List of Sensory Diet

We have been working hard with Clem with her new OT and the start of new school all in one bang.

A list of sensory diet for the home:

Choose 2 to 3 activities per circuit, allow no more than 30 minutes per circuit, perform activities circuit 2-3 times a day if feasible at the same time of day and or time)

spinning with a spinning chair – 3 to 5 times clockwise then anti clockwise

jumping on trampoline – 50 times per set

jumping  on trampoline – 10 times and crashing on cushions

bouncing on therapy ball – 50 times per set

bouncing on therapy ball – 10 times and crashing on cushions

throw and catch a ball

bounce and catch a ball

bowling

swinging

going up and own slides

swimming

wheelbarrow walk on hands

throw and catch bean bag

shooting baskets with beanbag

riding around with bicycle

running around in circles or length of corridors

Listen to Plato

Close up of Plato from School of Athens, a fresco by Raffaello Zanzio, 1509.

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”- Plato

This is just so plain and simple, but the bureaucracy will get in the way of seeing what we are doing to these bright children that just need the right methods to bring out their brilliance.

How to teach math? How to teach science?

It was Wednesday night, Theo and I decided to play cup stacking. It is a great fine motor skill task and it is fun. Just stack up the cups as fast as you can without letting it toppled over. You learn about strategy since we have two different kinds of cups, he has to decide whether to put the small cups on the bottoms or the bigger cups. You learn about gravity. You learn to count to make things even out.

Just so happened we have a basket of marbles. Marbles are always so much fun. I decided to grab some and put it in the cups. And then an idea came to me that I had grabbed my mini food scales down. I asked him which cup do you think weights more. I taught him how to use the mini scale. And something so simple as playing turns into teaching and that could be applied to many things.

Now he is weighing everything in sight. And he learns about numbers and the higher the number correlates to heavy. And also not everything that looks big is heavy. It is so much fun to see him light up.

Orton-Gillingham training in Hong Kong

I finally contacted the Orton-Gillingham Centre in Hong Kong. The course is a bit pricey, but then if I have the power to teach others then I see it has a good investment.

The trainer is Ronald Yoshimoto and he has more than 25 years of experience in training in O-G methods and trained parents and teachers working with dyslexics.

http://www.msl-orton.com.hk/training/accredit.htm

Date: 28th Aug to 1st Sept 2012
Venue: Singapore International School,
23 Nam Long Shan Road,
Aberdeen, Hong Kong.
Time: 9am - 4:30pm

Registration fee: HKD$3,000 (non-refundable)
Course fee : HKD$18,500 (includes materials)
Total Fees Payable : HKD$21,500

Phonological awareness and Phonemic Awareness

I have been reading on the topic of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness. What are the differences between those two terms in reference to the English language?

Phonological is an umbrella terms that covers all sounds awareness. Sounds of instruments, you listen to the beats and sounds of words you also listen to the beats refer to as syllables, onset and rimes, and phonemes.

Syllables are speech sounds.
Examples: clean has one beat = one syllables, eleven has 3 beats = 3 syllables divided into e / le / ven
If you have written haikus before you will remember the rules of 17 syllables divided into 3 phrases of 5 syllables, 7 syllables and 5 again

Onset and Rimes are description of syllables.
Examples: bag is a one syllable or monosyllabic word, b is the onset consonant sound and ag is the rime vowel and the rest that follows.
Not all words have onsets.

Phonemes are the basic sounds in the smallest possible unit.
In English (American) there are 44 phonemes.
long vowels, short vowels, 2 letter vowels, consonant sounds, diphthongs (ai, aw, oy etc)

Phonological awareness is the ability to distinguish sounds.
Phonemic awareness is the understanding of sound and manipulating of sound in order to make it into words.

The foundation of language would be phonological awareness that a child can tell the differences between sounds of the words three vs free, lice vs rice etc.

Clapping to syllables help with phonological awareness. 

And for phonemic awareness, games like rhyming words, stories by Dr Suess, or making up silly words.

Water Memory ... Pseudoscience?

I have been contemplating on this idea of water memory after a 3 hour seminar that I attended last Saturday, May 5th at Bioenergetic

It is hard to say if hard evidence would ever arise or people are drawn into different types of energy that ones feel at ease and right for them. I am still skeptical about this transferring of energy to a cup of water.

I use homeopathy and believe in it because it actually works on my two children. The idea of dilution of a substance, there is still the physical aspect of something placed in the water and even if the dilution surpassed the Avogadro's number of 10 to the 23rd.

Auditory Processing Disorder contributes to Dyslexia

I have been reading about dyslexia and many thoughts have come up to why this is a reading disability. If we have an education system that just feed the masses what are we doing to these children that has reading problems but yet has strength to think differently? I am sure not all children are on the non-dyslexia verses dyslexia.

I came across the book by Ronald Davis titled The Gift of Dyslexia. Most people say it isn’t a gift and most people would rather not read to keep it. This book gave me great insight of what dyslexia is from the author first hand account of his own dyslexia. And his proven method to solve the problem of dyslexia in having the person who has it controls it by turning it on and off at will. Doesn’t it sound science fiction; I was thinking along something like X-Men or any superheroes that has special powers? For a Dyslexic it is the power of projecting imagery, as it is reality in the head, which somehow cause interferences with ability to read.

The brain of a dyslexic thinks in images. If a word needs to represent a concept that cannot be conjured to an images that is what messes everything up. The word apple when you think in a picture form you likely to get a fruit that is red with a brown stem or it could be green, but either way you get a picture. But when it comes to “problem words” that Davis mentioned for example the word “the” doesn’t bring up any images association because in English language the word “the” is classified as an article to be placed in front of a noun to specify it. It is even possible to think of a picture of “the” other than just the letterforms. That is why the word “the” to a picture thinker doesn’t mean anything.

Another thing that I find very specific is how central auditory processing disorder is the main contributing factor of dyslexia. Since phonological awareness and differentiation is already difficult and the child have to compensate something for example to use more visual cues then of course it makes sense that dyslexia would occur.

The best part to help a child is to catch it early with any signs and symptoms and I say not to wait to the recommended age of 7 or 8. My son is now age 6 and he is already behind in speech and also some gross/fine motor skills that need to be trained up. Just comparing my youngest now age 4.5, she is able to name all alphabets and tell me the words that begin with each letters. I wished I could have drawn the connection and look into a solution sooner. But it isn’t too late.

Fractured toe

I somehow knew that one day it is going to happen to one of the kids.

The younger one likes to tease the older one and attached like a fly to a turd. My oldest is quiet most of the time and likes to play by himself and my younger is a chatter and needs a lot of sensory input. So when those two doesn't mix which is most days then that is when things get out of hand.

Door slamming happens a lot and just unfortunate for today that Clemmie's toes happened to be in the way of the door. I was so scared that her toes were going to fall off. Her left 3th, 4th and pinky toes were swollen and turned gray and white ... so lifeless against the blood gushing out slowly but surely.

I have a thing for blood that would sent me into a panic attack. I am not fond of anything red. Red is not a favorite color of mind along with orange and yellow. And I usually faint on the sight of blood. But when you become a mom you have to take on the role of rescue mission and anything and everything are dealt with in a matter of fact manner.

I quickly grab some ice packs and held the foot like a sandwich and grab tissues to soak the blood and off we go hop on the taxi to the closest ER.

As we got there, Clemmie's toes got some life back and the triage nurses were cleaning up the wounds. Her pinky toes is still swollen to match the size of her other toes. Clemmie fell asleep as we waited for the one doctor that was on duty during the holiday ... May 1st will always be commemorated by this childhood trauma. After the cue to the doctor, we went straight to radiology for an x ray and I did pray that she would be okay. And an hour after that the results came in with a fractured 4th toe.

Clemmie is a trooper. She was on pain meds for two days and decided that she didn't need it anymore yesterday. She is learning to use her whole right foot now instead of her usual tip toe self. Somehow this could be the turn of event for her sensory issues with her feet. This situation forces her to compensate and she has to use the whole sole of her feet or at least for her heels.

Second thing that comes is my son's guilt. He felt really terrible and scared that his sister cannot walk again. But then Theo also has a mixed feeling of all the attention dynamic shifted to his sister and he doesn't know what to do about it. He was frustrated yesterday when I helped her redress her wounds and it took awhile which for him is a lifetime to rescue him out of his bed. He wanted to be babied too.
He did tell his papa that he will never fight Clementine again.

I hope this happening will forever resonance.

Temple Grandin - Different not Less

Just finished watching Temple Grandin movie on HBO, she was portrayed by Claire Danes. What an inspirational story of a mom that never gives up on her autistic child and for Temple to flourish because of it. The movie goes through the journey of Temple trials and triumphs. Her mind is just a beautiful thing. I really can't imagine a world without science and art.

She was also on Ted Talks and she is a very eloquent speaker. I am sure she gives the same speech all the time but then it doesn't get boring because of her energy and vibes.

Autism Spectrum Disorders - Dr. Caleb Knight

I got a chance to squeeze myself into a talk by Dr. Caleb Knight about ASD. It wasn't a full house. I also met up with a couple of wonder people.

He spoke about DSM which is known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder. It is currently changing from the fourth version to its fifth. For DSM IV, ASD has 3 common subtypes: Autistic, Asperger's and Pervasive Developmental Disorder not otherwise specified PDDNOS. And with DSM V, the criteria for ASD changes must meet the following A, B, C, D:

A.

Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across contexts, not accounted for by general developmental delays, and manifest by all 3 of the following: 

1. Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity

2. Deficits in non-verbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction

3. Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships appropriate to developmental level

B.

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities as manifested by at least two of the following:

1. Stereotyped or repetitive speech - think echolalia

2. Excessive adherence to routines

3. Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus

4. Hyper or Hypo reactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of environment

C. Symptoms must be present in early childhood

D. Symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning 

So basically to fall under ASD, those mentioned have to be met, Asperger's would basically be written out of the book.

There will be 3 tiers ASD:

Level 3 - requiring very substantial support - severe deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication skills, preoccupations, fixated rituals and repetitive behaviors markedly interfere with functioning

Level 2 - requiring substantial support - marked deficits in verbal and non-verbal communication skills, similar to Level 3 in preoccupations of interests

Level 1 - requiring support - without supports in place, deficits in social communication cause noticeable impairments, could be redirected from preoccupations and fixation

And something that would cross over is Social Communication Disorder which is ruling out ASD. And also adding to SCD there is also ADHD and ADD.

Dr. Knight also stressed about IQ and how important it is to have IQ as part of the equation.

Gua Sha a way to get rid of toxin

Gua Sha ( 刮 痧 ) is a very old remedy to help facilitate the body to heal by getting rid of toxin. I have been using this method passed on by my mom. I remembered when I was younger she would use tiger balm and a coin and apply the tiger balm on my back and scratch or scrape my skin with the coin. The immediate reaction of the skin is to get red and tiny dark red dots appear after. Gua means scratch or scrape and Sha means fever.

The weather as been cold and hot lately that my children are getting sick often passing viral back and forth. I have tested this methods on both my children age 4 and 6. I do not think it should be use for younger children because they may not take the amount of pressure of the coin and sometimes it tickles or it hurts. It  really depends on their tolerance level.

I used tiger balm because it is accessible here. You can get those in Watsons or Manning. You can use any type of ointment that would help relieve muscle soreness. Usually when you are not feeling well your muscle gets sore in your neck and shoulder area and you may also have a pounding headache. Gua Sha will work on those too.

You may also come across Graston Technique used by professional athletes which essentially derives from Gua Sha in my opinion.

This is my 6 year old back.
He was having a 102 fever when I applied the gua sha.
After an hour or so the fever reduced.

This youtube video I found shows you how simple it is. You don't have to a special tool, a coin or even a spoon would work.

Visiting schools with special educational needs in Hong Kong

This month I have been visiting International Schools in Hong Kong that offers learning support as part of inclusion within the schools.

I have visited the following schools and meet some wonderful people along the way:
Feb 7th : Korean International School, The Springboard Project, Mrs Lynne Thomson
Feb 9th : International Christian School, Bridges Program, Ms Maggie Chan, Admission Officer and Dr. Schmidt the Director of Student Services.
Feb 22nd: ESF Beacon Hill Primary School, Ms B of SEN admission


The Springboard Project has a good 16 years run and still continuing, but according to Mrs Thomson the project still remains at the level of 16 years ago when it started. There was no improvement made within the 16 years because of lack of funding or some other reasons. The students are mixed age group at different level in academics. There are 10 students currently in the program. I have actually met some of them at Rehabilitation Consultants.

International Christian School is changing their Bridges Program and currently it is their first year trial run and they are amending as they are doing. It used to be that their Bridges Program are only for the low IQs students and now they are starting to be similar to what ESF is doing with their tier program. They have 3 tier level from mild to severe. I like the fact they have a non academic approach to reach out to the students in self help skills like cooking and grocery shopping. I feel that this could only benefit all not just students in the Bridges Program. It should be implemented school wide to have children look at food at the different light.

(Just a side story here: I was having a chat with my God's brother's dad and he said there is a French cooking class at Stanford University and that class is always full and there is a waiting list ... Imagine a class that is hands on and interesting and that you can really apply to daily usage.)

ESF Beacon Hill Primary School is very involved with how they implement the inclusion program. Because you don't want the SEN students to feel that they are students there but be separated from the rest of the mainstream. They have a 6 tier program.

Hong Kong as progressive as it may seem still lack supporting of Non Cantonese speakers in area of SEN support.

APLL 2012 - Auditory Processing Disorder

I registered to this year Global Conference on Disorders in Auditory Processing, Literacy, Language and Related Science held at The Hong Kong Institute of Education on Jan 4-7 2012. I was able to attend to the first two days of the conference.

First of all I am not a major in any sciences and everything that were presented were all new and interesting to me. I went to this conference because I felt the need to understand what my son may have. I think he has auditory processing delay.

Auditory processing disorder can cross over with other global delays and sensory issues. Children with APD are easily being misdiagnosis for having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder) because of the shared symptoms. But then you can also have both disorders intertwine.

APD has nothing to do with hearing loss. APD is the brain lacking the tools to interpret sounds that makes them meaningful in association with speech. Children with APD are easily distracted, have difficulty following simple directions and have a hard time understanding abstract concepts.

One example: I was talking to Theodore about schools. I made a comment that there were no more space at his sister's school because there were too many students. Theodore asked me what space means. I quickly came up with space in relating to chairs. I told him space in school is like having a seat. There are only 30 chairs available in the classroom and when all the chairs are filled that means no more space.

A child can't be diagnosis with APD until age 7-8 because of brain development maturity. So what parents can do is to start speech therapy. Because APD and speech language delay goes hand in hand. If the child's brain cannot interpret the sound made and mimic in the same tonal speech pattern then speech language delay will occur simultaneously. APD can also link with SPD (Sensory processing disorder) because of sensitivity toward loud sounds in a quiet environment or a noisy environment. When background noise is present it is hard for a child with APD to distinguish background from foreground noisy and when SPD is in the mix the child will try to block out everything because it is just too overwhelming of sound information for the brain to interpret and the body will shut down.

APD will lead to phonics dyslexia. For example I have notice alphabet sounds N and M would be mixed up, E, J and G are often confusing sounds for a child with APD. Sometimes with visually looking at the letters, even if they know it back in their head what the letters are, the sounds will be mixed up as they try to say them. My son still cannot pronounce yellow. Sometimes he will say yeaO or leaO. It is often very unpredictable.

Learning When, Why, Where, What questions would be very confusing at first because the Ws all sound the same and he tends to not interpret the ending of the sounds. It takes a lot of practice in distinguishing the sounds. The more you speak the more the brain will connect. So never give up. That is why reading is the best tool, even if your child doesn't follow the books continue to read to them so they can listen. Even children that are very active will listen to a good story.

He is more aware of sounds now after he took Jolly Phonics, but with concept of sounds in relationship to visual of letter form is still off mark. But he is now able to stop to ask you to repeat the sentence again or the word again because he didn't catch the words or phrases the first time around. Another thing with APD is also related to the instant memory. Because in order to learn you have to remember somehow and add on to what you already know. And any sounds related memory are just very hard for APD to retain. Visual cue always help tremendously.

One thing I learn from the lectures is about how music can help. That is why music therapy is used along side speech therapy. Music creates tonal rhythms and increases phonological awareness. And in a controlled group testing that has been done also produced results in better readers when music therapy is given along side with speech therapy. People who learn to play musical instruments has a better brain connection to distinguish sounds and tends to be better readers.

Happy New 2012 : a resolution

Six months since we moved to Hong Kong. And somethings are getting better and some are just getting started.

I have met a lot of parents and all we talk about are our children in general. And everything in Hong Kong is related to education. How the culture wants their child to read at age 3. Some child can but obviously for a normal happy child you should be worried if they are not playing. And I came to a conclusion that SPD is a modern day disease, because we want so much for our children to act normal when what is "normal" isn't it just a perception of average say? Every child develop at different rate and there to could be a reason for what we don't know. We cannot always look at a timeline into the future, but like Steve Job said in one of his speech to a bunch of Stanford graduates:

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

We do all lack the guts because we follow the trend and the normalcy of things in our lives. And you as parents have to be advocates for your child with whatever condition that is hindering them, but not for long. Why are we treating SPD like it is somehow bad for society. How many percent of our brain do we use? The 10% say is only a myth. We use 100% of our brains, but to what potential that is another story.

And when it is the best time for a child to learn at school? We are talking about maturity and ability to adapt new ideas into use ... like writing, reading and comprehension. Children are not suppose to do those things with ease at age 3, 4, 5 ... maybe at age 6 when they learn to control their hand eye coordination and emotionally ready.

I am at a half point when I want to give up to even to have him go to mainstream school in Hong Kong where the standards are set high when the child is literally pushed to the limit to cope with studying two languages and 10 homework assignment and tutoring back to back. Is that really worth it? If you want the same outcome to go to college or get a decent job, I think anyone in the right mind would guide a child into their potential capacity when he is ready.

And a child's brain soak up facts and they love asking questions. I never seen my son question so much and he is in love with science. He wanted to talk about the human body so I got him a book about the human body. A five years old wants to learn about virus, cancer cells, bacterias and why white blood cells are the only things in the body that essentially defending the body. And I was literally going back to my favorite biology class and re reading facts so I have to give him the right answers to those great questions.

And do you know that there are 5 different type of white blood cells? And I did learn about Natural Killer cells by just watching youtube videos with my son. And it is very fascinating, like going back in time but learning more. But not at age 5. I remembered watching E.T. at age 8, I didn't know what was going on with all the hoopla scientific talk about DNA. Somehow at age 12 or so it clicked and I re watched E.T. again and all that I learned came together like missing puzzle pieces.

My children are different and sometimes they drive me mad, but they can't really help it. With therapies, those will make them aware and cope, but do not loose guard on potential and always be an advocate for them to make them be the best that they can be without comparing to cultural pressure and the so called "normalcy."