odd, not that she be indistinguishable from an NT kid.

I read, and my daughter confirmed it when she was older, that looking into eyes can be distracting and make it harder to think. So we ask her to look in the direction of the person speaking to her, but not into the eyes. The Koreans teach kids to look at the upper lip because looking into an older person's eyes is rude, so we asked her to try that too. Eye contact is a western custom, not Asian, so I don't think we need to emphasise it that much.

I guess it boils down to what standards of 'normal' you want your child to achieve and how hard you are willing to work towards it. We decided that we had to consider others in the family too and set a lower standard of 'normal'. After all, I recall several classmates who were as 'odd' and still managed to cope with life. One even became a doctor! (not that my daughter has that aspiration).

[nugget]

slmkhoo:

Not all teachers are flexible. I use to ask the teachers to try to get my daughter to participate, but not to try so hard that other kids suffered. If she preferred to wander around at the edges, I said it was OK as long as she was not disruptive. She got better with age and could sit still by P1. Of course, we worked with her at home to build concentration and kept reminding her of what was accepted behaviour.

slmkhoo,

Can share with us how do you train concentration? My son always loses concentration easily when doing a task.