All About Autism

[sharonkhoo]

tyeogh:

Parents,

Televsion: boon or bane? How much TV do you allow your child and do you think it contributed to their condition?

My daughter only watched less than an hour of TV a day in her preschool years. When she started school, she probably only watched 3-4 times a week of not more than an hour, except perhaps a couple of hours in the weekend. She was not introduced to the computer until 6yo, and only allowed 30mins about twice a week until she was about 10yo. So I am sure TV and computer exposure did not contribute to her condition. In fact, thinking back to her babyhood (she had difficulties even as a baby, long before her MMR), I am convinced that she was born with the condition.

And thinking more about it, if you choose the shows carefully and talk about them with your child, they can be good ways to teach social skills and social understanding too. My child was the elder, and didn't have anyone to practise on except me most of the time, so it was sometimes helpful to have additional material from TV to illustrate a point or talk about.

And to add, my NT child, being the younger, always got more TV and computer time for her age than her older sister had had (all of you with more than 1 child know how that happens!).

[ImMeeMee]

tyeogh:

Parents,

Televsion: boon or bane? How much TV do you allow your child and do you think it contributed to their condition?

I certainly don't think it contributes to their condition.

Some age-appropriate TV is good cos it expands their vocab and knowledge, at least that applies to my doter. But too much of anything will not be healthy, and that applies to TV too, whether for NT or ASD children.

My assessment of 'too much' in not just TV, but all else, is when the child becomes so addicted that he/she keeps asking for it non-stop throughout the course of the day. That's when I will make changes to curb it.

[helplessmum3]

ImMeeMee:

My therapist mentioned before that I should teach my doter some 'lah' and 'leh' in her speech so that her speech becomes more 'real' in our context.


I suppose its a case of them not being able to appreciate the finer nuancing of language which is actually part of social interactions.

As long as she is communicative with a spoken language, never mind the slang or lack of, I am thankful. My FIL chides us quite often for not teaching her Chinese and Mandarin, and I always think to myself 'She is able to speak in one language, we should tao cheo liao ...'

ya lor ya lor... one languages already so difficult.

[Double E]

ImMeeMee:

tyeogh:

Parents,

Televsion: boon or bane? How much TV do you allow your child and do you think it contributed to their condition?

I certainly don't think it contributes to their condition.

Some age-appropriate TV is good cos it expands their vocab and knowledge, at least that applies to my doter. But too much of anything will not be healthy, and that applies to TV too, whether for NT or ASD children.

My assessment of 'too much' in not just TV, but all else, is when the child becomes so addicted that he/she keeps asking for it non-stop throughout the course of the day. That's when I will make changes to curb it.

I don't think is TV either. As compared to my friend's children, my kids watch the least TV.

My boy was developing well as a baby, he even walked at 11 mths and likes to make lots of noise like trying to talk to us. But of course, his words didn't come until he was 26 mths and he could read when he was around 2. Words like mouth, eye, ear, head.

[tyeogh]

Ok. So far 3 parents think the TV has no adverse effect on their child. Any more?


Let me re-phrase. Having been born with the condition, did the presence of the TV make it worse for your child?

My NUH doctor seems to think it does. We were advised to cut down. So my kids went from 3-8 hrs a day to 0 hrs. They went absolutely berserk. Then they adjusted. Their piano skills improved, they played more Lego, went to the playground more, quarrelled more, fought more (nothing else to do). The aspie boy had to string along.

I started out thinking Dora the Explorer helps my kids learn stuffs. Now, I hate it bec parts of me think it worsen my boy's condition. So to me, it's a bane. I was also less tired then when the tv was pertually switched on ........ :stupid:

[sharonkhoo]

tyeogh:

Let me re-phrase. Having been born with the condition, did the presence of the TV make it worse for your child?


My NUH doctor seems to think it does. We were advised to cut down. So my kids went from 3-8 hrs a day to 0 hrs. They went absolutely berserk. Then they adjusted. Their piano skills improved, they played more Lego, went to the playground more, quarrelled more, fought more (nothing else to do). The aspie boy had to string along.

I think too much TV affects all kids adversely, NT or ASD. We kept TV to a low amount because we knew that it was very passive, and we wanted our kids to be active in engaging with the environment, people and objects around them. We got them to play with toys that required actual engagement (not just pushing buttons) and I read to them and talked to them a lot. This was before we knew about ASD or that one of our kids had it, and yes, I'm sure it wouldn't have been good for her if we had let her watch a lot. Till today, my kids still watch quite little TV, and I have no regrets being so strict when they were young.

[phtthp]

Don’t let young kids watch too much tv.


There have been k1 and k2 kids wearing glasses so young -
after nurses from Singapore health promotion board go to various kindergarten & childcare centre(s), to check their eye sight.

[tyeogh]

slmkhoo,

Good parenting! I like the engaging the environment, people and objects part. You strict? Noooo. If you strict, then I am a megalomaniac. My kids have no access to TV, computers, iPads, smartphone, whatsoever. LoL. Bored? Go ride a bike or read a book.

phtthp,
Yes, eyesight is the other important consideration. Happy to report none of my kids wear specs…due in part to my megalomania. LoL

[sharonkhoo]

tyeogh:

slmkhoo,

Good parenting! I like the engaging the environment, people and objects part. You strict? Noooo. If you strict, then I am a megalomaniac. My kids have no access to TV, computers, iPads, smartphone, whatsoever. LoL. Bored? Go ride a bike or read a book.

phtthp,
Yes, eyesight is the other important consideration. Happy to report none of my kids wear specs.....due in part to my megalomania. LoL

When they were young, we were stricter. But as they grew older, around kindy age and older, we realised that they had fewer common conversation topics and common experiences when meeting other kids. This was especially important for my ASD girl. And since they were older and more able to understand and abide by rules, we decided that it was necessary to let them have some access to TV and computers (the other stuff didn't exist at the time as my kids are teens now).

Specs - my whole family wears/wore specs (husband was over 800 degrees before Lasik, I am around 400, kids are 400 and 600). We often get accused by optometrists of letting our kids watch too much TV, but when we tell them our house rules, they agree that it must be genes.

[wamin]

@slmkhoo, i just hate listening to doctor when they have nothing to blame they just blame genes.

I have 2 kids and both are on spectrum, when doctor was asking us about any of our relative or anyone in family history have issue and upon our answer no he said it is gene mutation.

I understand in US they give 5 day 1.5 hour early everyday home intervention at no cost, any one knows about it? I am paying around 800 for my two kids.