7/30/2019 Book on Autism

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NEWS6today Monday Febru ary 7, 2011

What its like to live with autismM wi iic i lif i k g p p

Venessa Leecorrespondent

venessa@mediacorp.com.sg

SINGAPORE Burger, fries, ice-cream. It

was meant to be an unchanging fast-food

sequence but things got hairy.

Ms Brenda Tans son, Calder, is autistic

and an obsession with routine is a trait

associated with his condition. The ice-

cream dispenser was out of order that day

and no dessert would mean a break in

the routine, which could have sparked a

tornado-like meltdown on Calders part,

said Ms Tan, who recently self-published a

book on autism.

It was a miracle that he could con-

tain his uneasiness and temper, she told

Today, explaining that Calder seemed to

be persuaded by the option of having ice-

cream at home instead. I ask for mira-

cles on a daily basis, added Ms Tan, who

credits her Christian faith with helping

her cope with a child whos sometimes

beyond her.

Calder, now six, was diagnosed with

moderate autism when he was three.

In the foreword to her book, Come Into

My World: 31 Stories Of Autism In Singapore,

she describes how she once saw a toddler

slamming his head against his mother,

leaving her in tears, with bloodied lips.

Murmurs about his needing a good spank-

ing missed the point, she realised years

later. The boy probably was autistic and

was having a meltdown a term familiar,

through painful experience, to many par-

ents of autistic children.

The boy on the bus did not want his

mum to sit so close to him, much less hug

him many autistic children cannot bear

to be touched, wrote Ms Tan, 36.

The stories in her book were written

by her and other contributors, including

individuals diagnosed with autism, and

siblings of autistic persons. I was look-

ing for personal accounts some kind of

connection with other parents of autistic

children, said the part-time lecturer and

ex-journalist, adding that she hopes to

increase public awareness and support of

individuals with autism.

What looks like oddness or behavioural

problems such as flapping arms like a

chickens wings, making strange noises,

walking in circles, throwing tantrums that

end only through sheer exhaustion can

be par for the course for autistic persons,

who experience the world in a different

way, noted Ms Tan.

What seems like disciplinary problems

is not due to rebelliousness or defiance,

said Ms Tan, adding that the challenge is

how to meet the expectations of the pub-

lic, which probably has firm views about

what is socially acceptable.

One contributor, who wanted to be

known as Orange, realised in secondary

school that he was autistic after reading

the fictional work, The Curious Incident Of

The Dog In The Night-time by Mark Haddon,

whose main character is autistic.

Orange wrote that his parents are

Chinese-educated and their trust in Tra-

ditional Chinese Medicine meant that his

main form of treatment was acupuncture

and Chinese herbs. His parents who

refused to place him in a special school as

the doctor advised still think that he is

normal and not autistic, added Orange,

who is introduced in the book as being a

psychology student at a private university.

Persons diagnosed with autism often

insist on bewildering forms of repetition

and routine.

One contributor to the book has a child

who, at two, consistently threw tantrums

when taken on walks in his stroller. They

only ceased when his parents discovered

that he wanted to look at all the lifts in the

neighbouring flats during his

Other general characteristi

a developmental disorder, in

language and interpersonal

interaction and conventional

present profound challenges

10 times more effort, said M

also has a three-year-old daug

Calders younger sister, Et

gargle after watching one dem

In contrast, we taught him fo

years, said his mother.

A contributor to the boo

Jack, wrote about how he w

school and how he uninten

fends people. I noticed tha

hug each other, so I tried hu

too. They freaked out, wrot

was preparing for his A leve

book was printed. He has a for

called Aspergers syndrome.

Calder recently took a p

test to see if he could be place

like Pathlight, which provides

education to autistic children

it was a huge disappointme

was found to be unsuited for t

education, in a way it was a

Ms Tan.

The stress really went dow

I looked at him differently. H

a boy who doesnt match up an

not running the rat race. Now

deadline on his learning any m

More information on Come Int

31 Stories Of Autism In Singap

found at www.come-into-my

a b t Cl. Photo Courtesy brenda tan

Tweets led Singaporean on a road trip ... to making a documentarSINGAPORE It began as a road trip

through the United States for Singaporean

film-maker Tan Siok Siok, based solely on

leads and information from users of mi-

croblogging site Twitter.

And the experience over three weeks

as she explored the new social phe-

nomenon has culminated in Twitta-

mentary, a 70-minute documentary made

from real-time responses to Ms Tans

tweets as she travelled from New York to

Los Angeles.

Ms Tan told MediaCorp: I love Twitter,

I have experienced a lot of its magic, so to

speak ... So I think a film that can somehow

capture the zeitgeist of Twitter, capture

the spirit it will be a very difficult film

to make.

The entire production of the documen-

tary from idea to fruition took about

two years. On Jan 31, students from the

Singapore Management University got a

preview of Ms Tans film.

Come Wednesday, the movie will be

screened at Hackerspace Singapore at 70A

Bussorah Street.

Twittamentary is Ms Tans second in-

dependent film. Her first was Boomtown

Beijing a documentary which she di-

rected about the city of Beijing, its people

and their dreams the summer before the

Olympics, according to her blog.

Describing her latest efforts as a

terrible way to make a film, Ms Tan, a

former executive producer of Discovery

Channel in Asia, said: You abdicate it. You

do research but you dont follow the re-

search. You depend on strangers, who are

your fixers.

Content for the document

veloped impromptu from tweet

The film features a wid

Twitterers from a trave

turned twilebrity (a twitte

to a homeless woman tweeti

public library.

Ms Tan said: This is no

where I went around filming ot

twitter stories. But the makin

itself is an amazing story abo

can use Twitter to realise yo

vision. Lynda honG

What seems like discip

problems is not due to

rebelliousness or defia

said Ms Tan, adding th

the challenge is how t

meet the expectations

public, which probabl

firm views about what

socially acceptable.