Friday, September 26, 2014

Straw Art

So last weekend, we got our hands into Straw Art. 
So much learning!
So much fun :))


 Observing Ivy work on her piece
 New friends Ee Hunt and Thiong sharing their workstation.
 Jit Heng doesn't need no table. He can use his hands as a stand :D



 Juls focusing on her masterpiece





 Jon doing a fantastic job with his art work!
 And we concluded the day with some story telling :)

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Making natural mosquito traps

As the aedes mosquito is on the prowl and the number of dengue cases increasing, we at D&S decided to make our own natural mosquito traps to prevent being bitten. And here some of us show you how to go about doing it. 

 First, cut a 1500ml bottle into two parts with a ratio of 3:1, the top half of the bottle having the ratio of 1 and the bottom having a ratio of 3.

 Then measure out 75grams of brown sugar and place it into a large mixing bowl
 Measure out 200ml of hot water and combine it with the brown sugar.
 Stir until the water is no longer warm


 And pour it into the cut out bottle.

 Then pour in one tablespoon of yeast, and do not mix it.
Remove the bottle cap and invert the top half of the bottle into the bottom section. The mouth of the bottle will be inverted into the bottle, however, make sure not to allow the mouth does not touch the liquid. 
 Tape the two sections together.
And walaa.. your mosquito trap is ready! 
Place it in a dark spot and check the trap from time to time.

We hope we have helped you make your home a little more Aedes Mosquito free :D

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Traditional game introduction - Congkak

So two weeks ago the members were introduced to the traditional game, Congkak, and they all enjoyed themselves :)
Jonathan smiling for the camera!



Choong Jian winning his round!
Deric likes his game of chess
Keat Lai learns how to play Congkak



Jon gets his turn
Julie's focusing on placing the marbles correctly
It was also Charmaine's birthday!


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Rev. Peter Young passed away this morning at 1:15am, Saturday (28th June 2014)

The body is at the parlour. Wake service on Wednesday 2nd July, 8:00pm. Funeral on Thursday 3rd July, 10:30am. Both will be at St. Paul's Church, PJ. Contact: (03-79563309 - Church) or (0377829269 - House). Information will in The Star newspaper tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

19.04.14 MP Seputeh Teresa Kok's surprise visit, Options 1


12.04.14 Futsal Session at Sunway Giza

Deric in action

Saras giving penalty kick
 

Choong Jian had an experience kicking the ball
 

Group pics with members

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

A Challenge to Autism Professionals

The theories regarding autism have been based on observation of our odd behaviors. Lists of these behaviors make a diagnosis. I have limited independence in selfcare. I have limited eye contact. I have flat affect often. I can’t express my ideas verbally. I have poor fine motor control. I have impaired initiation. I have impaired gross motor control. I have difficulty controlling intense emotions. I have impulse control challenges and self stimulatory behavior.

Whew. When I write that it sounds pretty bad, but I function adequately in this world. I am now 17 and I am a fulltime high school student in a general education program. I am in Honors Chemistry, Honors US History and Honors English. I am in Algebra 2, Spanish and Animal Sciences. I get straight As. I work out with a trainer 2 or 3 times a week to get fit. I study piano. I hike, cook, and help take care of a horse. I am invited to speak at universities and autism agencies. I am the author of Ido in Autismland, and a blogger as well. I have friends.

I say this, not to brag, but to let you know that people like me, with severe autism, who act weirdly and who can’t speak, are not less human, as Dr. Lovaas suggested, and are not doomed to live lives of rudimentary information and bored isolation.( “You have a person in a physical sense — they have hair, a nose and a mouth — but they are not people in the psychological sense,” the late Ivar Lovaas, a UCLA researcher, said in a 1974 interview with Psychology Today).




I communicate by typing on an iPad with an app that has both word prediction and voice output. I also  communicate by using good, old-fashioned letterboard pointing. If I had not been taught to point to letters or to type without tactile support, many people would never have realized that my mind was intact.

My childhood was not easy because I had no means to communicate at all, despite my 40 hours a week of intensive ABA therapy. I pointed to flashcards and I touched my nose, but I had no means to convey that I thought deeply, understood everything, but was locked internally. Meticulously collected data showed my incorrect answers to flashcard drills, but the limitations of theory are in the interpretations.

My mistakes were proof to my instructors of my lack of comprehension or intelligence, so we did the same boring, baby lessons year after boring year. How I dreamed of being able to communicate the truth then to my instructors and my family too, but I had no way to express my ideas. All they gave me was the ability to request foods and basic needs.

Here is what I would have told them if I could have when I was small. My body isn’t under my mind’s complete control. I know the right answer to these thrilling flashcards, unfortunately my hand isn’t fully under my control either. My body is often ignoring my thoughts. I look at my flashcards. You ask me to touch ‘tree,’ for example, and though I can clearly differentiate between tree, house, boy and whatever cards you have arrayed, my hand doesn’t consistently obey me. My mind is screaming, “Don’t touch house!” It goes to house. Your notes say, “Ido is frustrated in session today.” Yes, frustration often occurs when you can’t show your intelligence and neurological forces impede communication between mind and body and experts then conclude that you are not cognitively processing human speech.

In my childhood I feared I would remain stuck forever in this horrible trap, but I was truly fortunate to be freed when I was 7 when my mother realized my mind was intact, and both my parents searched to find a way to help me communicate without tactile support.

Thousands of autistic people like me live life in isolation and loneliness, denied education, condemned to baby talk and high fives, and never able to express a thought. The price of assuming that nonverbal people with autism have impaired thinking is a high one to families and to people who live in solitary confinement within their own bodies. It is high time professionals rethought their theories.


For more information: http://idoinautismland.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Sasana Kijang (Bank Negara) visit

 
 
 
Amazing visit at Sasana Kijang on the 22nd March 2014. Members were especially excited to see the 1 million ringgit worth of notes when passing through the tunnel.
 


 

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Gardening at Options 2, Taman Mayang

On a hot Saturday afternoon - Clearing the front garage, we planted some flowers, papaya & kang kung with Wai Keen, Charmaine, Joanna and Kai Kiet with Janet, Felix, Heather and Josh. We cannot wait for kang kung and papaya to harvest :D