for testing only

1. To: Sophie80 (and other parents whose child has a ‘special’ classmate)

3. I do not know who exactly Sophie80 is. She is a member of the Kiasu Parent forum. She joined on 18 Jan 2011. From what I can gather from her postings, she is a mother of a little girl studying in K1 in a PCF/PAP kindergarten in Bukit Panjang. I imagine her to be a young Singaporean mother with her first daughter entering K1.On 25 Jan 2011 she wrote...

4. “And there is a 自闭症儿童 in the class which makes the teacher a little bit distracted by this kid. (To make it clear, I do not have discrimination on these special children, but from my point of view, they should not stay with normal children. ) How can they allow this happens? I don’t understand. So I am thinking of changing to a private kindergarten, even it costs much more.”

5. “yeah, i think other parents complained on this. So they let the kid's mother stay in the classroom. But it is still weird. This kid lives in her own world and she has no response on anything, she cannot communicate and play with others. ”

6. “Sometimes she suddenly stand up and do something dangerous. Her behaviour cannot be predicted. The teacher has to be very fast to stop her, heard from other parents.My concern is all these will have negative effect on the rest of the 19 normal students. I don’t want my girl to be affected or harmed by her.”

8. I hope I can answer the questions raised by Sophie80

10. I will start with this…

11. Autism is NOT a diseaseIt is NOT caused by a virus

12. Your little girl won’t be infected by autism from her classmate

13. Your little girl won’t be infected by autism from her classmate

14. autism is a neurological condition

15. autism is a neurologicalcondition

17. The human brain is the most complex organ. It contains from 10 to 100 billion neurons, and each has hundreds of connections with neighbouring neurons.

19. Once a woman conceives a pregnancy, a new life starts. In the first eight weeks, it is just called embryo, while from that week to the end of the pregnancy, it is called fetus.

20. In the first two weeks of pregnancy, the fertilized egg is implanting inside of the uterus.

21. In the third week the heart, the backbone and the brain of the embryo start to form.

22. The brain continues to develop until middle age A recent insight has pointed out that the brain continues to develop until middle age. Earlier scientists used to believe that the brain stopped evolving physically in early childhood but new research has shown that the brain keeps changing well into middle age. Read more: http://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Shows-That-Brain-Continues-to-Develop-Until-Middle-Age-78212-1.htm

23. The brain continues to develop until middle age A recent insight has pointed out that the brain continues to develop until middle age. Earlier scientists used to believe that the brain stopped evolving physically in early childhood but new research has shown that the brain keeps changing well into middle age. Read more: http://www.medindia.net/news/Study-Shows-That-Brain-Continues-to-Develop-Until-Middle-Age-78212-1.htm

25. So the human brain actually develops over a long period of time…

27. …and no two brains develop exactly the same way…

28. every child is different…

29. every child is different… siblings don’t behave the same…

30. every child is different… siblings don’t behave the same… not even twins…

31. In fact, no two things created by the hands of God are alike…

32. No two trees in the forest are exactly the same height and have the same number of branches

33. No two clouds have the same colour

34. No two rainbows have the same length

35. unless we are talking about man-made stuffs produced in factories…

36. http://www.shaymcatee.com/projects/the-spirit-within/

37. Every child is a gift from God http://www.shaymcatee.com/projects/the-spirit-within/

38. and they are all different http://www.shaymcatee.com/projects/the-spirit-within/

39. but they all deserve the same love http://www.shaymcatee.com/projects/the-spirit-within/

41. Next, let’s talk aboutStatistics 101

43. A bell curve is a graph which depicts a normal distribution For example, human height often follows a bell curve.

44. Your child takes an IQ test. You get the score back. You learn that your child, with an IQ score of 150, falls into the highly gifted range. What does that mean?

45. Your child takes an IQ test. You get the score back. You learn that your child, with an IQ score of 150, falls into the highly gifted range. What does that mean?

46. The PSLE score that Singaporean parents are so obsessed about is also calculated based on bell curve

48. because autism is not a disease, it cannot be diagnosed using a blood test or a scan

49. Psychologist follows the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) to assess whether a child has autism or not…

50. The child sits though a series of assessments and then the score is computed and compared with all others on the bell curve

51. Statistically, an average of 1 in 110 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html

52. Statistically, an average of 1 in 110 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html

53. how many children are there in your block ?in your condo / apartment ?in your childcare / kindergarten and school ?

54. how many children are there in your block of flats ?in your condo / apartment ?in your childcare / kindergarten and school ? On average, 1 in 110 children has ASD !

55. In a classroom of pupils

56. some wear spectacles

57. some wear spectacles some don’t

58. some run faster

59. some run faster some don’t

60. some have neat hand-writing

61. some have neat hand-writing some don’t

62. some have higher-ability

63. some have higher-ability some don’t

64. some have good buddies

65. some have good buddies some don’t

67. Lets go back to the questions of Sophie80

68. “And there is a 自闭症儿童 in the class which makes the teacher a little bit distracted by this kid. (To make it clear, I do not have discrimination on these special children, but from my point of view, they should not stay with normal children. ) How can they allow this happens? I don’t understand. So I am thinking of changing to a private kindergarten, even it costs much more.”

69. what is the definition of “normal” ?

70. Just because some child has a diagnosis (having been through tests and have given a score on the ASD scale) and some don’t…and you have to separate them ?

71. Just because some child has a diagnosis (having been through tests and have given a score on the ASD scale) and some don’t…and you have to separate them ?

72. Some parents did not discover their children also have ASD until they are much older…

73. Some parents did not discover their children also have ASD until they are much older…

74. You think you can “protect” your “normal” child from less “normal” children by separating them and demanding children with special needs to go to a special school

75. When they grow up, they still have to learn how to live with all sorts of people in the society…there is no such thing as “special MRT”, “special MNC”, “special restaurant”, “special shopping centre”…

76. Teach your child to be aware that there are different people in this world

77. and be nice, be kind, accept and respect one another

78. “yeah, i think other parents complained on this. So they let the kid's mother stay in the classroom. But it is still weird. This kid lives in her own world and she has no response on anything, she cannot communicate and play with others. ”

79. Autism spectrum disorder has long remained a mystery to all but those afflicted. The disorder inhibits a person's ability to communicate or develop social relationships. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0

80. Carly Fleischmann, a 13-year-old girl with autism from Toronto was unable to speak a single syllable until two years ago, she started typing words with the help of specialized computer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0

81. Her inner voice speaks volumes. "I am an autistic girl who has learned to spell and can tell people to stop looking at me like I am helpless. I am cute, funny and I like to have fun," Carly writes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0

82. Her inner voice speaks volumes. "I am an autistic girl who has learned to spell and can tell people to stop looking at me like I am helpless. I am cute, funny and I like to have fun," Carly writes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0

83. Google for “carlys voice” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1uPf5O-on0

84. Just because you don’t know how to (or don’t want to) communicate with her, it does not mean that she has no feeling

85. “It is not a new problem. When my girl was in nursery there, this kid was also there. Her parents want her to stay with normal kids, but it is a bit selfish. Actually initially after balloting for K1 morning class, this girl is not in, but after school open we see her again. ”

86. You just built a fence

87. to keep her away from the rest

88. Who is the selfish one ?

90. Yeah !