Autistic in Thailand: Dek piset
November 19, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
“Dek piset” or “special kid” is one way to refer to an autistic person in Thailand. In Out of Hiding, the Bangkok Post, Dr Penkhae Limsila, who specializes in ASD and child psychiatry, has helped to raise autism awareness and develop educational and other programs for autistic persons throughout her career in Thailand. One program trains “buddies” to help college students with autism; another calls for more training of pediatricians to recognize and diagnose autism, especially among children in rural areas. Some parents in Thailand “try to hide their ’special’ children at home, or would rather keep them among those with similar disorders,” and Dr Penkhae sounds familiar themes of instead preferring to teach autistic children coping and vocational skills.
Autistic persons, Dr. Penkhae further suggests, lack the “emotional quotient” and also the “ability” to communicate and relate to others and I am inclined to think that she might revise these positions, as well as her belief that, instead of pushing an autistic person to achieve their “educational potential,” they ought rather to develop “social skills and emotional maturity, which [she has] realised as [sic] more important than education.” My son Charlie has the full spectrum of human emotions, from joy to rage, from fear to annoyance, but tends to experience these as extremes. He struggles academically with reading and arithmetic, but I think it no less necessary to continue to teach him these skills, no matter how long it takes.
Dr. Penkhae also refers to autistic persons as having an “innocent heart” and as being best-suited for jobs that involve honesty, such as a tollway booth cashier. She attributes much of the greater awareness of autism in Thailand to Princess Ubolratana, whose late son Khun Poom Jensen was a “special kid.”
There was this boy who suddenly went aggressive in a taxi. Instead of telling the family to get out, which might have been the case years earlier, the taxi driver said ‘Oh, he’s a special kid, like Khun Poom! That’s alright.’
“Most importantly, many parents started to come forward to admit their children were autistic, which is the most important step in order for these children to get proper treatment.”
By whatever name, being able to see that one’s child is autistic is the first step in helping a child, wherever in the world you are.
Hi,
I would like to contact Dr Penkhae Limsila. I have an autistic child.
If you can give me her email or telephone …
Thanks,
Lee
This is a website for Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Hospital—it is not in English and so I cannot read it—there is a phone number on the webpage for the hospital, 02-384-3381-3.
http://www.yuwaprasart.com/Gen/
I will keep looking for more information!
I do neurofeedback and have been asked to talk to an austism support group next week. Any suggestions?
With Much Appreciation, Donna
Hi!
I hav a friend who is trained in teaching art in the form of dance for autistic children, she wants to volenteer to teach in Thailand. Can anyone help her desire. Thanx – Yadev
Hi
I am an occupational therapist trained in australia and have been working in singapore for the past 7 years in the field of children with special needs. I am particularly interested in the work with children with ASD especially with the use of sound therapy as a mode of treatment.
Are there any Occupational therapy clinics in bangkok treating children with ASD?
cheers
wai ming
watershell@hotmail.com
Hello to the Autistic Community in Thailand,
I spent ten years in America providing behavior therapy for children with autism. I am taking a year off from my business of traveling with families of children with disabilities to teach English in Thailand. I am interested in learning about autism in Thailand while I am here – I would like to write an article of Autism Around the World. Please contact me if you are interested. I would also be very interested in volunteering with children with autism – I live in Surat Thani.
Thank you!
Meghan
dear meghan, would you please leave me your contact number in bangkok? i would like to speak with you regarding my son as soon as possible. by the way, i have spent much time in america and have spent months in punta canta at the punta canta melia resort! thank you very much, judi
I work with Autistic clients on Maui in Hawaii. I use water sports, massage, sounds(toning both above and below water), animal therapy, Brain Gym and other mostly “out of the box” modalities in my work. I would like to take this work to Thailand but have been unsucessful in getting thru to the right people or institutions. Can anyone help me with this.
Thanks, Ron
I am one of the owners of a small primary school on Koh Samui. One of our students has two autistic sisters. After a discussion with his mother we were made aware that there are a number of children on the island who are in a similar situation to her two daughters. There are currently no educational facilities for children with autism on Samui and to send their children to schools elsewhere is simply too expensive for most Thai families. With this in mind we are trying to assess the possibility of changing this. We would like to set up a non-profit school for children with autism and other special educational needs on Samui at no, or minimal cost to the parents of these children. This idea is in it’s most formative stages. So far we have a suitable site ( our current location that we will be moving from next year), however we will need the following; corporate sponsorship to cover the costs of running and appropriately outfitting the school and Teachers and other experienced staff. Any information on organizations that could help us, or any individuals who have any ideas, information, would be interested in working with us or have experience to share would be most gratefully received.
Thank you for your help
Emma Dyas
@Emma Dyas,
Thank you for writing here about your school—-it sounds like there is a huge need. I will be in contact—what kinds of educational or other services are there for autistic students in Thailand?
hi
at home in england i am working with special needs children and i am thinking of moving to thailand some time next year and i would really like to do some work with children with ASD while i am there. do you know how i would go about that? any information would be great!
thankyou.
beth.
Dear all,
I shall see what I can do to find Dr Penkhae Limsila for you. I have good Thai contacts there – personal friends – and I have asked one of them to make a check, based on what are written here. Is she at Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Hospital?
Fyi, we are looking to expand our operations into Bangkok in 2009. And we do indeed have to do our preparatory works now. So coming across this site, and this forum itself is very relevant and appropriate for us. Thank you Dr Chew for your foresight and resourcefulness in setting up this site.
@Beth, Perhaps you might contact Emma Dyas and Meghan in the comment thread above? I can forward them your comments and/or emails.
Thank you to HQ Yeo for mentioning your contacts!
Dear Dr Chew,
You are most welcome. I like to help where I can. And your work is much much more important and beneficial here.
Regards.
Dear Emma,
Autism can be treated with Neurofeedback or Hemoecephalography very well. I just wanted to visit your country to find out whether there is someone practicing to talk about experiences. I have an austistic child that does very well. I am from Germany, so I doubt I can help you. But I can imagine to help you with education, so that you can do the Neurofeedback-therapy on the children.
Usually one can´t heal ASD. But you can do a lot to make things much better.!
best regards
Thomas
Can someone guide us which resort in Thailand is convenient for Autistic Boy alongwith family to stay for a short period. Appreciate if someone can give this information.
Judi,
Sorry for the delay – I have been traveling while the students were on holiday. I am back in Surat Thani until October. Please email me directly if you would like to correspond regarding your son.
Meghan
info@specialtravelers.org
Dear Dr Chew and all,
As informed in an earlier posting, my contact has managed to call on Dr Penkhae Limsila at the Yuwaprasart Waithayopathum Hospital. Her contact is 662-3843-3813 ext 1214. Her email is p-limsia@hotmail.com. Her specialisation is child psychology. She says she is very busy these 2 months and will not be able to see any new patients. My friend says Dr Penkhae speaks good English. I hope this info will be useful. Have a good weekend ahead.
Hi just checking if anyone tried to contact Dr Penkhae Limsila? From my recent trip, I was informed that the Learning Disabilities Association of Thailand will be formed shortly, and headed by a Dr Padoong. Perhaps this info will be useful for some of you here. His email is: “padoong arrayavinyoo”
Best wishes.
Hi my son has been diagnose with autism last year. He is 4 years old and is currently enrolled in pre-school at a special school in Australia. I have heard from a Thai friend that she has seen great improvement in her nephew’s life (who is now a teenage boy). I am extremely interested in going to Thailand to see if there is any way possible to help improve my son’s life. He is full of character but keeps shuting us out of his world and I am worry about his well-being when he’s all grown up. I am Thai and have family support in Thailand if need to be there for more longer than a few months. Please advise.
Ann
001-61-8-89328781
Dear Dr.Chew, I will coming with the family to live in Thailand.My son (8 years) speak italian and have autism. What it’s the possibility for us? It’s possible to find a Private-Teacher with a formation to verbal-behavior (ABA)? Or a school with ABA in Bangkok or Pattaya?
With best regards Jolanda
Hi everybody,
My friend has autistic boy (Thai), he is now graduating grade 9 from a private school having autistic program. Unfortunately, the school ends only at grade 9 and she finds it’s very difficult to find further school in Bangkok match and care for autistic persons.
Any recommendations from this network would be very appreciated. Otherwise, homeschool seems to be the only choice for family with autistic teenagers.
Hi folks, I worked for a short time with http://www.enigmainstitute.net in Bangkok. They are a group of tutors using mostly Feuerstein’s Instrumental Enrichment program with kids with an assortment of learning difficulties, including Aspergers. Really interesting! They were getting some incredible results. If you are in need of someone like these to help, they are worth checking out.
Brian
Dear Emma Dyas,
I have come across this site and found your post here. Though it was a year ago, I would like to find out if this project has been set-up already or not. I’ve hold a master degree in Early Childhood Education and a Montessori certified with more than 5 years teaching experience in US. I’m now full-time homeschooling my 6 years old son who has autism. I am Thai living in Penang, Malaysia, and really interested in working with children with special needs. Please contact me if your school still needs teachers.
Best Regards,
Grace Ong (Lassamon2003@yahoo.com)
Hi Emma,
I have just viewed this site and wondered if your plans to expand your school to teach autistic children had progressed and are up and running. My partner’s son is autistic and although we can provide him with special needs tuition in bangkok, i am interested to know of other locations in thailand which offer special needs tuition as i would prefer to live outside bangkok. I think many families of autistic children would be interested because to my knowledge practically all special needs tuition is centered in the capitol which can be very restrictive. Hope things have worked out for you and await your reply.
many thanks, Kevin.