Speech therapy needs to be weekly in order to be effective. We also practice with our son 2-3 times a day.

My son has GDD and Verbal dyspraxia, also known childhood apraxia of speech. He could only say "mama" and "papa" at the age of 3 after going for speech therapy. As apraxia of speech is a neuronmotor disorder, teaching the child to speak is much tougher than a child with normal speech delay. Before words can be spoken, the child has to learn the basic sounds through numerous repetitions.


A normal preschool with a huge class size will not help because the child needs much more individual attention from the teachers and he learns at a slower rate and may need 1 to 1 coaching. My son is attending St. Gerard’s School I’m in Mountbatten. His school provides an integrated program for mainstream and specisl needs kids. Class size is small and there is at least 1 special needs teacher in each class.

He is going to start early intervention program at Metta Preschool next week. The preschool program and early intervention program will complement each other.

Hi loveformatt,


Which part of Singapore do you stay? I believe you would want to find a preschool that is not too far from your home.

Zoemum, kindlegarden has a very long waiting list. I called them up in Dec.

My son has verbal apraxia and GDD. Whenever I share about his conditions to parents who do not have kids with special needs, their first response are usually:


Is he ASD? Are you sure he is not??
Maybe he is just a late talker. He will be ok when he is older
You should try to talk to him more etc…

Not much is known about this condition.

Finding a suitable preschool for him is tough. His previous preschool principal asked us to withdraw him after a year with the school.
Waiting time for EIPIC is long. Furthermore there is limited subsidies for middle income family like us. We have to fork out a lot of money for private ST and OT and this is not subsidized. My kid’s CDA account is almost wiped out.

On one hand there is a lot of positive news from the government on providing more support for kids with special needs but on the other hand, our kids don’t have time to wait for all these resources to be built up. My son is already going to 5 yo. His development can’t wait. The "kiasu" education system waits for no one.

Tigermom10:

MRI results came back normal. Still not walking. Feeling worried n

Hi tigermom,

Was your kid being diagnosed by either KKH or NUH kids? As

lag:

My 33 mth old toddler stammers when he speaks.. On and off stammering... Should I be concern? I understand toddlers do stammer when they are learning to string up sentences.

Hi lag,

It is better to take a more proactive approach than be passive. Some issues may not resolve on their own.
You can bring your kid to either KKH kids or NUH kids depending on which is nearer to your home. Just book an appointment with a childhood development specialist. I didn't go through referral by Polyclinic as I felt that my son couldn't afford to wait so I went straight to NUH kids.

vidvas:

Hi,

I am new to Singapore. I looked at the forum and was very happy to see many mum's like me. My child is 5 years old. He has overlapping symptoms of ADHD /ASD so will not fit exactly to any one of such categories. He is undergoing therapy sessions for the past 1.5 years and improving. As we have moved to Singapore only this week I am looking for school and therapy center for him. He has language delay and easily misses his attention. He was going to normal school in India but that does not help as the School did not know how to handle him!

Need your help in suggesting schools where he will be admitted. I being foreigner getting admission schools will be difficult as per MOE. Please suggest me schools (private schools as well is fine) and good therapy centers so that he can get help. I have already done quite good level of research through internet and contacting schools in parallel. It would be of great help from mom's who have feedback.

Thanks a ton.

Hi Vidvas,

I just sent you a private message with information on the preschool.

Hi


Just to share my son’s condition with all of you. Hoping that it might shed some light into your situation.

I have a son who is diagnosed with GDD, mainly in speech, motor skills and cognitive. His delay in speech is a specific disorder call Dyspraxia of speech which is a neuro motor disorder. Initially he was seeing a speech therapist at NUH kids for 9 months with no progress. At that time he was slightly more than 2 yo. Seeing that there is no improvement, the childhood development specialist at NUH kids told us that he might have Childhood Apraxia of Speech which is another term for Dyspraxia, she recommended us to a private ST to give him weekly ST. Since he was 3 yo, he has been attending weekly private ST. He started making sounds and then single words, progressing to simple 3 word sentences. We need to remind him constantly to use simple sentences when he wants to make a request. Otherwise he will just use 1 or 2 words. He is now 4 yo+. Communication doesn’t come to him naturally. He needs to try much much harder to say a simple sentence.

My son did not babble much as a baby and he couldn’t even say baba, papa or mama until he start attending private ST. We realize that the method used by the ST at NUH kids was wrong for his condition. He has a oral motor planning disorder which means that he couldn’t and would not have know how to pronounce simple sounds even though he really wants to, if he is not taught or trained to pronounce every sound, vowel or consonant right from the basics.

He has come a long way and it has been tough for us. On top of ST, he has to go for OT and had been waitlisted for EIPIC since March last year.

After reading up on Dyspraxia of speech, I realize that all his delays actually can be categorized into dyspraxia which affects his motor skills and learning abilities. It is a condition that affects 6-10% of kids and can coexist with other disorders. It affects their learning in school as they are not able to sit and focus for long. They are poor in retaining infomation which means we have to repeat instructions over and over again. He is with a private preschool with SPED teachers.

intruder:

Hi Parents,


My DS is 2.5yrs old but I realize his gross motor skills development like walking, running climbing, etc. are slow. He can walk & run but its not that steady.. i always got e fear that he may fall down. Any ways I can do to help him? Tot of signing up a gym class for him, does it helps?

Hi intruder,

I just saw your question. Not sure if I am too late to give you some suggestions. My son has developmental delays and he is seeing a childhood development specialist at NUH kids. If you are still concern, I suggest that you get him assess by either KKH kids or NUH kids depending on which hospital is more aceesible for you. If the delay is significant, the specialist would recommend your kid for appropriate therapy.