Autistic children - Share your experiences here.

Hi mummies,

My 27 month old has signs of autism. His speech and communications skills are also about 1 year behind.

He's going through speech therapy at Mount Alvernia now and will start occupational therapy next week.

I want to explore home-based ST as abit paiseh to keep taking time-off to bring him to therapy. Does anyone have any feedback on Noah's Ark - Rebecca?

Btw, he has not gone through formal assessment yet. I'll be getting a referral to Jurong Medical Centre through the polyclinic by next week. However, I don't want to waste time and thus started therapy first.
 


Serene,

Just want to share with you. My son also has the signs mentioned in your 'suspected autistic list' plus a couple of other sign, as well as some of the signs in your 'not autistic' list.

I've been having concerns with his speech since he was 16 months as he had few words then. I kept asking the PD from 16-24 months and she told me to wait and see as boys tend to be later. Which is reasonable advice, as it is true.

BUT, now I sometimes ask myself, why didn't I just go ahead to book an assessment for speech? Even if he turns out not to be autistic, he would have benefited from early intervention for speech.

All along, I thought that his vocab had expanded and he can say things like ball, car etc etc and it means his speech is slow but it's ok.

I am definitely not trying to scare you. Just sharing my story that if I could turn back time, I would have tried to get him an appt with a speech therapist earlier just to play safe and provide early intervention if needed.

Btw, my son can say like around 50 words now. But apparently, this doesn't count because he just knows how to label objects. He doesn't use the words to ask for what he wants. He must use the words and eye contact to get what he wants for it to count.
 
Jellie,

I know, what u mean .... my son too has vocabulary (according to their teachers and ST), can label things but dun hv spontaneous speech
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you are rite, some ASD kids seems so 'normal' (some kids from AAS are mild) if they are not in AAS, I couldnt believe that they are in the spectrum too ......
 
Hi Momto3

Ya I think I was just ignorant of what constitutes real language communications :p

Where's your son going for ST?
 
Seems like some of u here start to panic when ur child is only slightly more than 1 yr old eventhough they do ve a few words. Personally, I feel the worry shld only come when ur child is nonverbal at all up until 2.5-3yrs old or when they show regression (ie used to b able to say afew words but later bcome no words), putting aside any behavioral issues. I ve met many parents who tell me their kids started talking late only like 2.5-3yrs old. But they turn out fine, eversince they start to talk, it's nonstop.

For a child to b considered autistic, 3 main areas are usually present: speech delay/communication prob (could mean they can't express themselves v well even by gestures); poor social skills (according to doc, normal kids must b able to socialize with kids of their age. If they can only interact with adults, it's still poor); repetitive behAvior (this is rather ambiguous to me, some claim to b they only know how to play in certain specific way, some say obsession to certain things etc). As for asperger, only the first 2 symptoms exist. Some autistic kids do ve eye contact but most can't sustain or ve any eye contact. Some autistic kids do ve words but the way they behave u know ve issues eg. My therapist told me one of her friends autistic son repeatedly ask the mum the same qns thru out the entire day repeatedly looking into her eyes n kept asking the same qns even after she answered him. It drive her nuts.

Before anyone jump into thinking autistic or not, jus deal with whatever issues u feel is not right. If it's not too serious, try to deal it urself instead of sending to special Sch(some eipic has no parent accompanied), practicing intervention at home is more impt I feel. Like the old folks will catch onto the kid face n make them look at them when they talk to the kid to make sure eye contact is always there. Keep talking to ur child n expand their vocab by repeating many times to them with the toys they play like kick the ball, roll the ball, bounce the ball, the ball is behind mummy, the ball is on top of mummy head, the ball is going down down down. The fireman is climbing up up up the ladder etc. Even if u send them for St, this is what they do also.
 
Jellie and Serene
U can also observe if your child has joint attention. Example, point at an aeroplane, look at you and look back at the aeroplane. When he do this, it should be something that interest him that he wants to share with you. But if he is just to get your help, that's not good enough. At least that's what I heard from the psychologist.
 
Hi Scrumpee

My son does that, esp to show us his fav objects like cars, stars, dogs etc. he'd point and say the word and wait for me to repeat the word. If I don't, he will keep pointing and repeating the word and he will look at me till I respond. Which I think is kinda weird too, that he insIsts that I repeat the word :p

But you're right in that it's better that he wants the shared attention.

Btw my boy started calling papa, mama, ye ye etc these few days. In fact he likes to run up to us many times a day just to look at us, smile and call mama. Then he runs away. WhIch is good and weird at the same time haha.
 
He also loves to point at pictures in a book and he'd say 'ghee' which is what he says when he wants me to name an object. Then he'd look at me if I don't immediately respond.

I think 'ghee' might mean 'this' as I like to point to things and ask him 'what is this?'.

Recently he has been saying many new words but the Pronunciations are not good for many la.

Maybe speech therapy is helping. Hopefully he will start to request for things soon apart from 'eat' ;)
 
Jellie - my son has the exact behavior as Urs when u said He points n look at u n say the word repeatedly until u repeat after him then he stop. But that happen when he was Abt 3+ till now 4yr old still like that. B4 2.5yr old, entirely wordless not even any unclear words). At 2+ to 3, his words was never been clear, sometimes it sounded far fr the actual word. He hardly spoke then, we were worried when Schools start to reject him. But now his words are clear except when we try to speak in longer than 5 words sentence. Nevertheless, the pd at Nuh still feel he seems to fall under the spectrum. Psychologist not seen yet though.
 
Scrumpee - some ppl say joint attention also meant the other person (not ur child) point at something n expect ur child to look at where the person is pointing. For this, my son used to not able to do. When point at something eg airplane in the sky, he doesn't know where to look n somethings doesn't look at all Ie doesnt bother. Although now he is better but still we ve to direct him v hard to tell him exactly where to look.

He is able to point in a bk of pictures but not point something high up on the shelf to tell what he trying to reach.
 
Hi Cyn

That does sound exactly like my son. What reasons did the schools give for rejecting him? Where is he studying now?

Did you bring him to speech therapy?

I'm going for 2 trials for play groups this month as I frankly told the schools he's suspected autistic. I wanted to lower the risk of subsequent rejects after school starts.

Sometimes he does look when we point at something and say the word. Depends on what he's doing at the moment. Sometimes he looks at our hand first and then the object.
 
Jellie and Cyn
My boy was like your boys too when he was younger, he will read the word, look at me and want me to repeat after him before he moves on to another word or object. He sort of outgrew it now.

And recently, he starts to sing too. I never hear him sing before while he was with his first cc (was there for 9 months). But after he changed to the current CC, he started to sing.

And yes, Cyn you are right. Joint attention is also the ability for them to follow your gaze. That means when you point at something, he should be looking at the object or direction that you are point and not look at your finger.

BTW, I just finished watching Temple Grandin, the HBO movie on autism. It gives us insight to why autism kids behave certain way. It is an inspiring movie.
 
Hi jellie

The lesson I learnt is not to tell the Sch ur kid is autistic or even suspected. Just say ur child has some speech delay but is seeing a St to tackle it, say He is shy (if he doesn't socialize) n alittle slow in learning. I realized that once u label ur child n the school knows abt it, they condemn your child. They don't try to put in more effort to help your child, they jus simply push it to the excuse ur child is autistic n say they can't teach him bcos they r not trained (abt 4 schools told me this!) They will say their curicurrulum is not suitable for him n ask ur child to go special school instead, in another words they feel ur kid don't belong here bcos he is not normal like the other kids (this is exactly what 1 school told me eventhough he is a borderline suspected case n pd agreed with me that he doesn't need to b in special school!). What they don't realize is although my son is hyper n doesn't sit down or talk or socialize or response to qns v well like the other kids, it doesn't mean he isn't learning! If the teacher cant realise this, i can say this teacher isnt a gd one, she is not observant enough. They simply unable to accept ur kid behavior.

His previous school 1st teacher for almost 1-2yrs was Gd, she was able to accept his behavior n know he is learning n didn't ve issue with him not talking etc. But once he change to n1, the teachers changed when they move to another outlet, all the teachers start to complain to the principal then thats was when prob start. They reject my son simply bcos he wasn't talking then n couldn't socialize n couldn't sit for long eventhough he could sit down n complete his tasks.

The 2nd school left him doing nothing at a corner. Even when he try to socialize with other kids, they consider him disturbing them n pull him back to his corner doing nothing. Even when he show interest in doing other things, they still put him back to his corner doing nothing. When I pick him up n ask teacher how was he, her reply was "oh usual, nothing nothing nothing!" n I ask her how come, she said he didn't want to comply, didnt want to do but I saw with my own eyes they didn't try hard enuf. They tell me right in the face they won't put in more effort for my son but rather expect my son to improve his behavior by going to Ot!

Both schools expect by going to St n Ot, they expect the child to b "normal" overnite like that! I told them, these things take time, in the meantime he need to b help n guided. Then they jus say they dunno how. Common on, I'm not trained too but y I can teach my son so many things if he can't learn like they say?! V pissed n disappointed by them. N they r not cheap schools too!

The current school teachers r v kind n understanding but I dunno next yr who is teaching him. I hope it's the same teachers. The current teachers kept telling me these things take time, ask me to b patient. They ask me to b patient not the other way round. They guide him thru his work, they will try to accommodate him n encourage him.

The sadest thing is my son loves all 3 schools n always look forward to going everyday but when we got rejected n need to change, he has to go thru the insecurity of going to new Sch.
 
Cyn here
Your son's first two schools are terrible especially the 2nd one. I hope my son's school will not be so cruel as he will be in N1 next year.

Care to share which are the two terrible schools? so that we know we won't put our kids there.
 
Btw the current Sch teachers told me they ve 2 other kids similar to my son n after 1-2 yrs with them, they r able to sit down longer n do their work n hold hands with the classmates. My son still doesn't want to hold his classmates hand except his teachers. I ve seen how they help the other 2 kids with my own eyes so I was comfortable putting my son there. Even the principal told me every once awhile they do get kids who ve development issues n so they r fine although I don't tell them he is a suspected case. The fact is whether or not ur kid is one, the teachers shld not really label n condemn them, they shld treat them with more patience n effort like a slow learner child. Labelling is jus a way for them to brush ur kid aside. N b it autistic or not, ur kid will still need the St n Ot so why need the labeling? According to the pd at Nuh, the diagnosis is only meant for u to put ur child in special Sch n for appropriate therapies, they told me not to tell the mainstream Sch even if he is diagnosed as autistic.
 
Hi Cyn here
Got your PM. I am surprised that the first school has such teachers and they are suppose to be branded. Tsk Tsk

My boy's current school also has another kid with development issue but he just left the school cos family left Singapore. So the Principal told me not to be worried, they have experience on how to handle provided my boy don't turn violent and start attacking other kids. But touch wood, my boy is the gentle kind, he will only bully his parents, aka me. Haha! he is even no match for his own 16mths old sister.
 
Scrumpee - the 2nd school is also considered branded. >90% r expats. Fees is effectively 1k per mth! In the end my conclusion is such branded schools only has space for bright normal kids but not for kids like ours who need lots of patience n guidance. Those local neighborhood ones are infact more understanding towards such kids Mayb bcos they Slower pace, less demanding n more humble.
 
Hi Cyn and Scrumpee

Could you please PM me the names of the bad and good schools?! Scary stories!

DO you know if the "pointing to object and insisting that you name it or repeat the word" behavior is also indicative of autism?

Btw, last week I spoke to a principal of one school/enrichment centre which has playgroups. She seemed very supportive of my son joining and even said that Montessori method (which they follow) is very good for kids like this. She then said she will email me the details.

I called her the next day when I didn't receive the email. She claimed that she did and then she said she was busy and will call me back. I smsed her my email again but she didnt reply. The next day I called with my office phone. She picked up and after a while, the line got "cut off". She didnt pick up my 2 subsequent calls or respond to my sms.

I really don't know what to say to this behavior. Giving me false hopes and then just avoiding me like I will force her to accept my son. I mean, she could have just said no, sorry we can't accept him!

The experience made me feel angry and also sad too. I think my son will face more rejections and all in the future.

I shall take good note of what you said, Cyn here!
 
Jellie - pm u already
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As for pointing to pictures, I personally feel that is how your child trying to learn the name/word of the picture which I feel is more Gd than bad. N by repeating is an affirmation of what he is trying to learn. I think the prob will only arise if even after u say the word to him, he still repeatedly ask n ask like he isn't listening to u is not acceptable. That was what happen to my therapist friend son. It's like he will ask the person "where do u live? Where do u live? Where do u live?.....so on n so on" even after the person answered, He still repeat his qns like a broken recorder. So I think if after u answered ur son repeated qns n he stop n proceed to others, I think it's shld b normal. I always think fr their angle n also fr normal kids angle. How else can they learn if they don't ask? You shld b worried when they don't show Amy interest in learning at all.
 
Hi Cyn here

I feel the same way as you. My son moves on to other things after I repeat the word he said. I feel that he was trying to get me to reaffirm or acknowledge what he just said.

Thanks for your pm
happy.gif
 
Srumpee

I think I called mmi last week. Their school fees for preschool is something like $900+ after subsidy right?

I dunno if I can afford this on top of the $1000+ on therapy a month.
 
Jellie
$900+?? Not so expensive leh. I paid $780 for full day childcare, 5 days a week. In fact, if your child needs to go for therapy on certain days, you can save further by going to the childcare only on days that he does not have therapy. That's what I did for my boy. I now sign him up for 4 full days and pay $760 a mth (although not very much lower than 5 days). Are you a full time working mum? I am, so I have $300 subsidy.

As for therapy, you can check with your therapists if you can pay using your child's CDA account. I paid for my boy's therapy using his CDA account, hence not too siong for the time being while there's still money in his account. In fact, I can even use his sister's CDA account which I am intending to.

And I have a little surprise from my boy today. My mum heard him say "很好吃“ when he was eating his breakfast. haha! This is the kind of little surprises that we really look forward to.
 
Srumpee

Hmm that's what the lady at mmi told me lei.

I'm using his CDA account to pay for the therapies now but the money will run out next year.

Oh share a piece of good news. My son went for a trial at a Montessori play group today. My hubby left him alone in the class and slipped out after the teacher recommended this.

My boy didn't throw tantrums. He didn't participate and wandered around throwing toys. However he obeyed when asked to keep the toys. The teachers felt that he's not too severe compared to some autistic kids they've had.

Conclusion is that the school will accept him in jan and this is the last place available. Putting him in 3 times a week for two hours each.

Hope he will learn to socialize or even imitate other kids and not get kicked out!
 
Scrumpee - my kids doesn't ve cda

Btw I jus watch GET REA! on channelnewsasia. It's v disheartening that the topic was on special needs adults getting into trouble with the law when they don't even know it's wrong. When I saw the show, my heart sunk like titanic! I'm v worried abt my son future when he is an adult, really dunno what n how things will turn out to. Although the show is a real life story. But I felt on the other hand, it may send a wrong msg to ppl who r not aware of what autism is all abt. They may think autistic adults may b at risk of committing crimes like molesting, theft etc which may or may not b true. I'm not only worried what will my son bcome when he is adult but also the sterotype of ppl may ve in mind of such ppl.
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N in the show even say there is this parent who actually want to put her son in IMH or any institution home that can accommodate her son so that he can stay out of trouble. In the end the man went into prison. It's such a sad world!
sad.gif
sad.gif
 
Mummies

I just read this book called 'Play to talk - a practical guide to help your late talking child join th conversation'. Got it from amazon.

It's very easy to read and has practical strategies on hOw to encourage our child to talk and interact. I finished it in two days.

It has also given me insights into how my boy might think.

Greatly recommended.
 
Jellie or Cyn here
I am not sure if your boys are already queuing for EIPIC programme. My boy has been on the prog for a mth and according to my husband, he now has better and longer attention span when doing circle time and table top activities. I also realise that he can now sit through a session of story telling and pay attention to what the teacher say during the session. So I guess the EIPIC session does help.

And I am not sure if is due to the behavourial therapy at Weecare, I saw him offering a toy car to his sister today which he hardly does.

That said, bringing him out to shopping is still a challenge especially when he is in a sulky mood, will whine for this and that. And he likes looking at lifts and see the wires moving up and down.
 
Scrumpee - Gd thing ur son is showing improvements. But his eipic is accompanied? Those eipic I enquired r all dropoff, Mayb bcos my son is already 4. Is ur son eipic a 1to1 session or group? I'm currently on q for metta but Wait is v long n the fees r not much subsidized for us. So I'm still thinking of wee care or kits4kids.

Can I know Which wee care your son is attending? N which program is it? Accompanied?

My son also has fascination on lifts, ESP those bubble glass lifts. He will either stare n observe the cables n the lift going up n down n also insist to ride in them looking out of the glass going up n down. Even if it's not bubble lift, he enjoy lift rides bcos of the numbers. But his obsession is on bubble lifts, those with glass that can view outside. If we don't ride on it, he will scream n jump n throw a fit.

Btw I saw the interview with temple grandin on YouTube (but not the movie itself), n it's v inspiring to see ppl like them can bcome successful n famous. N what I like most is she said AUTISM IS A GIFT! without them, they r only ordinary ppl n nothing will b invented! She commented that companies like silicon valley n other manufacturer co will ve to close shop if autistic ppl doesn't exist.

Then I chanced upon another 2 clips which I found v inspiring too!

Famous ppl with autism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axdTT0S3VGI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Abt a successful 17 yr old gal who is autistic:
http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/video-hope-autism-and-aspergers-my-story-870321

as per temple said, start off work with ur child on his fixation Ie his area of interest, the repetitive behavior n expand fr there. Her mum started off with her area for art then her fascination on horses, then her mum ask her to draw the places that the horses live rather than her repeated drawings of just horses. As long as there is a association to ur child interest, the child will coorperate n interact. So I guess my son fascination is on lifts n numbers, Mayb I can work on that.
happy.gif
 
Hi Srumpee

It's great to know your son is improving after eipic!

Im not in the queue yet as he hasn't been seen by the CDU. Our appt is 21 Dec so I'll put him in the queue after that. I'm thinking Of queuing at the autism resource centre as Amk is nearest to our place. Also looking at ICCP and ICE at Presbyterian community services at Amk.

My son's speech seems to have improved after this 1+ month of therapy and practicing at home. Now he uses some action words to communicate such as eating, open, close, sing, read, as well as requesting for water and some toys.

However bringing him to play gym is still a nightmare as he refused to sit during circle time. Instead he runs around and worst part is he runs THROUGH the circle. Sigh.
 
Hi jellie

I heard that if ur child is in q for the autism resource center but later found thru diagnosis that he is not autistic then he won't b accepted there n may end up re-queuing for other centers.
 
Hi cyn here

Do you mean official diagnosis? I called them and they accept clinical diagnosis for queuing, which is a diagnosis I can get at KKH this month. Do I need an official diagnosis (the 3-4 hour assessment type) when they offer him a place?

Can I queue simultaneously at different centres? Any recommendations on centres?
 
Hi Mummies

Has anyone put their child in Wee Care's Individual Therapy(Individualised Behavioural Management Programme)?

If so, any feedback?

I see that they have home therapy and wondering if I should try it.
 
Hi jellie

I mean official psychological assessment. They allow u to q after pd clinical diagnosis while waiting for the psychological assessment. If ur result comes out that ur child is not autistic but ve development issues which still need intervention, u can't go to autism resource centre, u ve to go other centers. The social worker at Nuh Cdu only allow me to choose one centre to q.
 
Hi cyn here

I think I understand what you mean already. Do you mean that if he is not autistic, but he has some other delay/condition, there won't be any suitable program at autism resource centre since they only cater to autistic kids, and I would have to requeue elsewhere with a suitable program?
 
Jellie
Cyn here is right. U can only q at ARC if the clinical diagnosis is Autistic, if is just speech delay or like my boy GDD, you can't queue for ARC but have to queue for other centres which provide EIPIC programme for ASD, ADHD or GDD kids.

Cyn here
yes yes! My boy also like to look at those bubble lifts and like to ride escalators. He will whine and throw a tantrum on bad days if we don't allow him to ride escalators but the tantrum doesn't last long and he can be distracted by something else. But on good days, he will obey if we tell him enough, no more escalators. So really depends on his mood.

My boy now likes to play hide and seek, sing English and Chinese songs. I am thankful for these little improvements he made. I hope when he turns 3 next year, he can start to play with his peers. I think we just need to have faith in our kids. Example, things like hide and seek and singing, I never expected him to be able to do it 3 mths ago, but now he proved me wrong. And yes, we need to capitalise on their obsession and make it their strength, although I am still wondering how to do it.
 
Scrumpee
Which wee care is ur son at? There is afew outlets. N which program? The kids club, social group or individual therapy?

Thanks!
 
Adeline
If you miss the episode, can still watch on xinmsn.com tomorrow. Also when you search for A Caregiver's story in xinmsn.com, also look for Episode 6. The episode features Brenda Tan, the journalist who wrote the book "Come into My world" and who has a 6 year old ASD son.

BTW, if anyone of you stays in Jurong, you may want to know that SPD is going to start an EIPIC centre in Jurong very soon.
 
Hi all, i was trying to view above video today via iphone n when i click play, only dark screen shows up. Anyone here ever exp the same before?
 


Hi all,
been following this forum since last year. Son was diagnoised autistic when he is 2.5 years old. Went through the same agony and worry stage as all of you. Now he is attending childcare in the morning, rainbow centre in the afternoon and weekend OT and ST session.
He is 4 this year, still mumbling with 1 word, able to recognise most of the alphebets, understanding wise i guess its still ok, just really slow on the speech part. For myself, once in a while, i really get disheartened and wonder how i could help him more. Recently, i came across this video send by a friend, just like to share this with all of you. Just want to say: be positive and never give up.

http://www.youtube.com/​watch?v=vNZVV4Ciccg&feature=col​ike
 
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