First steps

 As a continuation to my previous post, I wanted to share a little more about how I finally managed to find structure for Ren’s classes. 

In the beginning, after we got his diagnosis, I got quite overwhelmed with where to start. We were given a myriad of therapies and interventions, and I honestly didn’t know where to begin. The biggest blockers were finances and also logistics. Trying to find classes for him and being on waiting list was one thing, I also had to figure out how he was going to get to these classes? In addition, I really didn’t know what classes he should go for, there were so many, going for all was not possible with my constraints. 

I asked around and spoke with contacts who had kids with autism, trying to find out what they did and replicate it. But the honest truth is, which I would find out later, every child’s needs differ, trying to mirror another child’s routine may not be the best idea. I began by enrolling Ren in a specialised speech therapy class, an hour a week for roughly $120. I did this for about 3 months before finding out that, this should really be in addition to Early Intervention. At this point, I really kicked myself for wasting time and not having a clear direction to address his needs and learning abilities. I felt like time was ticking and I have completely wasted all that time. It isn’t a good feeling, but luckily I snapped out of that despair and began solutions mode. 

Immediately, I called my developmental Paediatrician and followed up with trying to register to EIPIC/PPIP to enrol for an early intervention course. After all the paper work was done, I received a call a couple of weeks later to process my enrolment to an Early Intervention centre. To be honest the subsidies then were not bad, better now, but the cost was still sizeable. Found a centre that had space and was nearby, I immediately registered. 

As a full time working mother, I was really struggling to try and be the best employee, always showing up, accountable, and also trying to make sure Ren’s needs are being met. I remember having to request to start work at 9.30am instead so that I can send Ren to Early Intervention. It doesn’t sound late, but it was for my role, I constantly felt like I was just not performing up to par as well. To parents out there, this is a feeling that is difficult to manage especially when you have expectations of your career and child. For me, I eventually decided to pivot my career to a more time flexible one, so that I could manage Ren’s logistics and also take up the Hanen course. I will share more later, but this was a huge pivotal moment in Ren’s improvement. 

Reflecting on this, I think for parents on this journey, they should be guided to what’s required as a first step. I think that because we were given so many different classes, it was so difficult to decide where to start. What I would say is, I wish we had immediately just signed up for Early Intervention upon getting the diagnosis. Then, build on additional classes from there.