Autistic children - Share your experiences here.

Hi Yee

Touch Hougang has ICCP, thus we intend to put him there.

I'm not sure if our decision is correct and if we should have just add on his normal daily childcare with EIP.

But the case manager from CEL assured me that there should be no stigma as Touch Hougang also offers normal childcare and thus, my son will be able to learn alongside with his peers.

Hmmm..after all said, I am still waiting for Touch to contact me
sad.gif
 


Hi Odae
no problem with your qns. i wld love to help cos i had been thr n understand how difficult it was.
my son stop his afternoon nap since N2 cos he will have difficulty sleep at night whenever he nap.. i just need to remind him that every tue n thur he can not eat snack in the morning as he need to eat his lunch fast, then attend ARC.
i agree is difficult to ferry him when working full time, hence i quit my full time job in the year when he started arc..

i still remembered how troubled i was when i need to decide the mainsteam N2 for him.. is montessori or traditional classroom style better? bigger or smaller class size?? he did not really attend n1 cos we tried few child cares/kindy but could not find suitable ones for him.. we are really glad that we made the right choice esp we saw him playing 'together' with his clasmates during free play at playground. i remembered that i got to 'convince' the kindy's principal that morning structured sessions is more beneficial for him even tho he recommended me to go for afternoon sessions that have more speech n drama/free play activities.

as for the switching to pathlight, just need to register for enrolment with the school. there are alot of docs to be submitted with the enrolment form.. eg medical report, iq assessment etc. they have school bus service though so no need to worry much if you can't ferry him. since arc n pathlight are situated in the same building, arc are also aware that most children are going prep class at pathlight when turn 6, so makes the switch even easier..just email to arc principal will do when enrolment is confirmed.
 
hmm.. as for the choice of mainstream, it also depends alot on how ready is the child. cos while i was observing my boy, i noticed another boy with asd sit in with the maid at most times in another class. i m not sure if he is attending any EPIC sessions.. but i don't see him 'integrate' with the class. i thought it is really important to have observation room and really spend time to observe.

speaking of mainstream at n1, i send him to a church kindy and stopped after 3 months cos the teachers could not 'handle' him as he would rushed out to carpark to see aircon compressors.. then send to a montessori school for 2 days, then ask me to pull him out n bring him for doc assessment... then finally at one new CC, but the teachers keep on changing cos maybe due to poor mgt? anyway, he cried everytime send him there and they don't allow me to observe and know 'why' is he crying.. sigh..we jst give up and i brought him to gym class at jwt gym once a week, arc thrice a week..
i m really grateful that he improved so much over these 2 years.. so mothers, pls don't be disheartened.. they will improve with your endless love and patience..
 
Hi Gina,

We ask for referrel at Polyclinic to KKH. KKH then proceed us to CDU. The doc will send us to workshop to apply for CEL. then we are referred to HPB for his OT and ST. through CEL, we applied EIPIC. I think ICCP is a suitable choice then i chose childcare as I feel the teachers are not well equip to handle my autistic child. However, i understand that to apply for ICCP you need to get your doc do a referral.
 
Hi Tam

Wow...I find that you have really done a lot for your son and it is very heartening to learn that they do improves.

How is he behavior nowadays? Does he still have his rigidities?

For my son..his rigidities seems to come and go on periodically basis. Once it starts, he will want to get things done in his way adamantly **sigh**
 
Hi Odae

i feel that even for normal kids, early education is very important to them. hence for our 'asd' kid, we must be pay even more attention to them while they are young. i m also happened to be the 'motherly' type who don't mind not working and stay at home with children. i know some mothers could not do it cos is their character and they might have greaty difficulty to adjust. with loss of income and become very unhappy, i think that would mean even greater sacrifices..

he really improves alot esp in 2010.. not sure if due to his own development milestone or to his current k1 chinese teacher. now the teacher allocation for k2 is out, i got to spend time to talk to the new teachers to let them know how to handle him.. n also must be prepared to observe him for the first few months to see how is he coping with the new teachers in 2011..

he still have his obsessions. n we make use of his obsessions to change his behaviour. eg now he loves fishes. we will borrow library books on fishes and introduce him to other marine animals, streams, rivers, oceans etc. or tell him he can google search for fish after he finish his homework. then let him look at the 'clock' for him to know when to stop.. previously we tried to 'stop' him from his obsessions cos it seem so 'abnormal' to be soooo interested in that one area. now we will try to expand or 'make use' of this as motivators for him to do other kinds of things. these are what we learned from ARC teachers too..
 
hi mummies...

i need some advice here. my son is currently 32 mths, coming three next apr. he's been attending weekend playgroups with me accompanying him since 18 mths. the thing is, he doesnt seem to like social setting. he absolutely hates group acitivites. for e.g teacher guides the group to sing songs and dance and do some actions... he just simply refuse to comply. as for free play, he is much better but also doesnt play with other kids. worst, once he picks up some toys he like, he keeps playing with the same thing. i have to force him to play other things or do crafts. he doesn't look at the teachers at all when they are talking to him. he also refuse to answer the teachers. at home, he talks a lot (currently 3 to 5 words phrases) and interacts with us a lot. however one thing i notice is that, he doesn't do a lot of eye contact unless we keep telling him to look at us. he is also obsessed with buses and trains. do the mummies here think he could be autistic? i'm really quite worried. i really hopes he improves.
 
Hi Doobie,

Maybe you could check with your child's pd, thinks the pd will be able to tell, cuz for me, it's my son's pd that points out to us that he could be asd .....
 
Hi odae, nope. I will need to go to her house.



Hi yee, i lost my iphone on mon. Can you sms me again cos i hv a question to ask you. Thanks
 
Dear mummy, has anyone here successfully toilet trained your special kid? Any tips to share? We tried for a week without any success!
 
Hi Adeline! I toilet trained my boy at 3 plus. Bought one of those portable kiddie potty and brought him there to pee every 20 mins or so. Also got his Daddy to pee into it a couple of times to help him understand what the potty is for. Took us about a week before he was able to get the hang of things during the day. After which, we would make him pee half an hour after his last drink before bedtime and got him to pee first thing in the morning. He's been dry since. It might help if you've got a term or signal that you use with your child when he pees so that he is able to let you know when he needs to go. Good luck!
 
Thanks, yvonne! My son simply refuses to pee or poo onto the kiddo potty after days of attempt. At first, he will pee or poo at corners of our house. Today, he started to pee in the shower cubicle. He still refuse to pee into the kiddo potty. Will throw tantrum then hv a meltdown. Still a long way to go.
 
Hi Tam

Wow...compared to what you have done, I feel that I have done so little for my child.

Some times I just feel that I don't have that much energy and time to go into all the details to do all these little bits to help him. Am also starting to feel that I have neglected the little bro at home
sad.gif


Any secret to share in coping with your son plus his other sibling?
 
Hi Adeline

You have to be really patience to toilet-trainmhim and do not give up.

It took us about half a year to fully toilet trained my boy. He drinks a lot of water and thus, pees very frequently especially when he was younger and we had to do a lot of cleaning up after him. Try not to reprimand him as it might only frightens him and made him more 'closed-up'. Instead, try to encourage and give him praises each time he manages to pee into right places, i.e. toilet bowl, urinal, potty. He will gradually do it correctly
happy.gif
 
Hi odae
i guess it helps alot that i can stay home and not work, and help from maid to do cooking n housework. when my elder son goes to morning kindy, i actually stay at home with my younger one. n when elder son back from morning kindy, i let them eat lunch, then send younger one to afternoon CC til 5.30pm. so that i can time to ferry elder to arc/ at home one to one teaching. hence it will be very helpful if u can drive.. will save lots of time..
but still, at most times, i will only have my bf/lunch at 2/3pm... now my tummy very flexible...ha ha
 
i guess i am also very busy cos i also help with hubby's business to do corp secretariat n accounts for a few companies.. else i think i can cope without maid
 
Hi Doobie Doo

i think you shld start bringing him for assessment asap. i wld suggest u queue up for CDU at both nuh n kkh. with the preferred ones under referral. to get referral, u need to q up at polycinic first. cos Every subsequent visits incl ST n OT under CDU will be subsidised if u hv the referral in the FIRST vist.
 
Hi yvonne, can you sms the name and contacts of your son's ot and slt? My hp # 94312090. Currently i'm going to balestier tower. Travelling to n fro by bus takes 3 hrs each time.
 
Hi odae, tks! Still a long way for us to go.


Hi tam, i'm planning to quit my job to take care of my kids . Hopefully i can pick up driving as well
 
Hi Tam,

I was following all the threads about your son's schooling experience and find it very informative. Would like to find out how you decided on schoolhouse by the bay in the end as compared to many other CC? Is it due to proximity to your house or recommendation by others? or did u just chanced upon it? I'm espcially impressed by the fact that they have a parent observation room.

I'm currently still looking for a suitable CC for my son since my last posting in Oct. His current CC don't know how to handle him and just let him be. I'm worried that if I put him in another CC, it'll be the same experience. But your postings have shown me that mainstream CC can also be helpful.

I have been to Genesis at West Coast and the Green Room (Turf city) but these are programmes for SN kids only and no integration with mainstream children and they're also very far from where I live in the east. Now I'm actually in dilema on whether to send him to either one as he'll not have the opportunity to interact with other mainstream children.

May I know what was your son's diagnosis? My son was diagnosed as moderate-severe ASD and I'm always curious if my comparison with other mum's experiences may be wrong as my son's development may be much slower.
 
Hi Yvonne/Odae,

How to train him not pee at night? Daytime, my son able to tell(like hold my hand to bring him to toilet) when he want to pee or poo. At night, I will bring him to pee before he going to sleep but sometimes he still pass urine at the bed when he asleep. How to avoid this? Next year Jan he turn 3.
 
Hi jevinmum, my son is non verbal, cannot request nor pointing. Actual age is 3 yrs n 2 mths while development age is merely 1 year. Can you imagine how stressful am i as the days passes? Sigh........
 
Hi Jevinsmum
my son was diagnosed as mild. hence u are right, it may not be right to compare experiences.. i see that u are already sending him to Epic at Metta in the morning thrice per week, is it possible to send him to ARC in afternoon?

as for the integration with normal children, i think it will not 'just happen' naturally. cos they need to be 'taught'. eg to tap on someone if the person did not seem to hear u.. and not to tap too many times or too hard.. hence support from teachers is very important. i know one parent send her boy to Odyssey.. very ex but they seem to have good support. there's one branch near mountbatten.

what is his obsessions currently? is it possible to join a interest group instead? eg music, arts and crafts, gym?
 
Hi Jevinsmum

as for the selection of schoolhouse, one of the main factor is that parents are feel free to go into the school (the CC) and peep at them if they are in playground, canteen or gym area..or observe them in observation room while they are in class. they also limit to one SN kid in each class (about 18-20 in a class). but to benefit from there, i think is important that the teachers are aware of his condition and how to handle him. hence parent has to let the teachers know. eg what to do during meltdown, how to make him sit and listen to class. rather than leave the teachers to figure out cos they are not SN teachers.
 
i remembered i learned so much as to how to handle my boy when i attended ARC with him. it was 'parent-accompanied' class then when it was one to one session. i also attended a number of parent training class and read up library books and websites..
to summarise, i think parent training is very important cos only you, as the mother, knows your child best..
 
Hi Yee/Yeelan
my younger son who is normal at 3+ still put on diaper at night. i remembered my elder one stop put on diaper at night after 4.
 
Hi Adeline

good to know tat u r planning to be SAHM too. cos i realise that i truly understand him after i spend 'quantity' time and focused on him.. i actually used cane on him before..and truly regret. but totally stop and he is 'disciplinable' by other alternatives eg 'time out', or 'counting down' or 'give choices' or 'token system'.

as for toilet training, we trained both our kids while they are about 1. is actually easier to trian while they are still babies..they go diaperless at day time before 2.
 
HI Adeline

when my son at 3+, he was also very very difficult to handle. when i thought terrible 2 was finally over, but this terror 3 was horrible!! so don't be stressed, it will get much better as they mature.
 
Hi Yee! You can try getting you kid to pee say at 2 am. Then, try to bring the time earlier to 1am after couple of days... Till you reach his actual bedtime. A friend of mine successfully used this method. Think might be easier to use kiddy potty than to drag a sleeping child to the toilet.

I only bothered to toilet train my boy for night time when I noticed that his diapers were dry most of the mornings. He was 3 plus then. I made sure his last pee was at least half an hour after his last drink for the day and immediately before bedtime.

Think your child is doing great! From what I've gathered from friends, even some regular kids pee in their beds sometimes.
 
Thanks all mummies advice..

Maybe I too "kean cheong".. hehe..

Btw,how to improve eye contact & response becoz his eye contact & response not consistent?
 
Hi tam, thks for e sharing. I'd considered ARC in afternoon but I think that they've got long wait list. Hv to try other alternatives. Currently still at e crossroad of deciding to send him to one of those sped sch mentioned like divinity, genesis etc, or cross my fingers & wait for his acceptance by e ICCP program or continue my search for another CC.

Hi Kath,
how's e search for new cc coming along for yr child? U found a suitable one already in e east?
 
Hi Tam

Ya...I agree being able to stay home full time and have an extra pair of hands to help out in the house will be good. We tried out a few domestic helpers before and juz couldn't find a suitable one
sad.gif


Had attended the childcare giver talk few days back and the speaker strongly encourages us to use pictorial guides... The URL you had given is also listed in the handouts
happy.gif
Wow! Now the thought of having to start all things from scratch sounds so overwhelming but I still have to give it a try!

Any lobang where I can get cheap craft materials such felt, velcro, etc.? Need to hunt for a laminating machine over the wkend.
 
Hi Yee

I find your boy is doing great since he can already tell you his needs during day time! You may try to get him to pee juz before going to bed
happy.gif


Once a while my son will still wet his bed at night especially when he's too sound asleep so we still put him on diaper at night juz to be safe though most of days he wakes up with the diaper being dry.

Sometimes my son will get up abt 2am to pee and we have a potty near him so that he'll not stumble far out of his bed. Initially he'd get up several times a night juz to relieve himself and it was very disruptive to his sleep.

For eye contact, let's say if you want to ask your son if he wants anything such as food, you might want to bring the item close to your face.
Not sure if you wanna try this...when my son gets too engrossed with his activities/ TV progs, I had to call out his name repeatedly and asked him to look at my eyes. If he still doesn't, I'll asked him 'where are mummy's eyes? Isit here (pointing to other parts of the face)?' and he does look up and smiles and responds to my questions.
 
Hi Jevinsmum

Can provide feedback on the cc (ICCP) that your son is attending now?

Cos' I'm might have to put my son in one...but still considering & also waiting for the centre to contact me too. Learned that my son will be in a smaller class with a more perm teacher assigned to his class next yr under the current mainstream cc so I will like him to stay put as much as possible unless his progress is otherwise.
 
Hi Odae

for cheap materials like velcro, u can try those chain stores located in amk, bedok, haig road etc. they are selling household stuffs like batteries, torchlights, kitchen racks,bulbs.

and speaking of finding maids, i am now training my very new maid who is here for the 3rd day. i just send away the very experienced one who speak mandarin and cook and good with housework.. cos she hd been giving us alot of stress by her black faces and refusing to listen to instructions. sometimes we even reluctant to come home to face her! her attitude changed alot after we send her back to myanmar to attend to her father's funeral for one week..
 
Hi Yee and Odae
for eye contact, i used to lower my head to face him so that he will look at me.. however i realise that he will 'imitate' me and when he want to get someone's attention, eg his friend, he will also put his face close to his friend's face.. hence i thought it does not seem 'socially appropriate' cos his friend's intuitive reaction is to move away and he will 'follow' and move his head accordingly... so we actually use 'tapping' to get attention.

to get consistent eye contact, ARC teacher actually use 'look' flash card to remind them to look at the person when talking to them.. or 'pretend' did not hear them when they are talking to them without looking. n if they do, they will praise him and say "good looking at teacher" and will then attend to their requests. we are told to give as much facial expressions and body language as much as possible so that they 'can see' better.
 
Hi
Can I join this thread because the other one in Matters of the Heart is dead

Well for me, I also suspect that my 21mth old son is autistic

His traits:
- likes wheels and ceiling fans
- speech delay, can't even call papa or mama, just making baby sounds
- doesn't use index finger to point
- likes to look at straight lines on the wall and will walk along it and look at it at the corner with his eyes
- recently like to throw tantrums if he don't get it his way (but I don't know if this is the normal behaviour for terrible 2 or is a conditional behaviour for autistic child)d
- doesn't seem to like playing with children his age, but I seen him enjoying himself when playing with older kids, especially hide and seek.
- he likes to clap his hands even when there's no reason to do so. But will clap too if we praise him for doing something right.
- cling to us or cry if we bring him to a room of strangers and take at least 15 to 20 mins to warm up.

however, he does
- have eye contact when we call him (although not all the time, but most of the time, he will look at us, when he want something)
- will take toys to us to play with him,
- will let us know when he wants to poo and will run to get his potty
- can eat on his own, using folk or spoon
- will play with a variety of toys but likes thomas
- bring book for me to read to him
- and sometimes when I play with him, he will take turns with me. Like after he press something on the iphone, he will look up, look at me and wait for me to press, then he will press again.
- will feed me food if I say, "give mummy mum mum".
- and sometimes, will give a hi-fi to strangers in the lift if we tell him to do so

I will be getting KKH to assess him but I am starting speech theraphy first, have made appointment.

But I would like to hear from you mummies, how severe is the case for my son in your opinion

I just can't help but cried my lungs out when I realised I have a son that has special needs, its very hard to come to terms with it and I really blame myself, what did I do wrong to deserve this and my son has to suffer.
 
Hi Scrumpee
is good that u are wary and acting on fast.. as your son is pretty young, some of the 'traits' could be due to developmental delay and can catch up once he matures. eg. throwing tantrums. i realise that my son's frequent tantrums were due to his inability to communicate then.. and your son can play 'hide n seek' before 2. my son could not even after 3. as it involve ability to 'perceive' the other person's intentions/limitations.

i used to hv negative thots too.. but on the bright side, i realise how innocent n pure these children are.. they are not manipulative and deceptive and very sincere.. accept and love the way they are.. ;)
 
Adeline,

Think you mite consider getting another person to join in the hide-n-seek, eg. you go n hide, n your hubby can lead him to look for you ?
happy.gif
do it a few times then slowly you can have the hide-n-seek without your hubby assistance. Have Fun
happy.gif
 
Hi maybe I should clarify, the hide n seek that
My son plays is more of catching. He will run n laugh when we pretend to chase after him, he will look back at us to see if we r running after him. As for hide n seek, we did a mini demo just now, he sort of get it.

Do any of your children play catching?
 


You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Seeking Insights and Experiences on Family Virtue Education in Singapore
Replies
0
Views
476
jam peter
J
V
Any Mummies confinement experiences in Johor Bahru (JB)?
Replies
0
Views
222
VL2024
V
M
seeking recommendations for remote-view baby cam
Replies
0
Views
2K
moonlighter
M
T
If u r looking for a good TCM for your kids, pls go to HERBALONE at royal square
Replies
0
Views
480
Tan Family
T
D
Paid online study for mothers & children aged 4-6 ($20 via PayNow)
Replies
0
Views
2K
dojo11
D

Back
Top