We provide early support, counselling, psychological therapy, as well as, assessments for access arrangements and diagnostic purposes, for individuals with Autism from 12 months onwards.
Early Support
Our early support programme is suitable for autistic children from the age of 12 months to 4 years. We utilise the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) approach. ESDM is an evidence-based programme for autistic children up to the age of four years. It is based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) and uses a naturalistic approach to teach young children social interaction, communication and other skills. To find out more about ESDM, please click here.
During the session, the therapist will work directly with the child and walk parents through the whole process. Parents’ participation is mandatory as the therapist will demonstrate how they work with the child so that parents can continue to work with their child at home. This is to encourage generalisation of skills from our centre to the child’s home.
Our professionals that provide ESDM intervention services are either undergoing or have undergone rigorous training to meet the certification process and are Certified ESDM Therapists. Therapists who are undergoing certification are closely supervised by Certified ESDM Therapists. The certification status of the professionals can be verified at the official ESDM webpage here.
Behavioural and Psychological Interventions
We provide evidence-based psychological therapies and counselling such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to children, adolescents and adults with Autism aged 7 years and above, who at the same time present with various emotional and behavioural concerns such as, but not limited to:
- Anxiety
- Aggression
- Depression
- Emotional difficulties or dysregulation
- Social skills difficulties
- Puberty-related issues (for adolescents)
We also conduct Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS), a social skills programme for autistic adolescents. This programme can be conducted in a group or individually, depending on scheduling and availability. Please click here for more information.
We are well-versed with concerns specific to autistic individuals such as camouflaging and autistic burnout, as well as the different characteristics, nuances and experiences of female autistics.
In line with our middle ground approach, we involve allistic (non-autistic) colleagues, family members, partners and interested parties in our work with the autistic client when consent is given.
Assessments
Access Arrangements
Our psychologists are trained to provide assessments for access arrangements purposes for the Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE) and the General Certification of Education (GCE) examinations that meet the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board’s (SEAB) requirements.
Diagnostic Assessments
We provide diagnostic assessments for a wide range of developmental and psychological conditions such as, but not limited to, Autism, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Dyslexia, for children, teenagers and adults. For Autism diagnostic assessments, we utilise a wide range of tools such as the Monteiro Interview Guidelines for Diagnosing the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition (MIGDAS – 2), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R).
Screening
We also conduct screenings for Autism for individuals who are concerned that they or their child may shows signs of Autism but who do not want a full diagnostic assessment. We use the same tools for screens as those use for diagnostic assessments. A full detailed report will not be provided but a memo or short summary report can be requested.
Others
We are also able to assess for school readiness and for special school application purposes.
Telehealth
We also provide early support, psychological therapy, counselling and certain assessments via telehealth. For early support programmes, we will coach parents to provide the intervention for their child via telehealth. The therapist will provide live coaching and guidance as the parents work with their child.
Workshops and Training programmes
We provide workshops and training programmes aimed at reducing the “double empathy” problem by equipping allistic individuals with the necessary knowledge and skillsets to interact and socialise with autistic individuals. We are currently developing and piloting a social skills programme for allistic individuals that complements the social skills programme for autistic individuals. We acknowledge that the allistic social skills programme is developed based on feedback and research on autistic individuals with low support needs and that the programme may not fully represent the needs and perspectives of those autistic individuals with higher support needs. We continue to seeks ways to incorporate the perspectives of autistic individuals in our programmes regardless of the level of their support needs.