Category News

News, events and happenings related to special needs.

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A Change of Approach

The 15th of May each year is PDA Day, an awareness day for Pathological Demand Avoidance which is currently understood to be a distinct profile on the autism spectrum. This profile is characterised by an anxiety driven need to avoid everyday demands and expectations and maintain control. Here is my story about how I came to completely change my approach to parenting, which may have happened so much sooner had my understanding and awareness of PDA come at an earlier point in our journey.

Part 2: Saluting Unsung Heroes

Our last piece titled Saluting Unsung Herores, put the spotlight on three individuals who are usually the first point of contact into the world of neurodiversity. In this piece, I would like to highlight the practitioners who work closely with neurodiverse individuals through Occupational Therapy (OT), Speech & Language Therapy (SLT), Special Education and creating inclusive spaces for all. These unsung heroes work tirelessly and have chosen this path for the love it.

Saluting Unsung Heroes

One of the most useful resources to me are the people who work with neurodiverse individuals everyday. They do this, because they choose to. This piece will highlight practitioners, what they do and their thoughts on stigmas around autism that need to be broken. This is the first of a 2-part series which will wrap up our series of articles themed “Breaking the Stigmas”, in April for Autism Awareness & Acceptance Month.

Embracing Autism with Love

This piece aims to shed some light on a key stereotype and stigma on autism - stims! There are interventions which aim to stop stims, linking it to behavioural issues thus defining autism as a behavioural disorder. When behaviour is assumed as a “problem” interventions focus on “fixing” the undesired behaviour.

The Autism Crisis Turnaround (ACT) Protocol

The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) recently organised a talk by Raun K Kaufman, where he shared insights into “Autism Meltdown Turnaround.”  The one and half hour session with international author, speaker and trainer left attendees wanting to learn more about the insightful techniques he shared which is part of the Autism Crisis Turnaround (ACT) Protocol.

Busting the Myths About Down’s Syndrome

When I was asked by Project Haans to write a piece about myths related to Down’s syndrome in conjunction with World Down Syndrome Day celebrations on the 21st of March, lines from the Serenity Prayer popped into my mind. This is because one of the most important lessons I have learned as a parent to a child with Down’s syndrome is to have the “serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Therapy Through Play (TTP) program by WRTS is back!

The Therapy Through Play (TTP) program run by We Rock The Spectrum (WRTS) Express Bangsar in collaboration with the Energy Source is back, for the third successive year! TTP is a program aimed to provide families with autistic children an opportunity to build their skills and confidence so they can conduct therapeutic activities with and for their own child(ren).

Become a Buddy to an Autistic Child

Embrace Autism Malaysia (EAM) consists of parents with autistic children who attended the SonRise Program, a loving approach for individuals with autism. The SonRise Program empowers parents with key insights and techniques to bond with their autistic children at any age. In 2021, we launched are very first EAM Buddy Program whereby we recruited Buddies to play with our kids, the SonRise way.

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