Hi All,

its been some time since i came in. Would like to share some updates on my boy and also seek some advise from some parents who have went through this before.

My boy diagnosed with speech delay at 2.5yr and suspected of ASD. So we went through ST and OT therapy at dynamics and then at Thomson CDC. He is now 6 and has improved over the last 3.5 years. He is shy, does communicate with others, and has eye contact. His speech is normal now but has problems with literacy. So dylexsia is on our radar now. He is currently with rainbow yp. Aside EIPIC from rainbow, he also attends his normal preschool. To be frank, i find it overwhelming myself. but he seems to be taking it ok. but lately, he told me he dun wan to go rainbow anymore (**there is nothing wrong with rainbow teachers or curriculum, pls dun get the wrong idea. for parents who wanna know what kind of lessons/therapy at rainbow, you can PM me for more details. i am grateful for the help given to my boy. the teachers at rainbow have been great). We are contemplating to withdraw him from rainbow and just focus on his preschool and outside lessons. However as rainbow’s curriculum has been tailored to prepare the child for primary education (maintram/sped), i am not sure if the withdrawal will do more harm or benefit. Anyone has withdraw the child from eipic before and focus on external lessons for the kids ? Anyone has such experience and can u share how did you manage the child in mainstream school during the transition ? i saw some parents sharing that they have arranged for other external lessons if the child is no longer attending eipic.

Secondly, the teachers in rainbow keep asking me to do a school readiness test. (FYI, there are 2 tests here. One is school readiness test and the other is the KKH diagnostic test for confirmation of ASD status. We have also decided to skip the diagnostic test as he is showing improvements). Anyone know what is the benefits of this school readiness test and done this before? Is it necessary to have this document in place even if he is going to mainstream school ?

My dear fellow mummies,


My boy currently can speak single words. We are moving towards 2-word combiner…will we ever get to a stage where he can response more like a normal kid. For eg, if i ask "how old are you?", "what’s your name?"…
Everynight, i switch off all tv, and just talk…dunnoe if he is really listening… Will this helps.? So far, i feel i am talking to a wall… He is only interested to name the objects that he like.
He is 3 now. I do not know what i should i expect at times. And its making me worried…

Hi Coolcool, my boy is not in the dynamics class. He is taking the OT and ST seperately…he is in CC and goes for the ST and OT after his class. I would like to find out more about the EIP class.


Hi Bs1975, i dunnoe whether gross motor skills will affect speech. But some asd kids tend to have poor muscle tone…i believe all these are interrelated and hence will affect not only his speech, but self dependence skiils in future. My boy still in walker pants in school. And i believe for him to take his pants out and putting his shirt on is a tad more difficult than others…so teacher always ask me to practise fine motor skills such as picking beans etc. this will train up his finger muscles in preparation for further task such as cutting, wearing his clothes etc… But to get him to practise at home is so difficult, he will often wonder away and whine for ipad… One of his favourite words is "ipad"…

Hi Snow 24, yes i agree with slmkhoo. 13mths very young leh…

To increase joint attention, can try throwing a ball to him and asking him to catch. Do it at a short distance. But i think a 13mth old probably will not entertain you at this moment… You can use those balls meant for playing during swimming. You have to pump some air into it. Its very light and will be more manageable when they are toddlers… Then my CC school teacher ask me to spend 10mins every night, looking into eyes and talking to him… Eg, "baby, you have beautiful eyes. Can i look at them.?" She explain i have to keep practising it if not, the eye contact will get lesser…of cos, my boy do not give me 10mins full attention looking at me.

Hi Snow 24, yes i agree with slmkhoo. 13mths very young leh…

To increase joint attention, can try throwing a ball to him and asking him to catch. Do it at a short distance. But i think a 13mth old probably will not entertain you at this moment… You can use those balls meant for playing during swimming. You have to pump some air into it. Its very light and will be more manageable when they are toddlers… Then my CC school teacher ask me to spend 10mins every night, looking into eyes and talking to him… Eg, "baby, you have beautiful eyes. Can i look at them.?" She explain i have to keep practising it if not, the eye contact will get lesser…of cos, my boy do not give me 10mins full attention looking at me.

Cool Cool:

Hi bs1975,


My son is with Dynamics. The EIP runs 5-days a week with flexible options for 2, 3, or 5-day attendance. Dynamics offers half-day and full-days programs listed below.

9:00am – 12:00pm (Half Day)
1:30pm – 4:30pm (Half Day)
9:00am – 2:00pm (Full Day)

He is attending 3 days (half day) a week. How old is your son? My son is 3 yrs old and no speech yet. They have different classes according to condition and age of the kids. The lessons I listed are from their class's time table for 5 days. My son misses out some of the lessons since he attends only 3 days. There may be some differences in lessons depending on the class.
Their ST and OT classes are not one to one also. It's a group therapy. The therapist will be in the class for one section (30 min) with the students and the teachers.
After every class, the teacher briefs you what your LO did in the class. And they will also pass a written report 2 times a month.

It's a subsidized private one but you have to go through with SG enable, I think.

Hi cool cool, my boy is with dynamics. Can i enquire more information from you ?

Recently, my CC teacher tells me my boy has no interest in class. And keep walking around... He is in a montessori based school, so they have a lot of individual time... Haizz, i do not understand what they mean \"no interest\"...anyone can enlighten me ? Should he be based in a more structured class?

bs1975:

Key problem of my boy:

1) no joint attention
2) no speech at 2.5 years old
3) tip toe
4) non compliance ie only want to do things he likes.

Current Eipic focuses on motor skills and I don't understand why they don't focus on communication as all his classmates are non verbal.
Eg for lesson today, they spend 10 mins walking backward on slope, 15 mins free play in classroom, 30 mins sensory play (scoop salt and sprinkle salt on glue), 20 mins on snack, 15 mins circle time.
How these activities can address my boy's problem?!

Hi Everyone, its been quite sometime i came in. Have been overwhelmed with work... Catching up on the forum now.

Hi bs1975... Relax a bit. Maybe i can offer some insights...based on the feedback i gather from my OT for my boy. Walking backward on slope = to be more self aware. Sprinkle sand and scooping, helps to train up their muscle in preparation for future writing and also increase their tolerance for prickly stuff. snacking is to train up their self reliance skills, circle time can help to improve their attention. When my boy started ST, his therapist has told me if i can start OT for him, it will aid the progress for his speech. In order for him to learn to speak, he needs to first have joint attention. Once his joint attention is better, it will be easier for him to pick up the speech. No point keep talking to him when he is not listening...all these takes time. So got to be patient.

My boy just turned 3. He can only speak few words. After attending St for a while, i realise he does understand what is what. But just do not like to talk... He will only blurt out words only when there is a motivation for him to do so... Recently, dunnoe what went wrong... He keep whinning and make baby noises to get what he want instead of speaking out....so i realise they will regress at times and then bounce back.... Hope that my expereince helps to ease your anxiety....

Hi Poohbear,

It took a few months before my son starts to sit down. Initially, he kept wondering in the garden outside the classroom. And the teacher just let him be.

And yes, i have homework from OT as well… For the pointing, we usually put one item he likes among a few other items. For example, he likes to eat pau. We could have pau, apple, bottle on the table out of reach to him. And when he is desperate for pau, i will tease him and point to the apple or bottle instead. This will actually agitate him and my helper will demo the "pointing to pau" to him… Slowly, we also incorporate "help" into this routine…
Yes, got to be very patient.

Hi ImMeeMee,


Thank you for the encouragement. It really feels good to talk it out.

We started our therapy sessions 3mths back and i am seeing some improvement on his speech now. Hope that things will become better…

On the other hand, i also notice his stimming behavior become more frequent, or even worse in the past 2weeks such as he is turning in circle and on tip toes, and this "electrocuted look". Can i ask if a change in routine can cause this ? Cos this 2 weeks, we keep bringing him out due to birthday and festive outings. Hence he is not gg to school everyday.

Snow24:

Hi


Anyone can share methods on how to teach child about rules and boundaries eg stay in the classroom not wander off, comply with rules.

Hi Everyone, merry Xmas.

Hi Snow24, how old is your child ? I cannot really comment much as i am quite new to all this. But from my observation in my boy's school, the teacher who is the handling the child has to keep repeating the step, sorta of like drilling the habit into their brain. When they keep wondering off, the teacher will usually allow him to wonder off. After a while, they will invite him back..this will repeat over sometime and then he will follow suit. The key is you have to \"demo\" an action to que/signal him For a response..(something i learnt from my ST)

On another occasion, when my boy just joined his playgroup, he is not allowed to leave the class until he wear his own shoe. I was like :scratchhead: as i myself still need my grandpa to wear my shoes until i am in kindergarten... Haha...
Anyway, the teacher was very firm on this and my boy cried and throw temper while he sees the rest of his class leaving. In the end, he LL. wore his shoes on his own... I was pretty amazed as i was hiding at one corner peeping at him. I guess u cant let him \"win\". You have to stand firm on the grounds when there is a need to. Once he knows u allow some leeway, he will bargain and try to be funny.

My boy does not like to sit in car seat. Always throw temper and wanna get out of the car seat while i am driving. So there is once when he is having a meltdown in car, i actually stop the car and ask him and my helper to get out of the car. I pretend to be angry and drove my car away. After i drove back, he just guai guai sit in the car seat...some weeks later, he starts his nonsense again... This time round, i never chase him out of car. I actually drove back into my carpark and told him we are not gg out cos he is not sitting in car seat. I did this 3x..driving in and out. And he got the message after that... No car seat = no gg out...

I do not have a cane at home. But once in a while, i go crazy just to set my rules in place. And he will follow through and knows his boundaries. My grandma use a cane on him when he did something wrong. (I dun like and dun encourage though). From the school's Side, they also told me not to reason with him when he did something wrong as they are too young to understand. A cause and effect drilling is better. Fyi, my boy is turning 3 next week. So a simple instruction \"i want you to stop Xxx\" repeatedly is more effective than a long nagging...

No right and wrong in parenting... We are not born to be parents. But bringing up an asd kiddo is even more challenging... Just have to jia you and keep charging forward....

This xmas, i sharec with one friend and my aunt about my boy's case.. Dunnoe why i felt relieved though....
gd night...