All About Autism
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ImMeeMee:
Yes, I saw that! I will probably try to find out more later in the year as my daughter will be only be taking her A levels in Nov. No point asking too early. The \"problem\" for us is that my daughter is likely to be caught in between - she is probably more high-functioning than the individuals these schemes are aimed at, but needing significantly more support than NT persons in the normal workplace. I will look into it anyway and will post here if I find out anything useful.slmkhoo
You may have heard that ARC has an E2C that does work placement for autism individuals. Not long ago they had some projects with NLB. I have not gone into details as have not reached the stage yet, so I dont know much about criteria and stuff. But I think it offers some ideas for parents to think about ref jobs for our children. And who knows, getting into their program for a job recommendation.
Just some food for thought. -
ImMeeMee:
Of course we are worried if our boy will fit into the environment, but if he's given a chance to pursue further education beyond N levels, we wish to give it a try. Hopefully by then at 19 years old, he would be matured enough to adapt and \"survive\". Anyway, we still have 5 years to think about it. Turning to E2C for training and employment is also one of our options.Gisten
I may have been biased, but I hear reviews about ITE being a harsh environment. What is your take? -
hi Gisten,
if a child is currently studying in Pathlight primary (P1/P2), but at end of P2, wish to go back to Mainstream school starting P3 (before the academic curriculum get harder, to catch up & with new subject Science coming in) : any idea how is the procedure like ?
what minimum marks, must the child score at end of P2 in Pathlight for (English & Maths) or what other criteria required, before can be considered transfer back to Mainstream school ?
second question (Psle)
out of Total number of P6 Pathlight students who sat for Psle last year (2015) : are there more students making to Mainstream school for Sec 1, or more students tend to go back to Pathlight Sec 1 ?
perhaps, can share some stats ?
third question (Secondary school)
if child did not transfer to Mainstream school, but choose to remain in Pathlight Secondary school : for current Sec 1 intake, how many "O" level classes are there, & how many N(A) and N(T) classes ?
each type of Sec 1 class : roughly how many kids to Teacher ratio, per class ?
Thank you very much, for kind advice. -
phtthp:
Hi phtthp,hi Gisten,
if a child is currently studying in Pathlight primary (P1/P2), but at end of P2, wish to go back to Mainstream school starting P3 (before the academic curriculum get harder, to catch up & with new subject Science coming in) : any idea how is the procedure like ?
what minimum marks, must the child score at end of P2 in Pathlight for (English & Maths) or what other criteria required, before can be considered transfer back to Mainstream school ?
second question (Psle)
out of Total number of P6 Pathlight students who sat for Psle last year (2015) : are there more students making to Mainstream school for Sec 1, or more students tend to go back to Pathlight Sec 1 ?
perhaps, can share some stats ?
third question (Secondary school)
if child did not transfer to Mainstream school, but choose to remain in Pathlight Secondary school : for current Sec 1 intake, how many \"O\" level classes are there, & how many N(A) and N(T) classes ?
each type of Sec 1 class : roughly how many kids to Teacher ratio, per class ?
Thank you very much, for kind advice.
Answers to your queries:
1) I believe there is no criteria to withdraw from Pathlight, it's solely on parents' decision and I doubt that school will challenge that decision. It's more like whether the mainstream school of your choice wants to accept your child's transfer. Once the child is accepted into a mainstream school, I think the parents need to write an official letter of withdrawal to Pathlight School, or perhaps to get Pathlight P or VP to sign and endorse the letter of transfer, just like how the transfer among mainstream schools takes place. The concern is not how to withdraw from Pathlight, the point to consider is that once the child is out and in future should he/she wish to rejoin Pathlight, he/she will have to queue again, no priority given to ex students. I heard from a parent that she has a friend whose girl was in Preparatory Programme with Pathlight but was withdrawn to join mainstream school P1. P1-P4 everything was quite manageable but nightmares came when the girl couldn't take the stress in P5 and also there were other social issues with peers. The mother appealed to come back to Pathlight but was put on waiting list. The girl finally joined back Pathlight secondary after getting her PSLE results. So far not many transferred out of Pathlight, instead each year we are seeing more students from mainstream schools joining Pathlight.
2) For my boy's cohort taking PSLE in 2015, let's do some calculation here.
No of pupils taking PSLE: 89
No of pupils failed PSLE: 7 (they will have to decide whether to repeat P6 or go V Track)
No of pupils promoted to Sec 1: 89-7=82
No of students in Pathlight Sec 1 2016: 75 (no new student from mainstream join Pathlight)
Therefore, no of students left Pathlight to join the mainstream: 82-75=7
Heard that a few actually successfully DSAed into NUS High School. Highest score of the cohort is 258.
This is what will take place on the day of PSLE results release:
a) for those who passed, there is an option form to indicate whether to stay in Pathlight or leave Pathlight.
- For those who chose to remain in Pathlight, placement will be automatic based on the eligibility stated on the result slip. There is no cut-off point for Pathlight secondary, if on the result slip there stated eligible for Express, the child will automatic goes to an Express class, like wise for N(A) and N(T). If the child is eligible to choose between Express/N(A) or N(A)/N(T) (like my boy), child will receive a different option form to indicate what course to choose. There will have school's recommendation, so parents need to indicate agree or disagree to school's recommendation, parents have total say in this. Let's say if school management feels that the child is more suitable for N(A) course but parents disagree to it and want Express, the decision will be respected and the child will be placed in an Express class in Sec 1. The forms are to be handed in to the General Office within the stipulated period of time. Those parents whose children chose to remain, will receive via email and also hard copy the placement of the class and book list in the beginning of Dec and can buy books and uniform during the first week of Dec.
- For those who chose to withdraw and leave Pathlight, they will follow the exact procedures of S1 school choosing. Since Pathlight does not come under MOE S1 system, the parents are unable to go online to submit their 6 school choices. Instead, they need to get the option form from the General Office and fill up the form of their 6 school choices, and return the form to the GO manually, Pahtlight will then submit their option forms on their behalf to MOE. When choosing the schools, the parents need to consider if the child's results can match the cut-off point of the schools of their choice. School posting is now totally under MOE's discretion and Pathlight has nothing got to do with it. On the day of school posting result is released, those parents will also not received the posting result via sms at 6+am like the rest of the national cohort. Pathlight will call to inform those parents of the result at around 9am. Child is to report to the posted school on the very next day morning just like any others.
3) For current Sec 1 intake 2016: 75
1 Express class (1 class coach with 10 pupils)
4 N(A) classes (1 class coach with 8-9 pupils)
3 N(T) classes (my son's class has 10 pupils and 1 class coach, the other 2 N(T) classes each has 2 class coaches with 10 and 11 pupils respectively)
Do not think that those Express students who chose to remain in Pathlight are with low PSLE score, I know a boy actually scored 238. The parents let him remain in Pathlight is because after talking to the principals of those schools of their choice, the schools apparently don't have Allied Educator who is well trained in handling ASD pupils and somehow \"hinted\" the parents not to send their son there. Kind of sad to hear that... -
Hi mummies and daddy,
My son 3 yr and 3 months old is currently attending an EIP program 3 times a week, weekly OT and ST. He is non-verbal and can’t understand the instruction well. He doesn’t throw tantrums nor melt down. Never hit other kids as well.
I tried to enroll him to a kindy (sparkletots) near my house on his free days (Mon and Fri). I explained my boy’s condition to the principal. She agreed to let us try for two days. So i attended 3 hr class with my son on Friday. He did not cry at all and in fact he was happy and excited to see all the wall decorations. There are 13 students in total. 12 students can sit down and follow the teachers’ instruction. One student is not joining them and sitting down at a table and doing puzzles. My son sometimes snatch the puzzles from him and the boy also snatch back when they were asked to sit together. Sometimes my boy jumped. Sometimes shout. But not very loud and long. He can sit well at the table and do the puzzles. At the end of the section, the teacher told me to discuss with the principal. So i told her the principle let us try for two days. Then she told me ok and see us on Monday.
So on Monday, my helper and my son went to attend the class. I did not take leave and join with them cos i think it’s the same as last Friday. Just attend the class and monitor him. But when they reached to school, the teacher refused to let them into class and told her something. But she doesn’t understand. My boy was so excited to go in and yet the teacher pushed him away. So i called the principle and the principle said she will tell the teacher to let them go in and attend the class. Then i called my helper and told her the teacher will open the door. But she said the teacher opened the door saw them standing there but did not say or call and close back the door. So I told her to go back home since the teacher is not willing to accept. Later I called principle and told her she should inform me in advance if they are not willing to accept my boy but not when they are waiting outside the classroom. Then the principle told me the teacher complained that my boy snatched the boy’s thing, shouted in class and caused the disruption to class etc. Actually my boy’s actions were not that bad considering that it’s his first class. Other kids are one month there already.
After a while she called me again and told me that the teacher was not refusing them, just asked my helper to go and see the principle. But my helper doesn’t understand English. But why she needs to ask my helper to go and see the principle since she agreed to let us try two days. Especially the principal’s room is very far from the class 8 rooms away. I don’t know if they made up the story. Long story short the principal allowed us to try one more day. Since then I was thinking if I should go or not. The school is near to our house and timing is right and the school fee is cheap. But the teacher looks stern, never smile and wanted to reinforce the discipline in every step. And I know that even if they accept my boy, he will be sitting at a table doing some puzzles separated from the class.
My question is
1) I should wait until my son is ready for class room setting? But how can we know when he is ready for classroom setting since he never tried. If i wait until next year he will be in K1 class. Then more teaching and difference will be bigger?
2) I should try one more day and I enroll him to that school (if they accept).
3) I should try other schools (other schools will be more expensive and further)
May I know your thinking and suggestion?
Thanks in advance. -
Hi Cool Cool,
Answers to your questions based on my opinion:
Yes, there is definitely no specific time to let our special darling join pre-school. N2 is a good time to join as this is the foundation year where the teacher scaffold the child for academic concepts that will be taught in K1/2. For example, my son was taught how to write his Chinese name in N2, where the square box is huge! Then the square box gets smaller and smaller as expectation on his fine motor skill gets higher!
The question to ask yourself is what goals you want to achieve by sending your son to this pre-school for two days/week? The reason why I asked you this question is because you yourself said the teacher is non too friendly and she just leave those student who don’t want to listen to her lesson alone (imagine you are around and she doesn’t even bother to act-act a little bit?). If your goals are mainly to integrate him in a mainstream environment and to generalize the things he learnt in eipic, then you need to give him support as it seem like the teacher is not keen to help. You can ask the principal if he allows your maid to shadow your son. For academic goal, then please ask the teacher nicely to pass you the worksheets she gave to the class on days your son isn’t around so that you can coach him yourself at home. For my son, I actually hired a shadow teacher for 5 months during his N1 class to ease the load off his teachers and allowing him to ease into the new environment. Don’t fret, you are right to find a mainstream school for your son, you just need to see if this one works out anot. Good luck! -
Thanks Couragemom.
My purpose of sending him to mainstream preschool is mainly to integrate him in a mainstream environment and to generalize the things he learnt in eipic as well as he learns some academic things. Now i decided not to send my son to this school since the teacher is not willing to accept. I am now trying to find a not so expensive, at convenient location and afternoon school. But it's hard.
And as a second thought shall i wait until he understands the instruction? His receptive language is still poor.
When all of your LO joins the preschool, can they understand the instruction and follow?
Thanks. -
Cool Cool:
I would wait until your child can follow instructions, at least adequately. If your child cannot, then you place a great burden on the teacher who has to cope with all the other kids at the same time, and it's no wonder that she tries to avoid that extra duty. You can practise at home using commonly-used words until he can at least follow basic instructions. There is no need to rush, and you may want to place him in a class with younger kids eventually so the 'catch-up' is not so steep. It can be hard to accept, but our kids will always lag behind NT kids in many ways, and it is kinder to them, and probably better for their learning in the long run, to allow them to develop at a slower pace than try to press them to 'keep up' with their age peers. My Asperger's daughter is 19yo, and I keep reminding myself that age is just a number. She may be 19, but she is still more like 15 in many ways, and I have to treat her as such.And as a second thought shall i wait until he understands the instruction? His receptive language is still poor.
When all of your LO joins the preschool, can they understand the instruction and follow?
Thanks. -
Gisten:
Yes, NT leads to ITE. If the results are good enough, one can always pursue a course in poly after ITE. It's a much longer path to attain a diploma compared to those Express and NA students who can go directly to poly right after their O levels. At this juncture of time, we have yet to have anything planned out for our boy after NT, hopefully he can continue his studies in an ITE. My boy likes public transportation very much and has always told us he wants to work in SMRT when he grows up. He learnt from his senior that ITE College West offers a course in Rapid Transit Technology which is jointly developed by SMRT Institute and ITE, and he is very interested in it.
Gistern
My boy loves trains too. I always say he will make a loyal SMRT employee. And I am so happy to hear there is such a course that he could potentially go into when he turns 17 / 18! He is 7 this year, 10 more years but I feel happy for him already! -
Double E:
So glad for you! And since our MRT is here to stay, there should still be such a course in 10 yrs time. I was eyeing a poly course for my daughter (in library work), but it has been discontinued (due to low take-up, I guess). The route seems to be to get a job in a library first, then take the WDA courses as and when they are held - not the route that I prefer for her. We're still thinking about what she should do next year.Gisten:
Yes, NT leads to ITE. If the results are good enough, one can always pursue a course in poly after ITE. It's a much longer path to attain a diploma compared to those Express and NA students who can go directly to poly right after their O levels. At this juncture of time, we have yet to have anything planned out for our boy after NT, hopefully he can continue his studies in an ITE. My boy likes public transportation very much and has always told us he wants to work in SMRT when he grows up. He learnt from his senior that ITE College West offers a course in Rapid Transit Technology which is jointly developed by SMRT Institute and ITE, and he is very interested in it.
Gistern
My boy loves trains too. I always say he will make a loyal SMRT employee. And I am so happy to hear there is such a course that he could potentially go into when he turns 17 / 18! He is 7 this year, 10 more years but I feel happy for him already!
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