by Suzanna Pillay
WHEN a child
does not talk at that normal age and seems to be in his or her own zone, speech
therapy may hold the key to communication.
EIGHT-year-old
Keane, like any ordinary boy, loves potato chips but he isn't able to tell you
that. Instead he lets you know this by pointing to the chips.
Keane is
autistic and, like most autistic children, uses hand gestures to communicate
wants and needs, as opposed to vocalising them.
After undergoing
speech therapy for several years, he has made significant improvements and can
now put his request in simple words, as opposed to just gesturing, says his
mother Gene Ng, 36.
Keane has three
other siblings. His younger brother, Ethan, 3, (Ng's third child) is also
autistic.
However, despite
having speech difficulties like Keane, Ethan has a milder form of autism and is
more outgoing. He also interacts well with his other siblings, says Ng.
He has also
benefited from speech therapy which has helped him to identify and label things
(associate words with things) as opposed to using only hand gestures to
communicate.
"Sometimes,
when they are throwing what you think is a tantrum, they are actually trying to
communicate with you. Speech therapy teaches them to speak up and also makes it
easier to communicate with them," she says.
Similarly, Peggy
Chai's autistic daughter has also benefited from speech therapy.
"When she
turned 4 last year, she had yet to learn to talk. But within a year (of seeing
the therapist), we could see a difference," says Chai.
It took half a
year to get results, with a lot of extra effort from her and her husband to
work on exercises with their child.
