Parents more involved in autistic children’s learning post-pandemic

Proud Kids Care Centre founder Khaw Kai Li says parents have learnt to manage their children’s behaviour and provide the appropriate prompts to keep them engaged during online lessons. (Freepik pic)

PETALING JAYA: Parents of children with autism have been increasingly engaged in their children’s educational and developmental journey in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Proud Kids Care Centre founder Khaw Kai Li said parents were more open to attending training sessions provided by the centre after gaining a deeper understanding of autism through telehealth sessions, a remote method of delivering healthcare services, during the pandemic.

She said during those Zoom sessions, therapists performed applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy, which is an evidence-based intervention targeting improvements in speech, communication, social skills, and behaviour.

“Parents used to think they were not equipped to manage their child’s needs. However, after assisting in the online therapy sessions, they are now more open to training because they realise they can also handle their child given the right support,” she said.

Khaw, who is a board-certified behaviour analyst, said parents had to actively participate in online therapy sessions during the pandemic because their children were unable to sit through lessons independently.

“We provided assistance to the parents by guiding them in the right way to handle their child,” she said.

She added that parents learnt to manage their children’s behaviour and provide the appropriate prompts to keep them engaged during online lessons, which boosted their confidence in handling kids with autism.

Autism Behavioral Center case supervisor Audrey Ooi said she too had noticed an increase in parental involvement post-pandemic because they had to be more hands-on with their children when Covid-19 struck.

“There are cases where parents do end up becoming more involved because they get more successful (at behaviour management) and they have been able to work with their kids a lot more at home.

“They started learning a lot more and they know how to manage their kids a lot better, so after the pandemic, they continue to be more in tune with what we (therapists) are doing,” she said, adding that this happens when parents can work alongside their child’s therapy team.

She said parents were more willing to participate in fortnightly training, where they observe therapy sessions and gradually engage hands-on with their children’s programmes, with therapists providing guidance and explanations when needed.

Teaching children with autism post-pandemic

Khaw said while her centre had resumed physical therapy sessions after the pandemic, it integrated the use of PowerPoint slides and online images from its Zoom sessions.

“Some of our children with autism do not have the skill of generalising their learning, so we used to stick to the basic three sets of learning cards.

“Yet, during the pandemic, therapists were able to use different pictures when preparing the slides, so the flexibility of using online images, slides and videos provides an advantage where the children can actually practise with different learning materials,” she said.

Meanwhile, Ooi said her centre also provided parents with the option of learning from prepared videos in the event that they are unable to attend training.

She said parents could watch and continue the programme at home, and would video themselves with their children and obtain feedback from the therapy team.

The centre also does online consultations for families not in the Klang Valley or that are struggling financially.

“It would be like the telehealth service, so parents would be working with the kids at home,” she said, adding that online consultations are 60-80% cheaper than physical services, which can cost thousands of ringgit per month.

Last year, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said intervention costs for autism would be included in the scope of income tax relief for medical expenses, capped at RM4,000.

Ooi said this was a good step forward in reducing the financial burden for parents of children with autism, but more could be done to increase awareness.

“It would be really good if ABA therapy could be more widely recognised. This could be through word-of-mouth, certification of therapists, and the government hosting more awareness talks about special needs kids,” she said.