Autistic children - Share your experiences here.

Hi Amir Hakim,
Thanks for your feedback. I assume your kid is also attending Kits-for-kids? If so, may i know which branch? Your feedback is definitely very encouraging. BTW , how old is your child when he first started with kits for kids? How long has he been there? And also does he attend daily sessions? Thanks in advance
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Hi 2XMUM
I see that your kid attends daily class at K4K. Any intention to slowly pull him out to go mainstream kindergarten?

Sigh...after reading your feedback & Amir Hakim's feedback, I regretted not signing my son up in July ... a few reasons held me back...
Firstly, yes the "lukewarm response" i got from the school got me slightly worried...but thanks to you both, i now know my worries were unfounded ...
Secondly, many "well-intent" relatives kept asking me to refrain from putting my son in "special school" - they said just let him attend "weekly therapies" and complement that with daily mainstream childcare...as my son is mild, i thought "ok maybe put him in the company of "normal" kids, he will soon talk ... but alas, mistake ! His behaviour seems worse than before...and i realise this half year of "delayed intervention cost him a bit of developmental milestones" ... as in ...he still cannot communicate ..tho he is starting to verbalise 2-syllabus word AND only at his WHIM & FANCY...and albeit not v clear... sigh...don't mention counting up to 30....counting to 3 is even a problem ! And he has an even stronger "own agenda" than before - very "non-compliant" (ie does not follow instructions!)
Now i feel bad ... mummy dearest made a wrong move. Sigh...I guess i will call the school up to enrol him next year ...hopefully they will still accept him ...

Thirdly, i didn't enrol him as there is no one to transport him - and i didn't wanna stress him with school bus - my son is very very very scared of new environment, strangers...so i feel school bus is a no-no... either walking distance or nothing for him
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in any case, i hv intention to leave my job so i can ferry him around next year
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well, not that i wanna spoil him lah...sometimes when i look at him, i already feel he is quite "unfortunate" to hv this condition... so i try not to stress him unnecessarily ...

on this note, I intend to enrol him twice-weekly in K4K while the other 3xweekly he will remain in a mainstream kindy. Amir Hakim, 2Xmum or any other parent w Autistic child, what do u think of this arrangement ?

Hi Amir Hakim & 2XMUM
Did K4K help you toilet -train your child? My boy is turning 3 yearend, he is still not toilet-train
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2XMUM : Wow .. you played w him from 7pm-10pm ? After work ? After work, i m always dead like a log...hence i have resigned recently ...intend to take care of my boy myself....

Thanks mummies , for all your prompt responses
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Its good to know mummies out there facing similar situations....i mean, sometimes when i bring my child out & he behaves weird...people do stare at him...in his defence, i feel like telling people that he is autistic & please excuse him ... but i held back as i thought why should i explain to people ? He , being autistic is already at an "disavantage", why can't he have his own space too...afterall it is public place, he is free to do whatever "silly things" he likes so long as he does not harm anyone
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Do you mummies feel the same way ? Or , am i being overly protective of him....i must admit, i do protect him a lot...cos i always feel God gives him to me cos He feels only I can protect him
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Am I siow? Maybe lor .. hahaha
 


Hi Ying Ying,

My son used to attend daily full day class at K4K. For next year, he will be enrolled into mainstream kindergarten with 3 half- day integrated class at K4K, as recommended by K4K's principal.
As for toliet training, they will train the children when they are ready (ie able to prompt/slight verbal).
 
Hi 2XMUM
Its nice to know your son will be moving into mainstream kindergarten
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With ASD kids, we "rejoice" over each & every single milestones they make in their lives, don't we?
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I believe you made the right decision to start him full day K4K ...

Thanks for sharing all the information promptly...BTW would you be able to share which mainstream kindergarten have you since enrolled him? Is the mainstream kindy aware of your son's condition and are they "receptive" ?
 
Hi Ying Ying,

I have enrolled him to PAP and the principal is aware of his condition. K4K has also provided information of my son for their reference and they will also visit the kindergarten to work with the teachers there next year.
Some kindergartens may not like to have ASD children. Thus, you have to be forthcoming with the truth to ensure that they have the ability to manage them.
 
Ic Ic Thanks 2XMum

Yes i have informed the principal of my boy's mainstream kindergarten (next year) about my son's condition prior to registration.

We have an "agreement" that she will keep a close watch on my kid , and if she feels it is too much to handle , she can serve me 1 month notice to withdraw my child and I will then withdraw him (although i really hope it won't happen)
I've also informed the Principal he will be absent at least twice a week to attend therapy ... most likely it will be K4K if they accept him ... if not, then Autism Association (he is on waitlist there) ... sigh, i hope it all works out well ...

Thanks again 2XMUM.
 
Hello mummies,

I think all parents here have to work very hard towards to ASD kids....but as long as we put in efforts & tried our very best...our kids will show much more improvements as they can feel that coming from us.....DONT EVER GIVE UP.... no matter what.....they are still our kids...

As for my son... my hubby tried very best to train, play, talk to him..... indeed that my son show great improvements... of cos, the more they know the more they will try to make our life harder as normal kids.

Hi Ying Ying... if possible try to enrol our son in normal child care centre & special school where both schools he will be able to learn things from different envir.

There is quite a no of courses from ARC....where we can learn some new methods to guide our kids. So far, the courses that I have attended are quite useful as we dont really have some one to ask ard for help or advice.. trainers from there have the great knowledge abt the behaviour of these ASD kids... hopefully this can help you to guide your kids better.....
 
hi mummies here.....there is a course by ARC might be good for us to attending.... is on 11/11/09--->PREPAREING MY CHILD FOR MAINSTREAM LEARNING ... check this out @ ARC wedsite...
 
hi kath tan
thanks for your encouragement & inputs ...

YES parents w ASD kids do have to work doubly hard 'cos it is not just financially draining but physically & mentally draining too. But it is not all sorrows & pain of cos ....there are many joyous occasions too ... for example, while talking to my son, although he doesn't respond...sometimes he will react with some weird actions & movements, causing me to break into laughter!

Right now my main concern is for him to pick up "self-help skills" like feeding himself, asking for water or milk or food and toilet -training....sigh... he is 3 years old but yet can't feed himself, doesn't know how to ask for milk, doesn't even know how to ask for water...sigh...

Today i just discovered it is the 4th time he came home from CC with his water bottle full w water (ie that means he has not drunk anything whole morning til 1pm)!!! sigh... i will have to speak to CC teacher to remind them to give him water.

Yes i intend to pull him out of this CC ( he has been there for 1 month only ) at this end of this year... as i hv signed him up for a kidergarten next year. Initially he doesn't attend any playgroup nor CC ...i was just intending to wait for next year to start school for him..... but the therapist advise i should just "put him somewhere" first ...and mingle ...hence i decided to put him in a nearby CC for these 3 months (Oct - Dec) .... but i know my son doesn't mingle much...cos i have attended weekly playgroup w him before....he can't be bothered w his teachers nor his peers nor what is going on in the class...

Anyone whose kid in Autism Association? How do you find it ? any good ?
 
Hi Ying Ying,

You have to encourage your son to self feed, let him mess up the food as it is ok...that is the process that he learn. As this is how we train our son for self feed., till when he dont wan to eat then we feed. As for water, get those bottles which are easy to open & suck by silicone straws. Encourage him to drink when u are with him, keep on asking him to drink as much as possible, in this way, he will know when to drink water. Some times, we are to eager to make milk, feed our kids with food which was not incorrect as this make them very depend on us as they know that food will come to them even they dont ask. In this way, slowly, he will learn and request for the things that he want. We are still in the mid of training our son for the toileting... cant really advise you much but all we have to do is to encourage & let our kids learn thro' hard way if not they will never be able to do things by themselves w/o us asking them.

There is another course from ARC, "Ideas for Teaching Speech to Children with Autism" which might be useful...all we have to do is upgrade ourselves and train our kids from what we have learn from any resources.

Let us Jia You & hope that our kids will also be the same.
 
hi. I would like to seek advice from those facing the same problems as me. My son currently 2.5 years is in the queue for diagnosis at KKH for autism. There are a few strong signs as he is non verbal and stims a lot. He is on 3 hrs daily, 5 times a week ABA therapy. Also on CC for 3-4 hours a day 5 times a week to mingle with the other kids. H/w, we decided to take him out of the CC as he seems to be very tired attending both on the same day. It was a difficult decision as the teachers at the CC were very nice and supportive although they know of his condition.

Now I'm trying to find a playgroup for him so that there is a chance to interact with other kids (also on same spectrum) for like 1-2 times a week. But there doesn't seem to have such playgroups around. I found one at Everton park but they refused to accept him when i told them he is non verbal. I called up K4K to check but their locations are all very far away and transport will be an issue. Anyone has any suggestion where we can find playgroups for kids with learning disabilities??
 
Hi Fluffy
Where do u stay ?

I'm glad you took your son out of CC ... at 2.5 yrs old i must say a total of 6 hours CC/ABA can be a bit of overkill ... and it is wise of you to let him continue w the ABA on daily basis rather than stopping the ABA but continue the CC ...

Yes it is hard to find such playgroups for the mild-moderate ASD kids. In fact , apart from K4K , I do not hear of any others. Even for K4K, I have received mixed reviews so far. So sorry not able to help much but can offer listening ear ...afterall we are in the same situation...we will understand what each other is going through
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BTW can u share with me where does your son attend the daily ABA? My son is 3. Therapists who worked on him all told me he needs ABA badly cos he is non-compliant, has very strong own agenda ...so he needs to be taught structurally how to comply ; how to sit still and how to integrate socially ... and yes my son is non-verbal ... he recently starts to say mono-syllabus words but not clear (after months of speech therapy!) Really burnt a hole in my pocket!

Hope to hear from you soon.
 
Hi Kath Tan
thanks for your advice. unfortunately whatever you have suggested is whatever i have tried but still doesn't work much. We allow him to self-feed , allow him to mess up the place .. etc etc .. but after 2nd try of putting spoon to his mouth, he gets sooo agitated & annoyed...he will kick & push away all the bowls ..causing the food to fall on the floor - u know, BIG tantrums cos he is frustrated! So these days we start off with just small amount of food in his bowl for self feed ... after his mega tantrums we calm him down & try to feed him his meal from the "reserve bowl" ... i mean we also do not want to push him so much til he missed his meals... so his meal time consists of several bowls of food ...1st round for self -feed, second (& main) round we feed, 3rd round .. when he is semi-full for self-feed again... sigh ... everyday his meals take almost 1 hr & FULL of mess ...
Of course when we bring him out, we feed him ... honestly we try not to agitate him all the time by forcing him to feed himself all the time...so at home , we encourage, while outside we give in to him....honestly i do not think he deliberately threw tantrums ... i m sure he is just as frustrated as us that he is not able to self-feed..sigh... baby steps lor....wat to do..

BTW, how do you toilet-train your child ?
 
Hi Ying Ying,

I stayed at Holland Rd area. The nearest K4K centres are at Choa Chu Kang and Toa Payoh. Very far away. I spoke to the principal and she is a v nice lady. They will assess the kid to see if suitable for one to one or group. But i prefer group cos he is already on one to one ABA at home. Anyway still looking around to see got other alternatives. Also looking into changing his diet to gfcf.

The ABA therapy is home based. The therapist will come either morning or late afternoon. After one month of ABA, my son can do simple signs when request for food/tv etc. Therapists working very hard to make him produce sounds but it is difficult to get it out of him. They are from the Autism Recovery Network (ARN). I understand they started out in Spore not too long and in Asia they are mainly based in HK. Once every month, a supervisor will come down from HK to assess his progress and they will tweak the program if necessary. There are few orgns that provides home based ABA therapy in Spore and most are very expensive. I hardly have any savings left every month after paying for the therapies. But then again, we will do it so long as there is a chance that he benefit from it.

Let me know if you need the contact.
 
Hi all,

haven't been here for long time..

Kath Tan, can you share with me the weblink to the course "Ideas for Teaching Speech to Children with Autism"

Hi YingYing, agree that we have be very very patience and take baby step.
My boy is now 4 and he only get to be fully toilet train just 2 months before he turn 4. We went through lots of his tantrums for he refuse to sit on potty, but we were very persistent, until one day, he gave up and went straight to the toilet bowl. We cheered to encourage him and from then onward he is fully toilet train (even by passing the potty stage)

I think the basic rule to teaching our kid is to be patient and be like broken recorder, repeat, repeat and repeat until they finally gets it.

For self feeding, perhaps you can take a step back, i.e hold his hand while he feed himself. For my boy, it took him a while to figure how to co-ordinate his hand movement, and bring the whole spoonful of food into his mouth. Actually, I'm glad that his teachers at the cc are also very patient with him, they even reward him with sticker when he finally progress to do self feed without any assistance.

At home, I tried to let him practise writing, playdoh, cutting and threading to improve his fine motor co-ordination skill and strength. I also intend to send him for swimming class, but I'm not sure where to find coach who is willing to teach him.
 
Hi Fluffy
Thanks for sharing. Can u PM me the contact of the ABA therapist and the charges? Thanks.

At Holland Rd, i guess the nearest K4K would be TPY? ... CCK is really far away. Hmmm is your son on waitlist at any Autism Association, Rainbow Centre or Autism Resource Centre? If he is on waitlist, then i guess u may continue w the home ABA in the meantime & shelve K4K since u mentioned it is not exactly convenient for u .... however if he is not on any waitlist, then i suggest u try to put him in K4K TPY first bah ... i mean ...at least we start him somewhere first ... and we can slowly monitor his progress
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I'm actually quite keen to start my son at K4K but because i know it is not long term (he is on waitlist at AA) I am a bit hesitant as i do not want to keep changing his "environment" - u know what i mean right - kids of their nature takes to routine well ... if we keep changing , wonder if it will do them more harm ... also K4K has a 2 months withdrawal notice... which kind of works against me since my son is on waitlist at AA and i was told the moment AA calls u up, u have to sign up else your child will be put back on waitlist which means i can't serve K4K 2 months' withdrawal notice if i enrol my son there - really dilemna lei....
 
hi Ying Ying,

I've PM the details to you.

My son is on the waitlist at Rainbow. But understand they use the TEACCH program which is different from ABA. If I sent him to both, I scare he get confused.
 
hi Marie,

U may go to http://www.autism.org.sg.... they have good courses that will help us.

Ying Ying....dont give up....try & try....sure that your son will get it...if u give up who will help him????

My son is also attending pte ABA therapy....so far, i can see alot of improvements from him.... If u are interested, i can give u the HP no of that therapy....

Fluffy,
Agreed that the therapy sessions are very expensive but no choice that we still have to let our kids to attend..... All we hope is that our kids will improve.....i think they will have improvements....

Most impt thing...dont give up....cont'd to work hard with your kids
 
hi Kath,
how much is the ABA therapy per hour? and how many session per week?

my son knows how to communicate simple request, but not in sentences. Due to financial constraint we can only chose either speech or ABA. He is now in special school + weekly speech therapy. I'm thinking whether i should change the speech to ABA. thanks!
 
hi kay kay
Can share w me which special school is your son in? How old is he?

Sorry i can't help u on the ABA - i m also sourcing for one. Fluffy actually PM me ABA contact a while ago (thanks Fluffy) and i have since left a message w the therapist but she has yet to call me back - guess they are busy. I do not know if it is rude of me to just forward on ... perhaps you may ask Fluffy for the ABA contact directly via PM as I am unsure if she is still following this thread
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My son's "signs of autism" seems more & more obvious , which is making me REALLY worried now so i m considering putting him in a special school but i would prefer if possible those twice or thrice weekly instead of daily.... Hence, please share w me the special school your son is with , if u don't mind . Is the school good? I mean do u see improvement in him ?

Hi All
Anyone heard of St Clare ? Is it good? What's the fee like? I went to their website but they don't show the fees.... only the Deposit & Registration Fee is known (pretty steep. Registration fee is $1500 ) and I wonder if the school fees is also just as steep..sigh...

I'm getting a little anxious for my boy - anyone who can assist? Thanks in advance
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kay kay,

The therapy that my son is attending now is charging S$ 150/90min during weekend & S$ 120/90min during weekday.... The lessons are so fine as my son did showed improvement.... It will depend on you as how many lessons you want your child to attend. For my son he is only attending 1 lesson per week as we are also in tight financial now...that's y i only sent my son for the ABA therapy for Functional Comm. Skills. So far so good...the S$ is not waste....

Ying Ying....y not send your son for some pte therapy 1st... I think it would be better tat your son can attend daily special school. He sure to show more improvement.... daily = more special teaching to him. I was hoping that my son can attend the special school on daily basis as now he is only attending 3days per week. So far, my son enjoys going to special school rather than his normal child care centre. As in the special school, he is able to have more fun, more things to be learn and more attention from the teacher in special school.
Ying ying, try to enrol your son in the special school 1st, you might not be getting the daily session just like mine. Dont forget that you might have to wait to be in the special school., i think the waiting list might be very long too as we also waited for 1/2year b4 my son is able to enrol to the govt special school.
 
Hi Ying Ying,
ST Clare is charging $2000/month and it teaches life skill, rather than mainstream teaching. There is St Gerald which you may want to check with, not sure of the fees but it is at Mount Sophia.

Kath,
is once a week of ABA sufficient? I heard that the kids need to have a min of 40 sessions/ week inorder to see improvement.
Thus, I did not venture as it may cost $4000/week.
 
hi kath tan
Thanks for your advice
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the reason why i cannot commit daily is bcos my son is currently in a mainstream kindy .... and i don't wish to withdraw him from mainstream kindy ... i don't mind even if he is not learning anything from mainstream kindy .... what i want is for him to get used to the "mainstream environment" and be used to an environment w many kids...

At the same time, i would like to send him for twice or 3x weekly special school to correct his behavior, to learn how to integrate socially & to learn how to sit still at least for a while.... in short, to "tackle his autism issue" ..

Hi 2XMum,
WOW $2000 per month ...hmm ok...i think i will give it a miss ... too costly.... not forgetting i also have another child to nurture ... it will be financially draining for me ...

Hi Kay Kay
Hope u r still following this thread
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Hope to hear from you soon on the special school your kid is in... thanks!
 
Hi Ying Ying,

I was in the same situation as you. I wanted him to be in the mainstream so badly. In the end, we got to make some sacrifices. I did not see my son benefiting from the childcare as he is not interacting with the other kids at all. So I decided to go full time on ABA for time being to build up his commmunication skills. When he is ready for N1 next year, hopefully he can return to mainstream. If not, will have to find a special school for him. I'm also trying to look for playgroup like 2x a week for special kids. But can't find any. I will check out the ST Clare though.

I will be delivering my 2nd kid in 2week's time. I'm worried that I won't be able to spend enough time with my son especially during this trying moments. Wonder how the other parents cope with 2 kids.

I will check again with my therapist on the late response from the ABA administrator. She is doing the therapy for my son now. Will check and PM you after the lesson.
 
2x mum,

It is better than nothing as we are busy with our work & it is rather hard for us to find time to bring my son for more therapies & at least from there he is able learn something. Some more the fee are quite expensive too.
It would be better than our kids can attend 2 different environment. Dont withdraw your kids from the normal school or day care centre. At least, they are able/get used to it in 2 different kinds of systems. But if the kid cant copy with it then no point to stress them in 2 different system as they will no benefit it at all. But for me, i jsut want my son to be in the normal day care centre & let him have a chance to mix with the rest of the kids as i know that this is the only chance for him to do that.

2x mum,

so far how is the hanen class??? usefully??
 
yingying,
I was in the same situation as yours. I was very very reluctant to send my son go to special school when he is clinically diagnose as autistic. But he was not learning anything at normal playgroup, and most of the time just being left alone. I found that i was putting him in the environment that I wish he can cope, but it was just not suitable for him...
So after 6mths wait, i decided to enrol him to daily class in kidscove and immediately I saw a great improvement in him... My only regret is I waited too long to enrol him....
Just my thought, I think I start to accept that my son is special. So by enrolling him to special school it provides him a better environment for him, and he even learn social skills there which he wont able to learn in "normal" school as the teacher will not have time to closely monitor/ guide him.
my son is 3yo3mth now..


kath,
thanks for the info.
cant you help to PM the contact to me, thanks.
 
Thanks Kay Kay.

Hi Fluffy ,
Did you just PM me today? I didn't receive any message from you apart from the one i received last week ...
Cheers.
 
Hi Kay Kay,

May I know where is Kidscove located? How long are the classes and what do they focus on?

Rgds.
 
Hi Fluffy,
www.kidscove.com.sg
kidscove is located at upper serangoon road, near to Kovan mrt station..
It's a small school set up by few filipino. The focus area will depends on individual children. In the case of my son, they focus more on compliance since he has some behaviour issus..

how old is your son?

when he is ready for normal school, the teacher will help to recommend a school that is suitable for him. As for now, I try to improve his speech & compliance..
 
Thks Kay Kay.

Its rather far from where I stay. Good for you that you found a place for your son and they can focus on the area that requires improvement. My son is 2.5 years old. Thinking of where to place him next year.
 
Hi everybody,
I also have 3 year old autistic boy. Currently attending morning session at Kits4kids centre. Last year when he had one-to-one session he talked alot at home but now he is promoted to new class with 5 children and the teacher is maybe busier. I heard about ABA Therapy and would like to try on him. Is there any recommended ABA therapist in ARN? Aslo, is there any Mums tried on bio-mediacation? Any feedback?
I am happy I can meet you here to share. I am so lonely working with my son. Thank you.
 
hi Chong,


Yes. I do feel lonely at times too. As friends around me talk about sending the kids to playgroups, nursery, enrichment classes etc, I've to take him out of mainstream for now to focus on ABA therapy. We just started on GFCF diet and bio-medication about 3 weeks ago. Can't see the results yet though. Probably will take some time.

My son is with ARN. So far there are 3 therapists working with him. I found that he is fairly compliant except for one particular therapist where he tends to cry a lot during her session. I don't understand why also. But the other therapists seem quite ok to me. Just like today, he cried throughout the whole 3 hr session. Not sure if I should ask for a change.
 
Chong,

I think all mummies here are alone as not many ppl can understand what is ASD.... not easy to accept the conditions that our kids are in now.... I also hope that we can get some support from each other from here....at least able to see/gain the experience that other mummies are doing for the kids. We also hope that our kids can out grow this problem but frankly that they will have this "ASD" with them as long as they are alive. So far, no medication cure for this. We hope that we can learn as much as possible and guide them as far as possible. It will be a very long & painfully way to do it but we still have to try our best. We sure to give them the best therapy as long as we can afford which dont think so every can do that we are not that rich & it is not easy to survive in S'pore with our peanuts salary & their therapy are so expensive.

Fluffy, it shld be ok as your son might dont like to be under pressure from that therapist. Liek my son, he will also make noise when we are on the way to the therapy session on Saturday, as he feel the pressure to work with the therapist who is very firm in what she do. I think after a while, they shld be fine. My son beginning also cried alot in the session almost every session for 3 times or so. Slowly, he used to that & he is fine. He will cry but he still do the work that was given by the therapist. But recently, his making noise came back.... That is the life....Hope your son will be fine soon.

Mummies there....we have to jia you.....
 
Hi Ladies
I'm back - I've MIA for a while - sigh my son was ill ...and then passed to me ...hence too busy taking care of him & myself..

Hi Fluffy
Thanks for your PM ...i've managed to speak to Christina
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but i don't think i will be signing up as i can't afford to do a daily programme due to other commitments.. but thanks anyway.

Hi Chong - WELCOME to this thread ... Nice to know you
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My son is also 3 - I've recently started him on a mainstream childcare - i didn't sign him up for Kits-For-Kids (K4K) as i was hesitant earlier (reasons stated above so i won't repeat myself here in case i bore anyone..haha) but i might sign him up at K4K next year - will see how things go...

At the moment, i "supplement" his mainstream childcare with weekly private speech therapy...and also OT at KKH (which i know is insufficient cos KKH only provides a block of 6 sessions ; thereafter one has to wait another 3 months to get another block of 6 sessions)...

My son is currently on waitlist at AAS - is your son on waitlist anywhere else?

Where do u stay, Chong? I presume you are SAHM ?

KayKay : Its good that you found a good intervention school for your child..unfortunately Upp Serangoon is too far for me....sigh....

There aren't many early intervention schools for me to select ...from where i stay, it seems its K4K or nothing ... i like the fact that K4K allows twice -or-thrice weekly sessions ... as i intend to let my child "experience" mainstream kindy at least 2-3 times a week ... and i wanna start him young so he gets used to such environment since the beginning ...doesn't matter to me if he learns his ABC or 123 or not ....so long as he can get used to "big environment"

My concern is if i let my son start on 1-on-1 then move on to 3-in-a-class , when he is ready to be "promoted to bigger class" he might find it hard to adjust & adapt (esp given his ASD condition (read: routine) ) ...and the "big class" can be too much of "culture shock" to him ... so i personally feel it is important to let him get used to both environment at an early stage ; one that is structured & tailored to his (special) needs while the other is the "real world" which he should try to adapt..

I've discussed w my son's case doctor at KKH - she also thinks it is "quite a good idea" to allow my son to have a mix of both if i can help it....

Hi Chong -How do you find K4K ?

that's it from me now
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Mummies , take care
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Hi Marie Phua
Are you still following this thread - apologies .. i just realised u posted a response to me on this thread (somehow i missed it .. and only just saw it)

Yeah ... when we do self-feed, we do hold his hand .. and lead the spoon to his mouth.. we don't leave it there & expect him to do it himself cos we know he cannot for sure cos his motor skill is really bad .. he can do it with LOTS of assistance & patience fr us ..but he himself has no patience ...ie after 2 tries, he gets agitated ... hahaha...

BTW, is it ok for me to ask where did you send your son for his mainstream CC? And where did you send him for his ABA? So , he is coping fine now? Its good to know you have finally managed to toilet-train your son - i guess that's 1 big hurdle crossed
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I can't wait for the day my son will be toilet-trained, can self-feed, say a few more words...

Its so different isn't it ... we have mummies in other threads discussing where to send their kids for enrichment ; which enrichment centre is good while here we exchange notes on where to send our kids for therapy ... C'est La Vie!
 
Ying ying....main thing is to try & try & try.... dont give up...... my son started to go to toilet to pee pee recently....it take a long of time & effort to let him do that....Now we hope that he can automate go to toilet for poo poo .... Must be firm...dont give up eaily...
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Good that to put your son in normal childcare centre... let our kids to b with the rest of the children. As long as we dont put too much stress on our kids...i think it shld be fine...I think if we can afford....mixture of therapies shld be ok. But of cos whether can the kid take it a not is a big issue. If they are not going to co-operate with the therapist...then it will be very difficult.
 
Hi everybody,

I feel much better on reading your replies. Thank you so much.
To Fluffy: Thank for your words. I aslo heard about ARN. Are your son working with Belinda? Can I know your bio-med doctor?
I think you could ask for a change, some therapists work well with some children but some not. Hope your son makes more progress.
To Kath tan: I agree what you said but in my case I cannot share with my friends. I cry lonely with my son and laugh when he makes some progress.But I know that we must learn to live with that. Yes, the cost for therapy is quite expensive, that makes me headache! Thank you for sharing.
To YingYing: It's good to hear that you son is attending maintream childcare. Even attdending special school they dont have "normal friends". I don't satisfy with the program in K4K but no choice, not PR yet so cannot apply for AAS..i live in the east coast.
Thank you all mummies here giving me more strength to survive. Still a long path ahead.
 
Chong...that is our life....to have special kids. Well....we will try to do what even we can for our kids & hope that they will progress when time come. For my son...he has been showing improvement starting from this year.....He is attending pte therapy for communication skill & Rainbow special school & normal child care centre... He was quite popular at the child care centre & teachers over there understand his conditions. Of cos...at times, the teacher cant give him full attention., & we dont expect that as well. He is able to finish the "special toys/tasks" that he like & motivate him to think how to complete the toy/task that the teacher gave to him. Let him use his mind to think. At least now, he is able to understand more & able talk one or 2 words, & we encourage him to speak word by word as we know what he want & we will do the initiate word for him. Of cos when he know more....he will tend to fight with you more like other normal kids., that is good as well as he is using his mind & express out what ever he dont like or like. Agreed that our path is long & uneasy for us to move ahead....

Chong... do check out the short course that we are attend & help us our kids .....these courses can be found at ARC wedsite....
Sorry....i jsut wan to share with you mummies regards to the course that the ARC organzied....i dont gain anything from promoting the course from the centre. Cheersssss
 
hi all,
just drop by and say hello to everyone.. ^.^

i went thru that sad & lonely period when I cried non-stop when thinking abt my son's future. I was feeling so helpless and hopeless....

but now, I have more courage and faith to believe that my son can do better.. I cherish small little improvement he makes. That day when I brought him to fetch his sister, while we waiting at void deck he turned his head, looked at me and said "jie jie, bus". I knew he was trying to say "jie jie is taking a school bus home.." I'm very very happy even until now...

mummies.... jia you!! jia you!! ^.^
 
kay kay.....that is good that your son has some improved....dont worry...... we have also been to that stages...we cried & worry for our special kids....but the most impt thing is dont give up on thme & try our best to make them to learn. It will be very tough road for us now but if we put in effort & our love to them, they can feel that and make themselve to learn from us. We have to be patience & give them time to learn. Impt things.... practice & practice & peactice with our kids are impt.
 
Hi all,

My boy is currently 3plus n turning 4 in jan 2010. We went KKH for assement in july tis yr and the doctor put him on speech and OT but as waiting time is rather long,Got to enrol him in a private Speech therapist in Hougang in Nov thru my child pediatric as pediatric found him not speaking in sentence or communicating.Pediatric suspect he is mild autism.
Since going for a few session of speech,therapist diagnose he is on high energy level(hyperactive) which led him to not being to sit attentively and focus.Therefore got to train him to sit n focus before embarking on communication skills.
During my last session with the speech therapist, I raised the question of sending my boy for an autism test cos my husband n I are really to accept to be what he is.Back home, I thought again to give him another 6 mth to c how he goes cos he juz started all tis therapy. But after reading all this post u ladies had,I think I SHOULD go ahead with the autism assessment.No matter what, I think early intervention is really important and it helps our children.

Mummies, let's work hard together with our children and lend each other strength as we go on each day.
 
mickey....yes.....if possible send your son for the assessment....

My son also belong to those "sharp buttock" who cant really sit for a long time but thro' therapies....now at least he is able to complete the work task that was given to him. Of cos, it also have to depend on his energy level...if he did not have any workout at the playground, it will be very difficult for him to co-operate with us for his therapies or work task. Try to let your son to play at the play ground to drain his enengy..... before he start his "work"/therapy session. This might help.
 
Hi Mommies,

Let me make a brief introduction for myself, my son 3yo is suspected of autistic by the kkh pd as he doesnt exhibit eye contact, doesnt response to his name etc..... he is due for a assessment with kkh cdu around May this year, meanwhile I dun want to sit and wait, I want to do something for my son
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pls advise what can I do now to help him, waiting is painful.....
 
hi momoto,
try to search for some private special needs school. u may want to consider to enrol yr son in those school, depending on the location & your budget.
 
Hi Kay Kay,

Thanks for your reply..... I have in fact made some enquiries and also enquired from K4K, and they told me that I need to do a assessment at their centre next week, will do so and see how the outcome.... and thanks so much to Fluffy's kind assistance I also enquired abt ABA therapy from ARN, they are coming to my place next week or so.... Actually I am at a dilema was thinking whether should I send him to a mainstream pre-nursery class (I have in fact paid the school fees, booked last year, prior to knowing his condition) and supplement with ABA therapy at home, or send him to K4K with ABA therapy....guessed I am in no position to decide till next week comes......where is your kid studying rite now.....

Thanks
momto3
 
Hi Chong,

Read that your son is in K4K, can I know how's the school like ? as in how they conduct the lesson, thanks, as I am considering to send my boy there.....
 
Hi Chong (momiji)

Not sure if you are following this thread still - tried to PM u but you do not accept PM - please could u PM me ? I have something to check with you.
Cheers.

BTW where are all the mummies (& daddies) ?? so quiet here these days....
 



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