Category: Articles

This poem is for my first grandchild, Malcolm MacDonald and for all the children who would say this to their parents if they could. I learn when you teach me I learn when you play with me I learn when we catch each other on the run, I learn what you want when you teach me I learn what I want when I play I learn what we both want when we play together, I learn least when you do what I cannot do I learn most when you act like me I learn best when we do it together, The more adult you act, the less I'll learn The more you act like me, the more I'll learn The more we act like each other, the more I'll become like you, Believe it or not, I'm learning all the time So just respond to the little things I do And I'll learn more and more, If I fail with you, I'll stay away If I...

Music Therapy has been established as a successful treatment modality for children with autism. Research has shown that children with autism show unusually heightened interest in music and as a result, music therapy is an effective therapeutic tool for children on the autism spectrum. Music therapy provides a primarily non-verbal environment that befits children with autism who lack verbal skills, to be willing to engage with others. When conducted by a professionally qualified music therapist, music therapy for children with autism addresses behavioural, psycho-social, emotional, communication, cognitive, perceptual and sensory motor skills, helping the child achieve a more integrated self. Each therapy session focuses on working towards achieving the goals of therapy, according to the child’s developmental readiness. Music is an effective medium that helps in increasing potential in children with autism as it is conducted in a non-threatening way that enables facilitation all the areas above. The music therapist observes the child’s behaviour and interactions and will conduct assessments to...

I’m Nikki and 13. My sister goes to a Special Learning centre. As August is Autism Awareness Month, I would like to share a short story with you about my little sister. At age four, Seanna was diagnosed to have autism. A condition no one can really explain. Some say it’s genetic, almost everyone we ever knew said it takes a little time, ‘she’ll snap out of it, you‘ll see’ and blah blah blah... She’s now eight years old and not so little. She enjoys KFC’s mashed potato, nuggets, and sausages, ice-cream you get the idea. She also seems to have taken a liking to very spicy food, that’s curry chicken or fish. What! I can’t even handle Maggi laksa! Every day her favourite TV shows, Shaun the Sheep and Mr. Bean The Animated Series comes on just before dinner and in between grunts from papa to go “makan”, she would keep one eye on the telly and bursting with fits of uncontrollable...

As the nurse called out “Sara”, I got up and led my daughter into the room, a rather child-friendly room. We were recommended by Dr. Stone, a family friend, to have an appointment with Dr. May, a child specialist. The review and observation took slightly more than half an hour. The doctor gently released her views that Sara’s action and behaviour resembled a child with autistic tendencies. That statement came as a bit of a shock to me as I would have thought my daughter, barely 3 ½ years old, has autistic tendencies. If the doctor had said she is hyperactive, I would have agreed. But, autistic tendencies…..it took a bit of time to accept and get on with it. Without much hesitation, I contacted people whom I knew had worked with autistic children and was advised that the next best thing to do was to get a second opinion. We made several visits to medical specialist from speech therapist to psychiatrist...

Simple things delight her. Like a small tiny doll, or a bird perched on our verandah or even a cat peering out from under a parked car. Every week, it will be the family routine to go for breakfast in Tanjung Aru and later after dropping my elder daughter at the church, we will be off to the beach where she will play in the park either at the swings or slides. My husband will be off feeding the fishes at the nearby pond. I will be accompanying Seanna and keeping an eye on her whenever she makes a move from one place to another. Whenever she ventures too far I will call her.  She will just turn to me and smile. That’s the sign that she is up to something!  The next thing I know she was making a dash for the water! My heart was racing, my head was throbbing, my leg muscles which haven’t been put on such...