All About Autism
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fluttershy:
Hi FluttershyHi Couragemom,
What are the therapies & programs that you enrolled your son at? and how many hours per week? previously my son attended ST & OT once a week but he cried even before the session begin until it ends. I found them to be ineffective at all (we tried 3 months). From my point of view, I think that the behaviours & sensory overload need to be addressed first before even trying on ST, OT or both. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
From my own experience ST & OT were not useful until my son was able to focus on instructions from the therapists. We focused on ABA in the initial years and only re-tried ST & OT after he was compliant and able to follow the therapists instructions. I have also learnt that you need to keep re-assessing every now and then to determine if your child is continuing to benefit from a specific therapy or if its time to move on to another; there is so much to be done and you need to choose your \"battles\".
Its a long road but take heart, my child has progressed so much but there is so much to be done as well. From not being able to speak at 3 yrs of age, he can now speak in full sentences; our next challenge is to get him to initiate a conversation. -
pinkamoon:
Hi Pinkamoon, need to clarify something here. The basic principle of OT is NOT about play. (the play part is a bonus in OT) The basic principle of Occupational Therapy is meant to develop, recover, or maintain the daily living and work skills of people with a physical, mental or developmental condition.
....
As a mother, I did not feel that OT is very useful for my child. That being said, it does not mean OT sessions are not useful for all children. Every child is different. The basic principle of OT, I feel, is play. Playing should be fun, engaging and child centred. Very often, OT sessions became instructional. How can we expect our children to enjoy playing when what was expected of them was unenjoyable. We should go into their world instead, enjoy what they enjoy and laugh over what makes them happy. When I told my therapist what I intended to do, he was unconvinced. When I shared my dietary intervention with him, he too was not very supportive and cited examples of dietary interventions not working on other children.
Occupational therapists make use of \"play\" to teach the child functional skills. The OT room is designed like a gym area where there are climb ropes, swings, sand play/water play... etc. But the purpose is to teach the child skills to help them to function better in daily living. It's not supposed to be \"fun\" as in playground \"fun\".
A good OT will see what is lacking in the child and will develop an OT activity whose goal is to correct or improve on a certain function or occupation. For example, an activity like climbing ropes helps the child with self-confidence, hand-eye coordination, vestibular balance , proprioception, etc. Another OT activity may help the child with organisational skills and planning in a step-by-step activity.
Some may argue that parents can also do the same with our kids. I agree. But we are not trained therapists, unless the parent reads widely and asks around to gather informed knowledge in order to help the child.
If you want play \"fun\", then gym classes or playgrounds will fit the bill. -
Hi tagbha, thanks for correcting me. I learn something today.
I did not mention much about my son’s first therapist. He is trained in floortime and as the name suggests floortime encourages parents to engage children at their level, on the floor to play. Parents will enter into children’s world, follow their lead and really play games they enjoy. The ‘opening’ and ‘closing’ of circles of communication is important and adults have to try to keep as many loops of commuication as possible. So, for me, i was playing with my son during the 1 hour session while trying to keep communication flowing.
That is the reason I could not get used to the 2nd therapies way as it was not floortime.
I also attended sonrise program which is similar to floortime where communication is kept alive between parents and child. In sonrise program, play is the core of the program.
So, now I know why OT was out for me because play is not the core but a bonus. On the other hand,Sonrise program is a homebased program where parents run their own program. It takes more efforts on the part of parents but it is definitely worth the time and effort. -
Haha… before ‘play’ gets me into trouble again, I should say ‘joinning’ is the principle behind sonrise program plus 3 Es - Energy, Enthusiasim & Excitement!
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pinkamoon:
Hi Couragemum,
Celebrate his successes! If he poops or urinates in toilet bowl, cheer and shout hooray! (I mean really show him how happy you are) I even took a video of how he did it and played it for him to see. Our children need visuals. Let him flush the toilet and have a sense of accomplishment when he does well.
Double E, I am sure your son can do better! For me, my son had problems with not being perfect. He wanted perfect results. He cannot accept failures. I had to train him to accept failures and be happy with 0. I mean he can do his spelling, addition, subtraction etc.
The real challenges come when he has to read and understand comprehension passages and problem sums. I have to tell him 0 is such a nice number, we cannot live without 0 and make funny remarks like if there is no 0, numbers go like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1 again to make him laugh. He can cry for a while when he cannot get his answers correct.
Slmkhoo, I salute your efforts in helping your child! We shall learn from you and keep on moving!
Hi Pinkamoon,
Thanks for the advice. Yes, I bought this potty training book for him and read it to him regularly so that he gets the idea before starting the real deal at home. He himself will applause and look at me smiling whenever he successfully urinate/ pass motion in the potty and I will praise him and ask all the family members to clap hands one by one for him and my son is very happy!
Now I worry about the school transition only. Keeping my fingers crossed! -
fluttershy:
Hi parents,
My son is diagnosed with ASD when he was 2 and he's 2,5 years now. The news brought us as a parents a great deal of shock & stress (I'm sure everyone here has gone through this phase). I have a very bright above than average older daughter & no one in the family has history of ASD
I read some of your comments and I found that your kids are really good with coping with the society when they grow older. I'm hoping that my son will be able to do that as well in the future. At the moment, he's on 25-hour a week of ABA therapy and the therapists are working hard on his receptive & expressive language development & his behaviours (stimmings).
He's non-verbal and speak a single syllable such as car, ball, bubble (buh-buh), up, down, shoes, book. He can imitate when prompted (when the therapist tap the thighs, clap and tap the cheek, he actually follows these 3 movements), he can match identical & similar items as well. He love shape sorters & he can read few simple words (eg. book, ball, up, down, car, go, bow). I'm really hoping he will be able to improve overtime *fingers crossed*. He loves his ABA therapy sessions a lot.
Can any mommies or daddies here recommend other therapy aside from this ABA therapy to improve the condition? Also, we tried GFCF for 6 months and doesn't seem to work so I put him back on the normal diet
Also any kindergarten to recommend for him to attend? I'm hoping he can go to mainstream kindergarten next year. I've been looking at wee care kindergarten. Any input is greatly appreciated! first post here & nice to meet you all
Hi Fluttershy,
Welcome to this forum. You can consider enrolling your child to ARC (Autism Resource Centre) for early intervention while continuing with ABA. From your description, your child seems high fuctioning and exposing him more will be beneficial.
ARC teaches the child fuctioninal skills and work habits which are essential in everyday life.
Hope this helps. -
fluttershy:
Hi parents,
My son is diagnosed with ASD when he was 2 and he's 2,5 years now. The news brought us as a parents a great deal of shock & stress (I'm sure everyone here has gone through this phase). I have a very bright above than average older daughter & no one in the family has history of ASD
I read some of your comments and I found that your kids are really good with coping with the society when they grow older. I'm hoping that my son will be able to do that as well in the future. At the moment, he's on 25-hour a week of ABA therapy and the therapists are working hard on his receptive & expressive language development & his behaviours (stimmings).
He's non-verbal and speak a single syllable such as car, ball, bubble (buh-buh), up, down, shoes, book. He can imitate when prompted (when the therapist tap the thighs, clap and tap the cheek, he actually follows these 3 movements), he can match identical & similar items as well. He love shape sorters & he can read few simple words (eg. book, ball, up, down, car, go, bow). I'm really hoping he will be able to improve overtime *fingers crossed*. He loves his ABA therapy sessions a lot.
Can any mommies or daddies here recommend other therapy aside from this ABA therapy to improve the condition? Also, we tried GFCF for 6 months and doesn't seem to work so I put him back on the normal diet
Also any kindergarten to recommend for him to attend? I'm hoping he can go to mainstream kindergarten next year. I've been looking at wee care kindergarten. Any input is greatly appreciated! first post here & nice to meet you all
Hi Fluttershy,
Welcome to this forum. You can consider enrolling your child to ARC (Autism Resource Centre) for early intervention while continuing with ABA. From your description, your child seems high fuctioning and exposing him more will be beneficial.
ARC teaches the child fuctioninal skills and work habits which are essential in everyday life.
Hope this helps. -
Mummies
My son had his 2nd spelling test yesterday. And thank God, this time he got all correct. Happy for him cos he tried and is paying attention to what the teacher read. For me, I was actually feeling nervous when I saw his spelling book in his bag yesterday, my heart skipped abit when I was opening the book to see his result. OMG! i can’t believe I am feeling that, is only a K1 spelling test for goodness sake!!. I really need to control my own emotions and anxiety. -
Double E:
Please don't be so hard on the child and yourself. As u rightly pointed out, it's only K1. The last thing you want is for both of you to burn out before P1. The education journey is long (a good 10 years, P1-S4) and there will be the ups and downs.Mummies
My son had his 2nd spelling test yesterday. And thank God, this time he got all correct. Happy for him cos he tried and is paying attention to what the teacher read. For me, I was actually feeling nervous when I saw his spelling book in his bag yesterday, my heart skipped abit when I was opening the book to see his result. OMG! i can't believe I am feeling that, is only a K1 spelling test for goodness sake!!. I really need to control my own emotions and anxiety.
You don't want your child, ASD or otherwise to equate marks with a mother's love and happiness/pride. One step at a time and celebrate the little victories. And it doesn't need to be 100/100 all the time. More importantly, the child enjoys school and learning, and his emotional and social well-being is taken care of. The education part will slowly fall into place. -
Double E:
Hi Double E,Mummies
My son had his 2nd spelling test yesterday. And thank God, this time he got all correct. Happy for him cos he tried and is paying attention to what the teacher read. For me, I was actually feeling nervous when I saw his spelling book in his bag yesterday, my heart skipped abit when I was opening the book to see his result. OMG! i can't believe I am feeling that, is only a K1 spelling test for goodness sake!!. I really need to control my own emotions and anxiety.
Congrats! I hope one day in the near future my son can perform as well academically as your son! But as of now I don't see the signs yet!
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