Hyperlexia is a term that struck me when I first came across it. Maybe, because I had never heard of it. So, I decided to explore it further.  It turned out to be my light bulb moment because I was working with an amazing little child diagnosed with Autism who would fit in the description of hyperlexia. I could relate the two now. And I finally found the word I was looking for.  

This child has an exceptional reading ability. In his grade, he was the only child in class (only ASD in a class of 30 neurotypical children) who could read fluently without any error and much beyond his age. Now if only you would hear him read, you would be astonished too, just like his teachers. The reading is advanced beyond his age but I can’t say the same for comprehension. Comprehension and understanding the text is compromised.  And so are the social interactions and understanding & use of verbal language, also traits of Autism.  As I dug deeper into the world of...

I am from Balikpapan, Indonesia and I am a mother of two children. My first child is a girl and my second child is a boy. We realized there was something wrong with my second child when he was two years old. He liked spinning the wheel of a toy car for hours instead of playing with it. He also liked walking in circles and only stopped when you held him. He never responded when we called his name. We did not think his actions and responses were unusual. We thought if we waited, these actions and responses would change as he grew older. We were wrong. After 6 months, he remained the same. So, we decided to bring him to a pediatrician and after examining him, he diagnosed my son as having autism. He was two and a half years old.

Autism never crossed our mind. We thought he only needed more stimuli to improve. I remembered crying the whole night after hearing the diagnosis. We felt depressed and helpless because we did not know what to do for our boy. 

The following morning, we...

Caregiving is a demanding task. When it comes to caring for a loved one with special needs, caregivers can face many struggles and challenges. It can also become a full-time responsibility for some caregivers. Some caregivers even gave up their careers in order to provide full-time care for their loved ones with special needs.

Caregiving is stressful and caregivers are prone to suffer from caregiver stress which in the long run can lead to caregiver burnout. And there are stress-relieving strategies that caregivers can adopt to help mitigate the stress impact. Hence, to be able to provide caregiving in the long term, it is important to strike a balance between caregiving and stress relieves.

To strike a balance between caregiving and self-care, it is necessary first to learn to be able to identify signs or symptoms of caregiver stress. Some of the common signs and symptoms of caregiver stress are listed below: 

• Constantly feeling lethargic and exhausted
• Not getting sufficient...

 COVID-19 has not only introduced a global pandemic, but has also significantly changed the way we operate in our daily lives. Due to spatial distancing measures imposed because of the pandemic, the closure of both mainstream and special needs schools were necessary to curb the spread of the virus.

As a result, families made arrangements to incorporate home-based learning and also had to think of ways to ensure that the children can continue to learn and develop, and not regress in this unfortunate circumstance that we are in. Particularly for children with ASD, the regular face-to-face interventions they have been receiving from professionals had to be restricted and parents, in turn, may experience an increased level of stress during this period.

Though these restrictions are being lifted gradually, going about our days like how we used to before the pandemic might not be possible just yet. The aim of this post is to give some suggestions, summarised in 5 tips, to help...

Have you ever worried, felt nervous or experienced uneasiness?

These are feelings of anxiety and are normal responses when we are faced with important life event or during a difficult situation e.g. getting married or giving birth or going for a procedure. It can also happen to our children as well e.g. going for exams.  

While we adults may be able to identify, express and calm our anxiety, our children may not be able to do that. So, how can we help our children when they are feeling anxious?

Firstly, we need to be able to identify what are the tell-tale signs that our child is experiencing feelings of anxiety.

Here are some tell-tale signs of anxiety in a child that you can look out for:  

Starts to be clingy

Very prone to getting cranky or irritable

Gets awakened by bad dreams in the middle of the night

Feeling tensed up and often fidgety

Avoid daily activities, such as attending schools or socialising with friends

Secondly, how can we help our child to calm those...

“The future depends on what we do in the present!” -Mahatma Gandhi

Punishment or discipline? It’s an age-old debate, isn’t it? However, if dealt with the right attitude, care and consistency this would be an easy task.

The dictionary meaning of discipline is “the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience.” However, the recent trends show a shift from using punishment as a tool to enforce discipline in a child.  

Punishment is about dominating a child: Instead of teaching the child the right ways to manage himself/herself, punishment may affect the self-esteem of a child. Mostly, it results in changing the manner a child thinks of himself. A UN agency  states that a serious punishment could make a child  consider “himself/herself bad", rather than thinking that “he/she has made a bad decision”  
Discipline teaches children...

When it comes to improving a child’s grades, parents would go all out to find the right tutor for their child. However, finding the right tutor can be quite a nightmare for some. Parents either ended up with an inexperienced tutor or the child isn’t able to connect with the tutor.

While some parents rely on referrals from trusted sources such as school teachers, friends, or family members, some parents would go through great measures by scouring the web to look out for the right tutor.

There are many factors parents should consider prior to hiring the best tutor. Here are 4 recommendations for parents to consider when hiring a tutor for their child.

Check Academic Credentials:

It is essential to check the tutors credentials in order to be able to know if the tutor has the ability to teach the subject matter. Parents may request for the academic credentials from the potential tutors and at the same time ask the type of academic training the potential tutor has in the...

As parents, it is essential for parents to interact daily with their child. Aside from helping to build the relationship between parents and the child, it also provides the parents insight into the child’s feelings and any struggles the child might be dealing with. In a way, this provides the child with some sort of reassurance and that the parents will be there in times of trouble.

It is important to keep things simple, avoid forcing the child, ask the right questions, pay full attention when the child is talking and maintain constant eye contact. Instead of asking basic question such as “how was your day”, you may consider the following 5 interesting questions.

What was the toughest thing you had to do today?

This enables to child to open up and share his/her struggles and most importantly the child knows he/she can depend on their parents for a solution. By having this communication with the child, it will help to boost the child’s confidence and eliminate...

Have you ever felt bad for saying no to your kid from doing the things he or she likes but it’s not good for him or her? Well, you shouldn’t because you are just being a responsible parent by doing that. But wait, have you been responsible enough to give the required amount of positive attention along with the negative consequences for wrongdoings? If not, then it’s time to change! A daily dose of ‘time in’ can significantly reduce the need for ‘time out’, when you want to parent your kid the right way. Parenting is a 24*7 job, and undoubtedly a parent needs to be attentive all the time, but at least for 15 minutes in a day, parents need to give their undivided attention to the kids. No phone, no television, no daily chores, and no multitasking. It should just be you and your kid. And while you do that, here’s a checklist for you to follow:

1) Stop asking, start listening: Stop quizzing your kid with too many questions, it...