New

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Publicattion by Nurture
N Pods
P

Year 201
17 Issuee 1

Helpp! Myy chiild haas beeen diagn

d nosed withh

Auutism?? Whhat shhouldd I doo?

Feeeling a liittle lost and
a not sure
s where to beg gin? Fret not, you arent alone!
Mo oving
forrward fro om the diagnosis mmay seem
m difficult and maany paren nts have
thee same
q
question of o what next?.
n Here we sh
hare 5 sim
mple tipss to help you and
yo
our child g get starteed:

1. Get innformed
Learniing more about au utism is deefinitely a good step to
take after the e diagnosis. Gettingg informe ed about what
autism
m is can better
b pre
epare you for the future
f - what to

expecct from yo our child, schooling and interrvention options
etc., iit may help reduce e the anxiiety and worry
w youu may
have aand clarifyy any doub
bts. You caan consult various weebsites,
such aas www.autism.org.ssg, which pprovide useful and comprehennsive inforrmation on
n

autism
m.
2. Explorre your opttions for early intervvention
Early iinterventio
on involvees therapy and studie es have shown that tthe earlierr the
interv
vention takkes place, the more effective it is. There efore, an immportant step to
take following the
t diagno osis is to fi nd out wh
hat kind of therapy iss best suited for

your cchild and where
w your child cann receive this
t therap py. This oftten involvees an
assesssment and researching for the erapy centres or scho
ools and thhe range ofo therapiees
they ooffer. At Nurture Pod ds, we havve a comprrehensive assessmennt processs that will
help ddetermine what kind d of therappy will bennefit your child
c the mmost and set
s goals
for thee interven
ntion progrram.
We
W offer
a range of
o program
ms that w
will cater to your childs
c rannge of ne
eeds:

a) Our C
Centre forr Child Devvelopmentt and Earlyy Interventtion prograam will teaach your
child how to fuunction ind dependently, develo op your chhilds sociaal and logical skills
such as literacyy, fine and gross motor skills, social
s skills and self--regulation all in a
structured, multisensory teaching and learning enviro onment. It also prepaares your
child to integraate into mainstream
m m educatio on.

b) Our H
Home Baseed Interveention invoolves Appliied
Behaaviour Anaalysis (ABA). This indiividualized
d,
inten
nsive one-o on-one therapy will help deve elop your

childs cognitivve, social, language,, communication
and aacademic skills.

c) Our SSchool Sup pport Prog
gram will inntegrate your
y

child into the school
s envvironment,, promote
indeppendence, facilitate
e personal,, social and
intelllectual developmennt and estaablish a po
ositive
learn
ning enviroonment through shaadowing su upport.

d) Our SSocial Skillll Class will teach youur child coognitive sk
kills such ass perspecttive taking
g
and inference skill, and social
s skill s such as turn-taking
t g and sharring.

3. Suppport your child

Need dless to saay, one of the best ways to support
s yo
our child iis to show w continuoous
love and encourageme ent. Howeever child dren withh autism often need rigoro ous
uction and training
instru g to impprove theiir social skills andd indepen ndence. The
T
extennsive pareenting sup pport giveen at Nurture Pod ds, such aas one-to--one pareent

trainiing and weekly
w rep
ports, will equip youu with a better
b undderstandinng of autism
and tthe informmation of how best to meet the t needs of your cchild to en nable you to
caterr specific support
s to your childd at home. Progress reports wwill also be
e available to
you sso that youu can monitor their progress. Also,
A educcating youur family members
m a
and
thosee close to t your family
f caan be be eneficial as
a they iin turn can c provide

encouragemen nt and app
propriate ssupport for your chilld as well.

4. Supp port yourseelf
Not o only is sup
pporting yoour child important,, but supporting youurself as well is cruciial

for thhe good off you and your
y childd! Yes, its natural
n to find yoursself putting your chiild
first aand abovee all else, but
b findingg time for yourself to o indulge in your ho obbies,
interests and re elationships can givve you the much nee eded me-ttime to re ecuperate
your drive and energy to o support yyour child in the long run! Joinning paren nt supportt

groups where parents
p off children wwith autism share exxperiencess and adviice is
anoth her wondeerful way you
y can finnd supportt for yoursself.
5. Remain positivve
Therre may be many ups and dow wns in thee future -

you may face discouraging comments and stigma
from
m others, ju udgementtal looks ffrom stranngers due
to a tantrum or o difficultt behaviouur in publiic, or you
simpply feel likee you see no improvvement. Saad to say,

theree will alw ways be people w who judge e before
knowwing the full story. Remembber to ignore the
negaativity an nd focus more oon the positive!

Remember th hat there might nnot be one huge
imprrovement, but impro ovement m may come e in small
wavees - progressing an nd reachinng develo opmental
milestones one at a tim me. For moore inform mation on
our services,, visit www.nurtturepods.c com/our-
serviices/.

6. Remain positivve
Therre may be many ups and dow wns in thee

futurre - you u may face disccouraging
comments and a stigm
ma from m others,,
judgemental looks from m strangerss due to a
tantrrum or diffficult behhaviour in public, orr
you simply feel likke you see no o

imprrovement. Sad to saay, there w will alwayss
be ppeople who judge before
b knoowing the e
full story. Remember
R r to ignnore the e

negaativity and
d focus mo ore on thee positive!
Remember th hat there might noot be one e
hugee improvement, butt improvem ment mayy
comee in small waves - progresssing and

reaching deveelopmentaal milestonnes one att
me.
a tim


Attention Deficit Hyperacctive Dissorder - Myths aand Factts

Many miscconceptio ons and misunde rstandingss exist regardingg Attentiion Deficcit
Hyyperactivi
ty Disordeer (ADHDD). In fact, ADHD is among so ome of thhe most misconceive
m ed
medical connditions in n recent times!
t De bunking the
t myths behind A ADHD is necessary
n to

prrevent the spread off incorrectt beliefs annd the missattributio
on of causees for poor behaviou
ur.
He ere are 6 ccommon myths
m and the facts:

Myth1 : ADHD is a bo oy problemm

Faact: Thoug gh researcch suggestts that AD DHD is much more

coommon in boys, both boys and girls ccan have ADHD. A In
fact, there is a rather even rattio of malle to femaale adults
wiith ADHD! One reason for this myth is that boys are more
likkely than g
girls to bee referred to health professio
onals for a
diagnosis aas they are a more likely too display problem

be ehaviours ssuch as agggression.

Mythh 2 : Bad paarenting an nd poor diiscipline caauses ADHHD

Fact: Genetics
G iss a key reason here e. Researchh has show wn that yoou
are
moore likely t
to have ADDHD if your biologiical paren t has ADHHD
due to certain geenes that are passed d on. The kkind of paarenting annd
discipli
inary stylee you havee doesnt cause
c ADHHD, and ne either can
n it
cure ADHD.
A Hoowever, yo ou may find that ccertain parenting an nd

discipliinary stylees may wo ork better in helpin g your ch hild functio
on
better.
Through an assesssment of your chiilds backg ground an nd
training workshoops for paarents available at N Nurture Po ods, you can
learn how best to o interact with your child to suuit your ch
hilds need
ds.

Myth 3 : Chiildren can be cured of ADHD D with med
dication
Faact: There is no cure for ADHD D, howeveer the symptoms of ADHDA cann be lessen ned throug gh
a number of treatmen nts. The tyypes of treeatments that
t will yield the beest resultss differ fro
om
hild to child. Often
ch n, one of the mostt effective e treatmen nts involvves a mix of therap py,
medication,
, lifestyle and acad demic inteerventions. At Nurture Pods, we offer a range of
interventionns which spans acrosss differennt domainss of your childs
c envvironment. In general,
these intervventions will
w help your child function normally in i day-to--day tasks and aim to
integrate yo our child into mainstream eduucation. Of O course, thet interveentions that would be

most suitab ble for you ur child depend onn your childs needss for exaample, wh hich type of
ADDHD your child has or wh hether youur child lacks
l certtain sociaal or cogn nitive skillls.


Atttention Deficit Hyperac
H ctive Dissorder - Myths aand Factts

Nu urture Pods Centree for Child Develo pment an nd Early Innterventioon program can heelp
im
mprove youur childs self-regula
s ation, atte ntion and waiting. OurO Homee Based Inttervention n is
a more individualized d and inteensive proggram carrried out in n your hom me. It is based on th he
prrinciples of Applieed Behavvioural Annalysis (A
ABA), which will help with behavior
maanagemennt, hone yo our childss ability too attend to
o people and tasks aand build up u cognitivve

skills. Our SSchool Sup pport Prog gram will integrate your child d into thee school en nvironmen nt,
prromote
inddependence, teach them how w to follow
w class stru
ucture andd focus on n the task at
haand. Our SSocial Skillls Class will
w teach yyour child d importan nt fundam mental cog gnitive skills
such as persspective ta aking and appropriaate play behaviours
b s, as well aas social skills such as
waaiting
aand turn n-taking. .

Myyth 4 : Takking ADHD D medicatiions leads to drug adddiction

Faact: Given that som me ADHD medicatioons (e.g. stimulants
s ) are
adddictive, aan abuse of the medication could po ossibly lea
ad to
adddiction.
H
However, this will not be th
he case if you take
e the
me edication as prescriibed. In faact, peoplee with unttreated ADDHD

haave a higher risk of developin ng substannce abuse issues! Ta
aking
me edication
to help co
ontrol ADH HD can pr event add
diction.

Myyth 5 : ADHD goes in adulthoo

od
Faact: For maany, ADHD still persists in addulthood. Research has show wn that abbout 20% of

ch
hildren with ADHD D still met the critteria for ADHD in n early addulthood. Some may
exxperience
fewer sym
mptoms ovver time annd find ADDHD is lesss of a prooblem in everyday
e liife
as they undergo treattment, but it certainnly doesnt mean ADHD com mpletely disappears in
addulthood.

or more infformation on our services, visiit www.nurturepodss.com/our--services/.
Fo

 References

1. After your childs diagnosis - NAS. (2016). [online] Autism.org.uk. Available at:
http://www.autism.org.uk/about/diagnosis/children/recently-diagnosed.aspx

2. Autism, PDD-NOS & Asperger's fact sheets | My child's been diagnosed as having Autism -what do
I do now?. (n.d.). [online] Autism-help.org. Available at: http://www.autism-help.org/child-
diagnosed-autism.htm

3. Support for People with Autism Spectrum Disorders - Autism Resource Centre (Singapore). (n.d.).
[online] Autism.org.sg. Available at: http://www.autism.org.sg/living-with-autism/autism-support

4. Koegel, L., Koegel, R., Ashbaugh, K. and Bradshaw, J. (2013). The importance of early identification
and intervention for children with or at risk for autism spectrum disorders. International Journal of

Speech-Language Pathology, 16(1), pp.50-56.

5. Deater-Deckard, K. (2017). Parents and Childrens ADHD in a Family System. Journal of Abnormal
Child Psychology, pp.1-7.

6. Barkley, Russell A. (2015). Etiologies of ADHD. In R. A. Barkley (Ed.), Attention-Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment, 4th ed. (pp. 356390). New
York, NY: Guilford Press. - See more at: http://www.chadd.org/understanding-adhd/about-
adhd/myths-and-misunderstandings.aspx#myth5

7. Hinshaw, S. and Scheffler, R. (2014). The ADHD explosion. 1st ed. New York, NY [etc.]: Oxford
University Press, p.254.

8. Young, J. (2014). ADHD Myths and Facts. [online] Psychology Today. Available at:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/when-your-adult-child-breaks-your-heart/201410/adhd-

myths-and-facts

9. 7.2 Persistence, Remission, and Emergence of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in Young
Adulthood: Results from a Longitudinal, Prospective, Population-Based Cohort
10. Arseneault, Louise Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , Volume 55
, Issue 10 , S268 - S269

Kring, A., Johnson, S., Davison, G. and Neale, J. (2014). Abnormal psychology. 12th ed. Wiley,
11.
pp.398-401.