HELP Career Fair 2013

Last Thursday, 28th March 2013, EAP Malaysia received the chance to be part of HELP's Career Fair. EAP's team managed to interview a number of students while they enquired about our availabilities be that part-time job, full-time job, internship or volunteer positions. It was an honour to get such an opportunity to reach out to individuals that sought for career advice while spontaneously spreading awareness on autism.

 

In the end it was a great success! We managed to gather 30 applicants!

Jochebed (EAP's director) at the booth 

Answering questions and handing out information 

Charissa (EAP's Business Manager) spreading awareness!

Nisha and Nisah (EAP Therapists)

 

Highlights of 2012 From Our Director

2012 has certainly gone by quickly in our fast-paced city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We had several amazing opportunities this year which started from the month of April 2012. We enjoyed two Progress Review trips with Dr. Perron and look forward to more next year.  

 

First Walk for Autism!

We took advantage of the Autism Awareness Day and organized our first ever Walk for Autism. Although our event fell on the same day as the national public demonstration for fair voting rights, we still had a good turnout of over 300 people!  Our walk was featured in local blogs, online newspapers, radio stations, and national newspapers! 

 

Media Coverage

Speaking of media coverage, EAP Malaysia and one of our clients were featured in a local TV programme – Astro Awani. In addition, recently in December, EAP Malaysia was highlighted in two more national newspapers. 

 

Networking & Conferences

Two of our supervisors had the opportunity to attend the National Early Childhood Intervention Conference earlier this year. They presented a poster at this conference and enjoyed listening to many different speakers.

 EAP Malaysia was also invited to speak at a number of different conferences – in the Philippines, Cambodia and locally at Gleneagles Hospital. Furthermore, we organized a few Sibling Days which we ourselves enjoyed (maybe even more than the siblings themselves!) as well as a couple of workshops – School Shadowing and Understanding Behaviour and Skill Building for High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's.

 

Tea with the Prime Minister’s Wife!

In October last year, we were invited to a small group discussion with Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Binti Mansor at her home. Over a buffet spread around her dining table, Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah shared her heart for autism and desire to start a center in Kuala Lumpur for children with autism. Only one other service provider and the National Autism Society (NASOM) as well as other government representatives were present. There are plans in the pipeline and we hope we get the opportunity to contribute some ideas in the treatment aspect of this project.

 

Our Blog!

For more information, articles and pictures of all our highlights, do check out our blog at www.eapmalaysia.blogspot.com.  We just started this blog in February 2012 to share more of our information with other families that may not be able to afford our services. We have even made a few How-To Videos for families to attempt to do some simple recommendations at home!

 

 

In a nutshell, these are all the major highlights of the year. We realized that since the time EAP Malaysia started in September 2006 to December 2012, we have worked with over 200 children in this region! So here's to an even better 2013!

 

Spreading Through The Web

EAP Malaysia was recently highlighted on Healing Thresholds; "a free website dedicated to healing the lives of families touched by autism". This website provides an intensive directory of various autism therapies for parents, therapists, teachers and physicians.

Take a look at what they wrote about us:

News: Wisconsin Early Autism Project Goes to Malaysia

The Early Autism Project Malaysia (EAP) is the first autism organization in Malaysia. The director, Jochebed Isaacs, trained at the Wisconsin Early Autism Project. Isaacs explained, "Through early intervention programmes, children with autism learn to express themselves better and recognise the basic skills of life like playing with other children and identifying bullies." EAP begins with children as young as 18 months and works with them one-on-one. The therapy focus of EAP is based on applied behavioral analysis (ABA) and therapists work with each child on language, social skills,cognitive skills, and preparation for school. Currently EAP charges parents a fee, but they are working on a budget-friendly plan and also offer a free blog, Autismmalaysia.

Read the full original article here.

Re: Clarification on Our Media Coverage

Following the error in the previous article that The Star Newspaper posted, another article was published by The New Straits Times that served better justice to EAP Malaysia.

This article projects the importance of early intervention programmes and highlights the current affairs at EAP Malaysia. Furthermore, our Director conveys a few messages explaining some features of autism and the benefits of such intervention programmes.

Read the full article here.

 

This second article depicts a real-life account of one of the family's at EAP Malaysia, and how ABA has been a great benefit to not only their children but themselves too.

Read the full story here.

On another note, EAP Malaysia truly appreciates the opportunity to spread awareness on autism as well as the publicity on the services that we offer.

Music Class with Emma

Upcoming Progress Reviews!

We are excited to announce that Progress Reviews have been confirmed from the 19^th to the 30^th of November 2012. During this time, we are pleased to have Dr. Joseph Perron with us again.

EAP's Director Jochebed Isaacs with Dr. Perron on his last visit to Malaysia. 

Each Progress Review will be one and a half hours long with the first 45 minutes being an overlap session and the second 45 minutes being a parent discussion. Parents are encouraged to join the full Progress Review and to submit questions to your Consultants two weeks before the Progress Review. 

School Shadow Workshop

Calling all therapists working as school shadows, and parents who are prepping their children with special needs for school. You'll want to sign up for this one! Just send an email to nisha@autismmalaysia.com to register! More details to follow. 

It's Sibling Day Again!

That's right! Once you've read the details below, send an email to nisha@autismmalaysia.com to register before the 8th of August! (That's tomorrow) 

Sibling Day

The 9^th of June 2012 was a very fun day at our Stepping Stones center in Bangsar. New friendships were made, new games were learnt, everyone laughed till their tummy hurt, and most importantly the concept of same/different brought a whole different meaning to five different children who had siblings with special needs.

Sibling day is a day where brothers and sisters of children with special needs get to meet other siblings in a fun and relaxed environment. This day is designed for siblings ages 6 -13 and the activities usually run for about three hours.

To break the ice we started off by making name tags for ourselves. We had to write our names, age and draw how we think we look like. The children immediately got busy making their name tags. Then we each had to introduce ourselves and make a silly action while saying our name. The children got really creative and it was very impressive. We thought we would make it more interesting by having a “snowball fight”. The children were divided into groups and were given recycled paper “snowballs” to throw to the other team. The team with the least amount of snowballs on their side would be the winner. This definitely broke the ice among the children.

After playing some active games we did a little bit of discussion and peer support. We talked about how we are all different, have different experiences , look different, like and dislike different things, and many more. The children were also able to talk about their siblings with special need and how they handle the differences. This was really an eye opener as I observed the other children getting some ideas on how to handle their siblings too. We also played some games in between and the sound of laughter from the children was priceless. I missed being a kid at that point.

Then we adjourned to the kitchen to make our lunch. We made individual pizzas for lunch. The children got really creative with their pizzas. While waiting for the pizza to cook the children were talking about movies they have watched recently, their school and life in general. When the pizza was cooked everyone ate very quietly. This was the only time I realized the group was quiet.

We then took some silly pictures and said goodbye. The children wanted to come next week again to hang out – which meant they had lots of fun. Pictures should be up on our Facebook soon! 

We will be having another Sibling Day coming up this year so just watch out for our advertisement somewhere in August 2012.

Written by

Jessica Ganesha

Consultant, EAP Malaysia

Peer Play at EAP Malaysia

Here at Early Autism Project Malaysia, one of the many services we provide are Peer Play sessions for  children (age 3-7) with special needs as well as those without. This is a time where your children are invited to spend time with the children at our centre. 

The benefits of Peer Play for our children is that they get a role model of their age to interact with and they learn to generalize their learnt skills. It also motivates them and prepares them socially for school. 

In turn, Peer Play gives your child the opportunity to socialize with other children. This is where your child will learn to accept the differences of other children as they learn to share toys, take turns, explore creative ideas, problem solve and develop friendship skills. It also helps to build a voluntary spirit in your child. 

Sessions run Mondays to Fridays, anytime between 8:30am to 2:30pm. To sign your child up for Peer Play, call us at 03-20940421 and ask to speak to Nisha. 

What does an initial appointment at EAP Malaysia look like?

We have two types of initial appointments at EAP Malaysia - the Diagnostic Evaluation or the Initial Screening. The Diagnostic Evaluation is a 2 hour appointment during which EAP Malaysia's Clinical Psychologist will observe and play with your child, and have an interview with the parents. Our Psychologist will use the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) as a screening tool and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) to make a formal diagnosis. A written report will then be given which is included in the cost. 

The Initial Screening is a two hour meeting for an EAP Malaysia Consultant to spend some time to get to know your child. Our Consultant will discuss your child's development, strengths and difficulties and then give you recommendations on recommended treatment, number of hours, therapists, skills to teach as well as answer any questions you have. A written report with the recommendation will be given to the parents within a week after the meeting. 

Please call us at 03-2094 0421 to make your appointment today.

Jargon and More Jargon...

Q: What is a Progress Review?

A: In addition to our weekly/fortnightly supervision by a Consultant & bimonthly supervision by a Senior Consultant, a Progress Review is conducted by a WEAP Senior Consultant once every 6-8 months to provide additional support & supervision for our kids. Typically a Progress Review lasts 1 and a half hours.

The first 45 minutes, the WEAP Senior Consultant, the child's Consultant & the child's parents observe a therapist working with the child while the next 45 minutes is a parent discussion.

Progress Reviews are a great opportunity to assess the child's progress, the targets & methods used as well as to address additional questions & concerns parents have.

Now you know! :)