All About Autism

[Prawny]

Thanks for the reply. We are trying to cut down to no tv at all. Unfortunately as we are working full time my parents will be the main caretaker during weekdays before he goes to school and after he back from school. I couldn’t control my parents but told them not to let him watch so much tv. Right now they restrict to early morning once (15mins) and only during dinner time when he is having his meals. At times I really think he has ASD as he has all the red flags but sometimes he did something which let us feels he ok and normal. Recently, We start to bring him down to playground on weekend he doesn’t play with other kids but instead goes to those Uncle and aunties seated on the chair to hug them and smile at them. We taught him to throw tissue in the bin at home he also able to follo. Maybe I should really wait and see and continue doing all this interaction.

[sharonkhoo]

How do your parents interact with him? Do they do to-and-fro interaction, or do they mostly do all the talking and giving instructions? More to-and-fro is better - asking questions and waiting for an answer (can be an action, not necessarily speech), turn-taking, making him ask for things rather than pre-empting his wants etc. Childcare may help, but if the adult to child ratio is low, you can’t expect much. I also feel that the 8 hrs of TV a day may have something to do with his behaviour, and you may need to wait a while for the effects to wear off.


At his age, most kids don’t interact with other kids much, so it’s quite normal. They only start to interact at around 3yo, I think.

Non-ASD related, but I think that TV during meals is not a good idea. The child should be aware of what he is eating, and not just eat while his attention is on the TV. He should participate in meals and learn to sense when he is full. Watching TV during meals enables the feeders to feed the child quickly and usually more than the child would eat of his own accord, and it builds up poor eating habits in the long run.

[tyeogh]

Prawny,

Autism is a spectrum. Your son could be on the mild end, or not at all. If it is, don’t despair. My boy is on the mid end. He exhibits patchy and variegated traits of autism. Like yours. At 8 now, my boy operates like any other NT child. Friends and relatives tell me he is normal. Keep your doctors appointments. Check for developmental milestones. Increase/force the human interactions. Read more about early interventions - thats your best defence.

Edit: I don’t want to give you the wrong impression about my son. He didn’t become normal "naturally". My journey was as tough as other parents here. What I was trying to say is, It is not the end of the world. If it happens, stay positive and work through the challenges.

[ImMeeMee]

Prawny


You may also want to gather feedback from your son’s teachers about his behaviour in school, given that children may behave differently at home and in school. While school’s words are not be all end all, it does provide another source of information for you to possibly place the puzzle pieces together.

I can totally understand the anxiety of is it or is it not and having to wait to get an answer. Grit through it.

[ImMeeMee]

Prawny


You may also want to gather feedback from your son’s teachers about his behaviour in school, given that children may behave differently at home and in school. While school’s words are not be all end all, it does provide another source of information for you to possibly place the puzzle pieces together.

I can totally understand the anxiety of is it or is it not and having to wait to get an answer. Grit through it.

[kitty2]

Anyone heard of redox signaling ? My friend who has an autistic kid is taking a redox signaling supplement and he is getting better. It helps to renew,repair and rejuvenate the cells.She shared that kids having ADHD or adults having dementia also working well on them.

[Prawny]

slmkhoo:

How do your parents interact with him? Do they do to-and-fro interaction, or do they mostly do all the talking and giving instructions? More to-and-fro is better - asking questions and waiting for an answer (can be an action, not necessarily speech), turn-taking, making him ask for things rather than pre-empting his wants etc. Childcare may help, but if the adult to child ratio is low, you can't expect much. I also feel that the 8 hrs of TV a day may have something to do with his behaviour, and you may need to wait a while for the effects to wear off.


At his age, most kids don't interact with other kids much, so it's quite normal. They only start to interact at around 3yo, I think.

Non-ASD related, but I think that TV during meals is not a good idea. The child should be aware of what he is eating, and not just eat while his attention is on the TV. He should participate in meals and learn to sense when he is full. Watching TV during meals enables the feeders to feed the child quickly and usually more than the child would eat of his own accord, and it builds up poor eating habits in the long run.

Hi Khoo,

Most of time my parents give in to what he wants when he throw tantrums. They do talk to him or like when he did wrong or naughty they will tell him no etc and he can understand. Some of the evening they also bring him down to food court. But mostly they do the things for him. I also ask my parents to let my boy self feed but they refuse and told me he will self feed when he is ready.

Right now during the weekend I will try to have to and fro interaction with him. Example when I have food in hand I demand he says “mum mum (the only word he know) then I give him the food and he will say it. And also follow what the speech therapist told us to do wait for his eye contact as indication he want more then give it to him (I.e blowing soap bubbles).. recently we taught him to throw his diaper/used tissue in the bin in just a few tries he understood.. and now we say “throw” he will bring the diaper/tissue to the bin. I’m happy that he can actually follow instructions we taught him... even when my mum tried it out at her place he manage to find the bin and Throw.

As for meals I also disagree with having the tv on. But unable to convince my parents to stop doing it and can’t say much cause they help me to feed him dinner as by the time we pick him up is already almost 7pm. Weekend we will sat him at the dining table n eat without tv.

[Prawny]

tyeogh:

Prawny,

Autism is a spectrum. Your son could be on the mild end, or not at all. If it is, don't despair. My boy is on the mid end. He exhibits patchy and variegated traits of autism. Like yours. At 8 now, my boy operates like any other NT child. Friends and relatives tell me he is normal. Keep your doctors appointments. Check for developmental milestones. Increase/force the human interactions. Read more about early interventions - thats your best defence.

Edit: I don't want to give you the wrong impression about my son. He didn't become normal \"naturally\". My journey was as tough as other parents here. What I was trying to say is, It is not the end of the world. If it happens, stay positive and work through the challenges.

Tyeogh, can you share more on what are the challenges you went thru? I am trying my best to stay positive. Same as you my relative, friends and colleague all told me my boy is normal and just slow. But I don’t want to be complacent and miss anything if early intervention can help him. Was just thinking if music therapy will help?

[Prawny]

ImMeeMee:

Prawny


You may also want to gather feedback from your son's teachers about his behaviour in school, given that children may behave differently at home and in school. While school's words are not be all end all, it does provide another source of information for you to possibly place the puzzle pieces together.


I can totally understand the anxiety of is it or is it not and having to wait to get an answer. Grit through it.

MeeMee, yes the wait to a definite answer is haunting me Everyday haha. People around me now thinks that I should not think my Son may have autism. They say something is wrong with me to think that way.

We did talk to the His form teacher. Her feedback to us is that it is too early to judge and so far she say our Son is just like how other kids in his PG group. I also ask her about speech.. she told me it’s pretty normal some of his Sch fren also don’t talk but babbles and is older than him. She told us to monitor first and don’t be worry.

[sharonkhoo]

Prawny:

MeeMee, yes the wait to a definite answer is haunting me Everyday haha. People around me now thinks that I should not think my Son may have autism. They say something is wrong with me to think that way.


We did talk to the His form teacher. Her feedback to us is that it is too early to judge and so far she say our Son is just like how other kids in his PG group. I also ask her about speech.. she told me it’s pretty normal some of his Sch fren also don’t talk but babbles and is older than him. She told us to monitor first and don’t be worry.

Jumping in: it really doesn't matter whether your son has ASD or not. Remember, it's a spectrum, so even if your kid falls on the \"normal\" side of the diagnosis line, he will benefit from extra help in his weak areas. But when I say \"extra help\" it doesn't have to be from professional therapists etc. What you are already doing is fine, and the more you get him to interact with you and others, make eye contact, have to-and-fro exchanges etc, the better he will be at it. Every child benefits from such interaction.

Try as far as possible to persuade your parents to do the same for your son - all young kids benefit from consistent styles of training, all the more those who need the training more. If not, just do what you can in the time you have. You will have to decide if he needs more, and how you arrange it.