Autism & Other Disabilities Support Thread

[janix athena]

@sis cheesecak3, I'm happy to hear that your son is showing a lot of improvement. Sabi ng article na nabasa ko sis some pre-natal factors which may cause of autism are:

Taking antidepressants during pregnancy, especially in the first 3 months
Nutritional deficiencies early in pregnancy, particularly not getting enough folic acid
The age of the mother (children born to older fathers also have a higher risk of autism)
Complications at or shortly after birth, including very low birth weight and neonatal anemia
Maternal infections during pregnancy
Exposure to chemical pollutants, such as metals and pesticides, while pregnant

Did any of these happen in your pregnancy?

And also, what do you recommend sa mga tao na hindi ma-afford ang mga therapy for their kids? So that we can help the child without having to spend much. Masakit kasi sa bulsa.

[Cheesecak3]

^For my son sis hindi ko alam kung ano talaga ang factor kasi the moment na alam kung buntis ako sobrang nag ingat ako. Nakabed rest pa nga ako the whole time kasi prior to him I got 2 miscarriages. Even researchers wala talagang masabing malinaw about sa case na yan.

Nong una kong nalaman na special child ang anak ko, sobrang sakit talaga. Kasi eldest namin sya at nag alala ako sa future nya. Nong umpisa denial pa ako pero eventually natanggap ko din at don na ako naghanap ng best therapy centers for him. Hindi naman kasi pwede na mag emote lang ako tapos hindi ako kikilos para sa development ng anak ko.

Don sa hindi ma-afford ang therapy, siguro try nilang magresearch kung ano ang gagawin nilang tulong kapag nasa bahay ang bata. I suggest na ipasok din nila sa school para madevelop ang socialization ng bata. Yong ibang parents kasi na may special child, usually tinatago nila ang anak nila. Hindi nila nilalabas kaya ang nangyayari mas lumala sila.

Ang anak ko kasi kung nasa public sya, hindi halata na special child sya. Kaya na naming kumain sa restaurant na hindi sya maingay. Nanunuod din sya ng sine kasama namin. Kapag sumakay kami ng eroplano hindi sya nag tantrums unlike other special childs. So kailangan lang talaga exposure sa mga bagay bagay.

I strongly suggest pa rin na mag therapy sila, kasi iba talaga maghandle ang mga SPED teachers sa ganitong case. Alam na alam nila kung papano i-deal sila. Tapos follow up na lang sa bahay kung ano man ang tinuturo sa kanila.

[twelve5]

I got an email from a friend. Her kid was diagnosed with autism... I have not returned her email for a week now since i dont how to "react properly."

Im saddened by the news but What do i say to her? I dont want her to feel "kawawa" but at the same time i dont want to "downplay the situation." I dont know if im making sense to any of you here. 

If you find this post insensitive, pls accept my apologies. It wasnt my intention. Dumb question lang talaga.

[janix athena]

^No I don't think yours is a dumb question sis. It's a very valid question and I won't know how to react either if I'm in your shoes. Maybe our sisses with firsthand experience will be more competent to give advice. Sorry I don't have any answer for you but I want to assure you you are not offensive.

[twelve5]

^ thanks sis. 

Mahina kasi ako sa mga ganitong situation. Iyakin pa ako. So baka instead of me comforting her eh siya pa mag comfort sakin. Hehe

[blissme]

hi mga mommies my son diagnosed ASD.. nag OT cya 3x/week... i still wonder kung ano ba pnag kakaiba ng ASD, GDD, mild autism.. bago pa [textspeak!] kc ako about it.. and honestly takot na ko mg ka baby ulit, possible ba kc na autism [textspeak!] susunod kong anak?

[cocomarie]

try searching for autismpinoy, it was created by a mom who has a child with autism.  you will learn a lot from other parents too who share their experiences with their child. 

[ghichy]

Ilan percent ba ang risk ng autism sa mga pinoy, para napansin ko nagiincrease na, unlike before usually caucasian marami. All i know is boys are 4x more at risk than girls.

[tabbru]

We are sad because my 18-month-old nephew is 'within the autism spectum', although kakapacheck nya lang at inoobserbahan pa. Tsk, on the objective side, I know na napakahirap ng pagdaraan ng brother ko at gf niya because of their child's condition. I admire most the parents of special children, talagang sobrang love, sacrifice, at commitment ang ibubuhos nila para sa mga anak nila.

[Cheesecak3]

^I agree with you sis. Kailangan talaga ng matinding sacrifice para mas magampanan lahat ng special needs nila.

Update for my son's condition:

He can now memorize ABC with corresponding words. Mas clear na rin ang words nya ngayon. Less tantrums na rin at nag improve na rin skills nya. So kailanga naming bumalik sa DevPed nya para maevaluate ulit sya.

We also decided na i-pull out na sya sa Regular school nya kasi don hindi sya masyadong nag enjoy. hindi sya nag paparticipate sa school kahit alam nya ang activities, stress syang pumasok don sa sabi ng SPED Teachers nya baka mas makasama pa sa kanya yon lalo kaya focus muna kami sa intervention nya tapos pwede na syang magjoin sa group class for socialization.

They recommend na 3 times a week na ang SPED and 1 a week ang OT para mas lalong madevelop sya. Maganda na kasi ang focus nya ngayon kaya dapat ma take advantage yon para mas madami syang matutunan.

Nakakatuwa lang kasi when we had our conference, wherein I met his teachers and school admins, sobrang love nila ang anak ko. Nararamdaman ko na kahit hindi nila kaano ano ang anak ko ganon nila ka love.

I hope all the special kids can experience those attention and love they needed.

[gripfast]

hi sis cheesecak3, ask ko lang if saan may mga seminars about autism? I really want to attend and sabi din ng bf ko, we should start talking to parents na may anak who was diagnosed with autism. It will really help us talaga.

I still believe na my son will change his behavior. He is very responsive naman, when you smile at him, he will smile back at you. we can teach him new things and nakukuha nya agad. mag hearing test kami today, honestly, gusto ko nga problem na lang sa auditory nya eh. at least yun, magagawaan ng paraan agad.

[Cheesecak3]

^hindi pa ako nakaattend ng seminar sis pero yong sa school ng anak ko don pwede kong mameet every Sem ang teachers nya.

mas maganda magstart na kayong magpa intervention the earlier you started it the better ang result.

Goodluck!

[marose17]

@gripfast, there is an organization called Autism Society of the Philippines (or something like that).   May annual conventions or conferences yata yan because my boss whose son has ASD attends those.  Try asking your dev pedia for support group recommendations.

[dulcette]

mag hearing test kami today, honestly, gusto ko nga problem na lang sa auditory nya eh. at least yun, magagawaan ng paraan agad.

what exactly are his concerns sis and why did they recommend him for a hearing test?

[gripfast]

what exactly are his concerns sis and why did they recommend him for a hearing test?

selective hearing daw kasi ang son ko. if you shout his name, he will look at you. so baka daw may problem ang hearing nya. actually, pansin din namin yun with him. whenever we would tell him to stop doing a certain thing na ayaw namin we would tell him NO. he wouldn't respond pero if me and my bf would raise our voice a little, he would look at us and walk away dun sa ginagawa nya.

actually alam na ng son ko na whenever we say NO, he should not do it. kaya medyo di rin talaga ako sure if autism nga to. he responds well but sometimes hindi. he would respond to his name when called but not all the time. parang namimili sya eh.

[dulcette]

^ i doubt he has a problem with hearing per se (as in perception of sound). baka naman selective attention or selective listening?

[gripfast]

^ i doubt he has a problem with hearing per se (as in perception of sound). baka naman selective attention or selective listening?

we dont actually know eh. what is the difference is selective attention or selective hearing? can we correct that by therapy? thanks!

[dulcette]

^ in clinical terms kasi sis, hearing = the actual perception of sound, as in can the child hear pure tone? can he hear different sounds? no meaning attached yet. Listening = something someone consciously chooses to do, from here your brain processes further, including meanings. as you put it the child sometimes understands NO pero inconsistently.

by the way you put it, the hearing test is to be done by an audio? i doubt magiging positive siya for hearing loss. the child's problem must underly not from hearing. if not, then hindi siya magiging "magagawan ng paraan agad".

this can be habilitated through therapy though. your child may need other intervention as well. signs of autism dont show up well until a child turns 2yrs.

[snowyice]

@gripfast sis pa check mo na lang muna sa developmental pedia yung anak mo kakausapin ka naman ng dev ped during the assessment sabihin mo na lang na ganun na nga ang problem. Kapag sa hearing tingin ko hindi na therapy ang makakatulong sayo.  I have 2 friends na may autism na anak parehong mild.  Yung isa hindi namamansin kapag tinatawag dapat malakas ang boses but no hearing problem ayun through therapy ok naman na pero mga 5 years na yata siyang tinetherapy.  Yung isa naman until now no improvement as in almost everyday na tinetherapy and ang suspect is hearing problem gusto nila ipacheck yung bata pero hindi naman nakikipag cooperate kaya ayun tinetherapy na lang muna.
Magpa sched ka na as early as now sis dahil mahaba ang pila sa dev ped.

[dulcette]

^ i think not sis, if not therapy, then what? part din naman kasi ng therapy yung magturo sa bata and family ng functional skills for the child so that at least pag the parents are too old to support the child, meron pa ring magagawa yung bata. and the fact that hindi naman yung one-hour per week/day therapy sa clinic ang mahalaga, mas mahalaga yung almost 24-hours siyang nasa bahay kaya't dapat finafollow up talaga at home yung goals sa bata. it's a case-to-case basis din naman so, we can't know for sure. besides they shouldve had the child checked for hearing before undergoing therapy at sayang yan if the problem is hearing talaga and not listening, meron namang ibang ways to check hearing that don't need the child to attend or behave. some tests even need the child to be asleep.

next time you go to the devped sis ask if he wants a screening or an eval, magkaiba kasi yun. screening is to know whether your child needs intervention, eval is to know the skills of the child for therapy na. also ask if the child needs OT rather than ABA. later on after age two you might find communication problems and you may need an SP as well.

i have patients today that are hearing impaired (profound HI -- candidate for cochlear implants) and those with auditory processing disorders (finds it hard to listen, may interchange sounds, poor auditory memory etc) and they all improved through therapy -- because very supportive ang parents and they follow up my instructions at home and school.