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By Desiree Kaur<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n This piece was first published on <\/em>Makchic.com<\/em><\/a> on 1 March 2018. <\/em><\/p>\n There is no parenting book or blog that can prepare you for the moment you have to utter the words \u201cMy child has autism\u201d.\u00a0<\/em>A week after I received this official diagnosis, it suddenly dawned on me \u2013\u00a0What did I know about autism?\u00a0<\/em>The answer scared me: Not enough.<\/p>\n If only there was a how-to guide that magically appeared on my phone on demand, I thought.\u00a0 In case you find a similar need to know more, I hope the following information and resources that I had to go through are helpful.<\/p>\n Autism Spectrum Disorder \u2013 also known as ASD \u2013 is a development disorder where the brain doesn\u2019t develop in a typical manner. Symptoms include repetitive behaviour, inability to develop social skills and difficulty acquiring language. There may also be a lack of eye contact and interests or obsessions with only certain things. The\u00a0Raising Children\u2019s website<\/a>\u00a0offers plenty of useful and practical insights on autism.<\/p>\n It can be diagnosed as early as\u00a018-months<\/strong>\u00a0by a Child Development Consultant \/ Developmental Paediatrician, Child Psychiatrist, Child Psychologist or Paediatric Neurologist. An assessment will be conducted with the parents and child. It takes approximately one to two hours. Parents will be asked about their family history, the pregnancy and the child\u2019s development since birth. The specialist will also interact with the child. They will observe their behaviour and conduct small tasks with them before completing the assessment. The specialist typically provides a diagnosis immediately and recommends next steps such as therapy or any additional tests.<\/p>\n The level of autism determines how much support the child needs.\u00a0 There are three levels of classification for autism:<\/p>\n Level 1 \u2013 Requiring support<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Level 2 \u2013 Requiring substantial support<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Level 3 \u2013 Requiring very substantial support<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n For more information on these levels, read \u2018Making Sense of the 3 Levels of Autism\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Occupational Therapy, also known as OT, is usually conducted by a qualified Occupational Therapists (typically degree holders). OT provides a personalised approach to address concerns in the areas of self-esteem, cognitive, motor skills, and physical and sensory issues. While the diagnosis is already rendered by a doctor, the occupational therapist will assess the child in order to plan sessions that will be beneficial. Therefore, it is common practice for the first session to cost more than the follows ups.<\/p>\n Speech Therapy is also recommended for non-verbal toddlers with autism. It is usually conducted by a Speech Therapist or sometimes known as Speech Language Therapist (SLT). They are not doctors but specialists to aid with language learning issues, speech, listening and writing skills. There are even some who specialise in eating difficulties. It is important to note that not all speech therapists work with children, therefore remember to search for Paediatric or Child Speech Therapists. Similar to OT, the first session is usually an assessment and will cost more than follow up sessions. The Malaysian Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (MASH) publishes a comprehensive list of SLTs across the country\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I define EIPs\u00a0 loosely as kindergarten for toddlers and children with special needs. Most EIPs are designed as half or full day programmes, depending on the approach and centre. It usually incorporates various elements of Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Physical or Physiotherapy for children with special needs. Most EIP accept children from 3 years and above. Younger children require recommendations from an Occupational Therapist prior to enrolment. EIP also prepares children with special needs for primary school (typical or special needs schools).<\/p>\n Yes, sometimes the doctor may recommend it depending on the child\u2019s level of autism. Also, bear in mind not all kindergartens will accept children with special needs. There is always a concern about more severe cases where violent behaviour is present. Some kindergartens actually cater for both typical and special needs children, with occupational therapists kept on staff.\u00a0 Some kindergartens do not provide therapists but are open to accepting special needs children on a case-by-case basis. However, before you visit a typical kindergarten, be sure to call ahead and ask if they accept special needs children.<\/p>\n My discovery, although uphill, doesn\u2019t have to be for everyone. Only much later did I discover that special needs is more common than I realised, and all I had to do was reach out. Along my journey, I have become acquainted with some pleasant people who shared some of their experiences with me. There is still so much I don\u2019t know and I continue to learn with each therapy session my son attends.\u00a0 Yes, it is definitely overwhelming but I am thankful each day for a supportive family to lean on. My husband tells me to slow down from time to time and I am grateful to have someone tell me\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s ok to slow down.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0So, if you are a mummy new to autism like me, I would like to say \u201cIt\u2019s ok to take a break and slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n This article was written by Desiree Kaur for Makchic.com Project Haans is a self funded initiative. If you would like to support Desiree\u2019s work and Project Haans, you can do so via BuyMeACoffee here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n There is no parenting book or blog that can prepare you for the moment you have to utter the words \u201cMy child has autism\u201d. A week after I received this official diagnosis, it suddenly dawned on me \u2013 What did I know about autism? The answer scared me: Not enough. <\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","footnotes":""},"categories":[77,85,3,4,83,10,5,84,1],"tags":[25,15,12,38,51,64],"class_list":["post-990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-autism","category-eip","category-education","category-news","category-occupational-therapy","category-parents","category-special-needs","category-speech-therapy","category-uncategorized","tag-advocacy","tag-autism","tag-inclusion","tag-neurodiversity","tag-parent-initiatives","tag-support"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":5}},"acf":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956.jpg",1512,2016,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956-225x300.jpg",225,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"large":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956-768x1024.jpg",768,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956-1152x1536.jpg",1152,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956.jpg",1512,2016,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/IMG_9956.jpg",9,12,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable":" There is no parenting book or blog that can prepare you for the moment you have to utter the words \u201cMy child has autism\u201d. A week after I received this official diagnosis, it suddenly dawned on me \u2013 What did I know about autism? The answer scared me: Not enough. <\/p>\n","category_list":"Autism<\/a>, Early Intervention Programs<\/a>, Education<\/a>, News<\/a>, Occupational Therapy<\/a>, Parents<\/a>, Special Needs<\/a>, Speech Therapy<\/a>, Uncategorized<\/a>","author_info":{"name":"Desiree Kaur","url":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/author\/nevyr-haans\/"},"comments_num":"0 comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1199,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/990\/revisions\/1199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projecthaans.com\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is Autism?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
How is Autism diagnosed?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Levels of Autism<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Occupational Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Speech Therapy<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Early Intervention Programmes\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What about a typical kindergarten as an option?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Mummies, it is okay<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\nDesiree is the founder of Project Haans and mother to Haans, the inspiration behind this project. Writing is her passion and she hopes the Spectrum of Voices will become a space for people to share their stories, learning, strategies and have their voices heard.<\/p>\n![\"logo.png\"](\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/60f8120a6908143274ff04a7\/1626956548367-C2XL1XHBYWJUS4JQRGR3\/logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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