Desperate ...Any mainstream preschool who accepts kids with mild ASD ?

cobbie

New Member
Hi,

I am new to this forum and has a 3 yo son who is suspected of mild ASD.
He started nursery not long ago but was rejected from school after less than a week trial because he is constantly moving around and not attending to lessons.

As he has not a formal diagnosis yet ( We're not sure to get him one, afraid he will be "labelled" for the entire of his academic life if he turns out to be just a slow developer ), he can't go to ICCP or other government programs.

As parents, our wish is for him to try out mainstream schools first so that he has the chance to mingle with other kids which will be helpful in his speech development.

Does anyone knows of any mainstream pre-schools who is tolerant of kids with mild special needs
? Or any good private special schools ? He is attending ABA therapy daily in the afternoons.

Thanks alot !
 

Mummy to Baby V

Well-Known Member
Hi cobble, I've little knowledge about ASD, just wish to share the little I know:

- young children need not learn speech from other young children. Their best teachers are their parents. You may seek help from therapists, and read on the ways to help your boy personally

- When my boy started attending Shichida weekly lessons, the principal did mention something about autism. I've also seen several children with Down Syndrome attending classes. I read that right brain education can help children with special learning needs. You may find out more from Shichida centres. If you can read Chinese, there are books at Popular Bookstore, translated from Prof Shichida's works. His name is 七田真.
Generally, the Shichida Method needs daily practices with the child.

Many special needs children are actually gifted in their unique ways (e.g. photographic memory, musical prodigies), they simply need a different learning method from so-called normal children.

There are many limitations in mainstream schools even for the average child.
One parent I know in KL has been homeschooling her special child for 6 years. He's mildly autistic yet very fast learner.

Hope you can find a solution soon. All the best! :)
 

Angelmum

Moderator
Does anyone knows of any mainstream pre-schools who is tolerant of kids with mild special needs
? Or any good private special schools ? He is attending ABA therapy daily in the afternoons.

Thanks alot !
Have you checked with MCYS intergrated childcare centres/preschool? mix with normal child.
 
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cobbie

New Member
Hi all,

Thanks for all your reply.

ICCP programs need a formal assessment which I have not yet done with my boy. Worried that this will mark him for life cos his condition is quite mild. He is progressing well with his ABA, now able to speak in single syllables with prompting sometimes. He is quite curious & sociable with no serious temper tantrums nor rigidity in daily routines. His main issue lies with his speech delay and some stimming behavior.

For PCF/PAP kindergartens, I have checked with mine near my place and they accept from 4 yo onwards. I have heard some feedback that some centers just let the kids wander on their own so I have reservations.

And my experience with his last mainstream nursery was a bad one. I was upfront with them on his condition and they're willing to give him a chance to see how he fit in.
And their so-called chance is only 3 lessons ( I was with him for the first lesson ) and they kicked him out on the morning of the 4th day. And their reasons given are lame at best. Even normal kids will not adjust to a new environment so fast. So my conclusion is they are prejudiced against kids with mild special needs. If so, they should not have accepted him in the first place. I'm still in a tussle with them to refund me my full registration fees. To me, it is not the $$$ but I just want my child to be treated fairly. It's high time that Singapore society learn to not just to look at everything in dollars and cents, where is the basic compassion and empathy towards the less fortunate ? They do not choose to be borne this way so please treat them fairly.

Nonetheless, I have enrolled him at St Gerard's cos they have a mainstream inclusion program which I find to be quite suitable for him. Hope he can adjust well there.
 
Hi !saw ur message while browsing web for other thing.I joined this forum especially for you today to share my own experience with you.I have a beautiful five years old child diagnosed with mild ASD,I've sent the child PCF for 2years and in meantime child attended EIPIC school which means two schools daily.What you really needed is EIPIC programmed school and Montessori school.EIPIC helped my child to learn all the basic holistic part,PCF didn't help much(sorry not bad mouthing PCF) because class ratio was huge so child end up not learning much.After changing the child to Montessori based preschool I saw a huge change.Earlier I thought of sending the child to Special school(primary) but after a while in Montessori preschool I've seen huge change.Next year my child will be attending mainstream primary school.So don't loose hope you just need to push harder this few years before your child reach primary school.I hope by now your child might be in EIPIC programmed school.regards mummy to a beautiful child
 

matrix

New Member
Agree with the above, forget abt PCF, they are quite poorly ran. Try the The First Skool, cheap and good. Montessori not better but they will charge u a bomb.
Your child should go for formal assessment. The doctor will determined which area he is lacking and recommend u therapies to help him close the gap. For mild ASD, should have no problem attending mainstream school.
Having special needs = very tiring care giver + expenses goes up + need to lower expectation (to no expectation) for child. As along as he don give u too much headache and he is trying his best, its enuff.
 

cobbie

New Member
Hi,

thanks for your reply. My child is now in a special school, I pulled him out of St Gerard's cos no progress.
he is doing well at the special school though I am considering sending him to mainstream school next year.
He is quite smart and has social intent. His biggest problem is language. he is doing home based ABA now and making progress. Language wise, brought him to a few speech therapists and I do with him at home now. Has made slight improvement but very slow. he can't listen well and still at requesting stage. Tends to just use 1 word, has to prompt him to ask him to request in full sentences which he is capable of. Eye contact wise, at play very good, when talking, only look at you very briefly, tends to avoid your gaze. He verbal stims at times when he is bored or happy or stressed but he can control his stims outside.
He is mild to moderate ASD. But I start to feel that he may not have a chance at mainstream schooling Cos of his language delays.
but he is a happy boy, always smiling, he has no rigidity nor meltdowns. and his compliance has improved greatly with age. He likes people and children, just his language is affecting his social as well.
I tried everything even baseless alternative therapies. I am coming to accept him for who he is. ASD is really a brain wiring thingy.
the important thing is that he has improved and continue to do so. I no longer mind if he goes to a special school next time. all I wish is for him to take care of his daily needs and be independent. financially, we just have to leave him lots of $ ( 1 million at least ) so that he can survive. So when he is 7yo, I will return to work to save him enough $. Being a special needs parent involves many many many sacrifices which others can't even imagine, but every little step our children made, makes us so very happy. So this journey is filled with lots of tears and lots of joy too ! Take care and cheers : )
 

matrix

New Member
The child needs time to develop. The therapist will ask u to come back for more sessions (more money) but these normally can't accelerate his progress. The more cost effective method is to find a therapist who can teach u & him skills/exercises to do with him at home, then visit the therapist to check progress and learn new tricks when he progresses.
No meltdown + independent + happy boy = not so happy, yet much happier. There are even more challenging cases.
Finance, for $1M budget, alternative is to buy him a 99 yr shoebox (less than $1M) for rental income.
 

cobbie

New Member
Hi,

yes, a property investment is good idea. I always tell myself there are far worst cases than us so we should take heart in that. So I never compare him to normal children. It is so unfair to him cos he is just borne different. We are happy as long as he progresses day by day. Sometimes miracle do happen.
 

megmom

New Member
Hi Cobbie hope my info here is not too late. I have actually called every preschool in AMK, Bishan, Woodlands n check out dozens of preschool n many prefer not to take in special needs children. My gal has developmental delay with motor coordination issues. 1. Wee Care 127 Devonshire road Tel 68361450 or Wee care @everton park tel : 62277162 2. Genesis School @ West Coast Road TeL : 6733 1172 3. Kits4kits (HQ@ L Telok Kurau) Tel : 6345 8812 4. Divinity Especial Needs @ Bishan TeL :6459 9552 5. St Calre School @ upper Aljunied Rd Tel : 6284 1909 6. The Green Room @ Turf Club Tel : 6462 2566 7. Ichiban nurtureland Kindergarten @ Hong San Walk Tel : 6765 8426 8. The Special People @ Medway Drive : Tel 6283 3907 9. Zee School @ Wareham Rd Tel : 6440 0090 10. St Gerard's School @ Mt Sophia Tel : 6333 9226
 

joeichen

Member
Hi Cobbie,


Hope I'm not late.
I've got a ASD boy but lucky he is consider mild.
He was diagnosis late at about 5 years old. I had a hard time looking for a school where he can learn.
The previous school he was in just let him play on his own since he does not want to join the group and does not listen to the teachers but I was determine that my child cant be wasting his time like that.
I send him to a private childcare centre and hope the teachers can cope with him but I was so wrong. I got all the negative feedback from the school which keeps telling me that my boy is naughty, mischievous and violent.
In the end he was indirectly ask to withdraw after just 3 days.

I went searching for school again and all the special school which are expert in ASD are way too costly for me.
In the end I found this school at Fusionapolis.
They are not the cheapest or best in the line but they are full of passion and we can sense it when we went for the assessment.

My boy had been with them for 1 year and he is going to mainstream school next year.
His improvement makes me proud of him and once again proves that he is not what others think he is.

You might want to consider that school.
If you are interested you can PM me or do a search for cognitive development learning centre at fusionapolis.
 
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