Connor's school report dated Nov 2011 just before we started speech therapy:
They did not write it in the report but told me that he was very disruptive in class. He would not sit still, he would walk around and keep looking to run off and play with toys. He would not follow instructions and would scream in frustration if they tried to get him to do things he didn't enjoy. They told me outright that it looked suspiciously like he had ADHD and asked if we had a family history of it. We do, his male cousins both have ADHD.
They also noted his slow language development and said he didn't say a lot in school. Boys generally are slower, they said but Connor was definitely slower than even a slow boy.
They also noted a "disturbing" trait he had. It was a pretend "Mwahahaha!" laugh he would do. Sometimes he would do it out of the blue and no one knew why. They immediately thought of the awkward social behaviour of children with autism spectrum disorder and suggested that he could have signs of it.
It was a BIG shock to me as Connor was very, very different at home.
So we started therapy with Mario. We saw him for an initial assessment not long after that school report but only started proper sessions in January or so as we went away for holidays in Dec.
Fast forward to Aug 2012 and another school report.
What a difference!
Chatterbox. Interacts well with other children and plays with them at a level appropriate for his age. Listens attentively during story time. Follows instructions. Understands and works well during his activities. No more wriggling. No more trying to walk around and play with toys while everyone else works.
They noted how he'd really blossomed after the therapy started. I asked about the "Mwahaha" laugh. Does it happen anymore? They all looked surprised for a moment, then realised that no, he hasn't done that for a long time. Yes, sometimes he bursts into laughter all by himself but when they ask, "Why are you laughing, Connor?" his answers tell them that he's laughing because he's remembering something funny that had happened. So maybe it was the same case with the "Mwahaha", just that back then, he lacked the skills to tell them.
Am I happy with the school report?
You bet.
Some of the improvement is due to his natural development. But I believe that the speech therapy helped tremendously. I saw results after only four sessions with Mario. Speech therapy accelerated the pace of Connor's development. Without Mario to guide and point me in the right direction, I probably wouldn't have known what was needed to help my son.
When I'd poured out all of Connor's problems at school to Mario at the initial session, he nodded and told me he was confident Connor's behavioural problems stemmed from his lack of understanding. He was sure that once we worked on his speech and Connor could understand what was expected of him, he would settle down. It has happened exactly as Mario said it would.
I can see my son enjoying school again. During the Sept-Nov term, he suddenly started refusing to go to school and would come home with zero enthusiasm in his eyes. Not so now.
Everything's changed for the better.
Thank you, Mario. We wouldn't have done it without you.
Marios Genethliou
KL Sports Medicine Centre
Damansara Heights
Tel: 03-2096 1033
www.klsmc.com
No comments:
Post a Comment