AUTISM, ADHD, ADD, etc - SUPPORT GROUP!


forgot to mention I was previously a teacher with a special school with 10 years experience now running my own mobile clinic and education service
 
Hi mummies, I am keen to meet up too. My boy is now coming to 5 and we started early intervention since he was 2.5yo. From a terribly tantrum king with no speech and little eye contact, he has improved vastly. The past few years of hard work has paid off. I live in the west and look forward to any meetups where our kids can also learn to play together.
 
Hi.. would like to know what's the process of getting my son for an assessment? Is KK the only option? Where else can I go for the diagnosis?
 
Hi stinzy

Perhaps you like to be more specific with the condition in question, so we could provide the proper direction and adv:)
 
Hi.. more of sensory processing disorder. . My son has fear for loud noises.. any other parents with kids having such issues? Had made an appt for him to for diagnosis at IMH.
 
Hi!!! I am so excited to find this thread! I practice GAPS diet for my son and I am so so so happy to find parents who do it too!!!;)

Maybe I just have a quick intro of my son. He is 7 this year and everything rewinds to 1 yr old...

1 yr old: no eye contact, loved to play alone, high tolerance to pain, no separation anxiety

2yrs old: PD suspected autism, mummy (ME!) in denial, started to play with him n he responded more. Always running n dashing n jumping, to make him sit down, I had to 'feed' him with Ipad.

3 yrs old: Rejected by a church's preschool after 3 days. Then went to KKH for diagnosis. Hyperactive and is always lost outside. Loves lifts, wheels, repeating videos, scripting, no communication, only words eg. book, television etc Broke his front teeth because he was always jumping on sofa and throwing himself on sofa, fell on the floor and knocked off tooth, always hitting head with hands and using tips of finger to poke abdominal area.

3.5 yrs old: I finally accepted that he has autism, tried GFCF, OT,

4yrs old: Nothing from GFCF, found GAPS and implemented GAPS. Looked for DAN doctors

I implemented GAPS for 18 months (meaning strict GAPS with no carbo), wow!!! My son started to calm down. I was able to bring him out and he knew how to come back to me when I shouted for him. Able to follow instructions better.
 
Oh, I realise this thread has become less active.

Let me just continue my son's behaviour from 5 years old.

5 years old: Biomedical, GAPS, OT, ST, hyperactive, behavioural issues like playing in at sinks and doors in CC. Maid shadowing him, scripting with some simple communications and started to sing.

6 years old: Full GAPS, dropped OT & ST, hyperactive, introduced Neurofeedback at yr end, some communicative language, still cannot answer 'Why, How' Qns, decided to delay him for P1, problems with problem sums due to language.

7 years old: Full GAPS, continued Neurofeedback, able to follow instructions, not so hyper now, started to talk a lot, more conversation language, able to go to cinema for the first time of his life, more able to understand problem sums and to answer 'Why' & 'How' Qns, started to engage in play with siblings and children at the playground (skills are still raw)
 
Hi Pinkamoon,

Thanks for sharing.

Where do you go to for GAPS and Neurofeedback? My boy is going to P1 next year. I recently noticed that he takes really long time to finish his tasks and start to lose focus easily. And also, task avoidance (homework). This is worrying.
 
Hi all,

My boy is 25mths and is suspected to have autism. I'm waiting for the appt with CDC. Wanting to find out what are the symptoms that your kids display.

Is there any childcare that are cater for autistic children? I'm kind of loss. Are you all SAHM?
 
Hi all,

My boy is 25mths and is suspected to have autism. I'm waiting for the appt with CDC. Wanting to find out what are the symptoms that your kids display.

Is there any childcare that are cater for autistic children? I'm kind of loss. Are you all SAHM?
 
Hi J_Seven, my son is also going to P1 next year. However, I delay him for 1 year (he is 7 this year) as there is no way he can go attend school last year. He could not communicate well and have difficulty following instructions. I know it gets frustrating to get children to do homework Maybe you can try 5 mins or 10 mins for each task and starting to work up to 30 mins. Try not to force them as they will associate doing work with something unpleasant. When I started reading to my boy when he was younger, once he 'threw' away the book, I will just move on to another activity and the whole process just repeats every day until he became receptive and started picking books on his own.

My son is also active and moves around, was even kicked out by kindergartens. The last one accepted him on the condition of someone shadowing him. That was how bad he was. Don't give up hope. Only when he started to be able concentrate that I got a piano teacher for him. It is working out nicely now.

GAPS diet can be found on the internet. Try to read the information and cook simple food. Basic idea is:
1) No carbohydrates - no rice, wheat, barley, potatoes etc
2) Organic veg - leaves only, no hard stems
3) Organic meat or meat without antibiotic - with lots of fats because fats are GOOD
4) Use coconut oil or ghee for cooking
5) Use organic ginger, garlic, onions
6) Drizzle organic olive oil and (flaxseed + Borage) Oil on food (do not cook these oils)
7) Boil a lot of soup with bones, marrow bones or ribs (chicken, beef, pork)
8) Eat wild fish, not farm raised salmon

What I do for a typical meal is
1) Boil soup with bones/marrow bone/ ribs, onion, ginger, veg for him to drink throughout the day. I pour hot soup over raw egg yolk (1-2 per day) in the bowl.
2) Cook veg, meat with FATS with broth or coconut oil over stove (season with some Himalayan or celtic salt plus pepper) for abt 20 mins, before I turn over the fire, I put garlic inside for about 10 seconds then turn off fire.
3) Drizzle olive oil n (flaxseed +borage oil) over his veg.

My son ate like that for 18 months and I do add fermented veg and coconut water kefir for him. The improvements I saw were:
1) less hyperactivity
2) less destructive behaviour like hitting head, 'crashing' into sofa, poking his lower abdominal
3) finally sleeping through the night (he had very bad sleeping patterns, can stay awake between 1am to 6am)
4) diminishing dark eye circles (food allergies)
5) Ability to look for me and shout for me when he cannot find me (in the past he would just disappear in public)
6) Finally able to stand and take a photo

Improvements were observed after 3 months for my son's case. For him, GFCF was not enough because it does not cut out sugar and other flours. Also, I kept giving him GFCF cookies which is outrageously unhealthy. It is important to cut out soya and corn too.
 
Hi Keropi_81,

My son was a classic case of autism. His symptoms were:
1) repetitive moments like hand flapping
2) no eye contact
3) appeared 'deaf' as he did not respond to name being called
4) no attachment to us (even as we leave the home, he did not follow)
5) bad sleeping patterns
6) loved wheels and things that spin
7) lifts, fountains are his favourite
8) ran like Forrest GUM
9) loved jumping and 'throwing' himself on the sofa
10) hitting head
11) no conversational language, only echolalia and scrippting
12) loved to repeat scenes from videos
13) afraid of hair cutting n loud noises (anxiety)
14) could not sit still, kept playing with doors
15) liked to spin in circles
16) high tolerance to pain, did not cry even if he fell
17) no social skills, liked to play alone

I am a working mum. There was a break of 2 years though.
The birth of my girls gave me some 'time' to stay at home with my son. I went back to work but could not cope. I took 2 years leave to take care of children and brought my son everywhere in order to help him. A lot of money was spent on him but yielded little results. OT, ST, biomedical, energy healing, cranial therapy etc were not helpful. In the end, I went to America to join the start-up program to learn about Son-rise program and implemented it at home without help. Just myself. With Neurofeedback, it helped more. It was difficult for me but I am seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Don't give up!

Hi deep_dreamer and Grapa, I cannot comment on the school n centre you mentioned as I have not engaged their services before. Sorry.
 
Hi all,

My boy is 25mths and is suspected to have autism. I'm waiting for the appt with CDC. Wanting to find out what are the symptoms that your kids display.

Is there any childcare that are cater for autistic children? I'm kind of loss. Are you all SAHM?

Hi.
There are childcare centres that cater to special needs children. You can look for centre that offers integrated childcare programme (ICCP)

My son attended Care Corners childcare and development centre which offers this program but that was couple of years ago. Pls do google for more childcare centre that offer this programs. You can check from MSF website.

Hope this helps.
 
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Thanks for the info. I just see the doc at kkh today. She recommended him for OT 1st and putting him in normal childcare 1st. Monitor him to see whether there's improvement.
 
I just started neurofeedback for my 2 boys, glad to hear that it actually works. Was a bit worried at 1st as it is very costly, but desperate at the same time to find ways to help with their short attention span, hyperactive & volatile emotional outburst. Was searching high & low for non-invasive ways as medication is always my last option.
 
Thanks for the info. I just see the doc at kkh today. She recommended him for OT 1st and putting him in normal childcare 1st. Monitor him to see whether there's improvement.
That is the usual practice that KKH recommends. I strongly recommend you to read on more on the different interventions for children with autism like OT, Speech therapy, ABA, RDI, etc. In Singapore, OT and speech therapy are more highly promoted. However in many other countries, it is not the case.

Also, i stress the importance of early intervention (2 to 3 year old). The reason is that the plasticity of the brain has a clear age dependent determinant. It is much easily to "re wire" the neurons pathways in the brain at a younger age. Also, it is always easier to tackle any behavioral issue when the habit has yet to develop
 
Just to share ..
 

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Thanks, mitacle_bebe, peraonally I prefer Nordics natural as the ratio of omega 3 and 6 is more proportional. The ratio in Efalex is not so ideal according to the ratio recommended in the GAPS book. Friends whom I recommend raking nordics normally see a difference after switching from efalex to nordics. You may want to try it next time.
 
Take nordic cod liver oil, for fish oil, total omega is ok. Depending on child's age, my son started at age 5 with 1 teaspoon 2x a day.
 
Hi
I saw the post on neurofeedback. Can I find out more? Especially the cost? I have very low budget :( unfortunately
 
Hi!!! I am so excited to find this thread! I practice GAPS diet for my son and I am so so so happy to find parents who do it too!!!;)

Maybe I just have a quick intro of my son. He is 7 this year and everything rewinds to 1 yr old...

1 yr old: no eye contact, loved to play alone, high tolerance to pain, no separation anxiety

2yrs old: PD suspected autism, mummy (ME!) in denial, started to play with him n he responded more. Always running n dashing n jumping, to make him sit down, I had to 'feed' him with Ipad.

3 yrs old: Rejected by a church's preschool after 3 days. Then went to KKH for diagnosis. Hyperactive and is always lost outside. Loves lifts, wheels, repeating videos, scripting, no communication, only words eg. book, television etc Broke his front teeth because he was always jumping on sofa and throwing himself on sofa, fell on the floor and knocked off tooth, always hitting head with hands and using tips of finger to poke abdominal area.

3.5 yrs old: I finally accepted that he has autism, tried GFCF, OT,

4yrs old: Nothing from GFCF, found GAPS and implemented GAPS. Looked for DAN doctors

I implemented GAPS for 18 months (meaning strict GAPS with no carbo), wow!!! My son started to calm down. I was able to bring him out and he knew how to come back to me when I shouted for him. Able to follow instructions better.
Hi pinkamoon, glad to hv found this thread. Preparing my son for GAPS Intro starting next week. Hopefully he can adjust well to the diet.
 
Hi Aoibili! Nice! Preparing our child's body is very important. It is the foundation for healing.:)
Good luck to u and remember to persevere!

Hi Siong580, I have pmed u.
 
For those who have helped in my son's survey a big thank you.. He has been selected and will do a presentation tomorrow. Let hope he will be a mouthpiece for all your concerns when he presents to the MOE officers tomorrow.thank you once again
 

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I am a psychologist and PhD in Sydney, specialising in working with children with autism. I am looking to relocate to Singapore next year. Could someone please give me an idea on what the demand and supply for cognitive-behaviour therapy is like in Singapore and how many famalies seek private therapy at home vs center based therapy? I'm wondering whether to offer private sessions as a sole clinician or take up a position at NUH.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Hi Pinkamoon,
Read tt Nordic Cod Liver Oil is recommended for gaps. Do u purchase this pdt online? Cos I tried to google but can't find shops in SG selling this brand. I'm currently giving Childlife Cod Liver Oil.
Thanks. ☺
 
Hi,

Does anyone knows any good speech therapist? I am looking one to teach a 4yr old child.
Hi hslim, can try Dynamics or Leapfrog. Most impt is how comfortable ur child is wif the therapist. Our 1st encounter was a nightmare. My son was crying during 2nd session but still managed to get him to attend. By the 3rd session, he was crying and screaming when we reached the doorstep of the ctr. That's when we decided to stop even tho we had paid for a block of sessions. Had phobia of sending him to other therapist after tt. Luckily we managed to settle down wif one after giving him a short break.
 
Hi bebsha and Aoibili

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully, can find one experienced therapist. My son's previous therapist was good. He has shown a great progress just within 7 mths but too bad, she decided to leave. Hopefully I can find someone as good as her.

Aoibili,

I agreed that the child must feel comfortable with the therapist. In addition, the therapist must also know how to manage the child as well. I have come across one young who is inexperienced. My son just said hello, chose the toys and took out on his own and start playing. The therapist failed to stop him. During the entire session, he was playing with the toys for almost 40min and only the remaining 20min is the actual ST.
 
Hi Aoibili!
Nordics is not the recommended COL in GAPS. GAPS do not recommend any brands, at least they do not say in print except for their own products. They recommend fermented COL, which is the brand 'Green Pastures'.

You can get Nordics in Guardian. The bigger Guardian stores carry this brand now. Get the lemon flavour with vit D. :)
 
Concerning the topic of ST, I did send my son to Leo Magan for a few months. As it was in a small class size of 3~5 children, it was less intimidating but not too effective for my son too.
After a while, I stopped depending on others and became my own son's speech therapist. I feel that we can bond better and by talking about topics that interest him, he was more engaged and communication improved. Just something for parents to think about.
 
Hi Aoibili!
Nordics is not the recommended COL in GAPS. GAPS do not recommend any brands, at least they do not say in print except for their own products. They recommend fermented COL, which is the brand 'Green Pastures'.

You can get Nordics in Guardian. The bigger Guardian stores carry this brand now. Get the lemon flavour with vit D. :)
Thanks, Pinkamoon. I'll drop by Guardian to hv a look. ☺
 
From my knowledge, there are a few types of speech therapy. One is where they practice talk tools. This is especially helpful for children that has poor oral muscle control and it will help the child to strength their oral muscle and also teach the child the technique of producing a particular sound with the correct mouth movement. Another type of speech therapy i have seen is where the therapist will try to engage the child through play and engineering situations for the child to talk.

Hope it helps =)

Liyuan
AutismSTEP.com
 



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