Category Archives: Articles & Journals

The World Health Organisation estimates that 1 in 160 children around the world has an autism spectrum disorder. Autism is a condition related to the development of the brain and is usually noticeable by the time a child is three years old. Statistics aren’t available for any African country, so researchers like me in South […]

SINGAPORE: He can’t speak properly, but Eugene’s* doleful eyes say it all. He wants more cake. The little boy climbs onto Alan Tan, or “daddy’s” lap, stretches out his arms for the box of kueh right at the tip of his hands. Mr Tan, with his hands on Eugene’s waist, pulls him back gently. He doesn’t chide […]

Echolalia is a term describing the state when a child repeats or imitates what they hear and can be a normal stage in speech development. However, some children cannot overcome the phase of echolalia, especially so for children with autism. There are two types of echolalia: ✔️Immediate, which happens when the child repeats exactly what […]

Autism may stem from a different — and larger — set of genetic mutations in women than it does in men, according to a new study1. The findings support a growing body of evidence suggesting that women require a bigger genetic hit than men do to have conditions that affect brain development, including autism. Autism […]

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the most efficient treatment (clinically proven to give the best results for children with traits of autism) for children with ASD and one of the most important aspects that should be considered regarding treatment is the location choice. Parents are often confused about which model is better, ABA home-based or […]

The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) has launched two new degree programmes in speech and language therapy, and digital communications and integrated media. Both will start in September. The speech therapy undergraduate programme is the first of its kind here. SIT said yesterday that there is increasing demand for speech therapists in Singapore, for children […]

There are different methods for a child with ASD to learn to communicate – sign language, PECs, using an electronic device with voice output, etc, but it’s important to focus on teaching the child to express themselves verbally. Motivation is the key to learning verbal communication. It is very important to know what motivates the […]

In December, the American Academy of Pediatrics put out a new clinical report on autism, an extensive document with an enormous list of references, summarizing 12 years of intense research and clinical activity. During this time, the diagnostic categories changed — Asperger’s syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder, diagnostic categories that once included many children, are […]

Ms Lilian Kuan, 49, who is the main caregiver of Arvind Ramesh, now 14, and Ashwin, eight, said: “I was more worried for Ashwin as I had never heard about autism before… Four years ago, awareness was a lot less. And the more I read about it, the more I was worried as the condition […]