Marvz

Thanks for the advise Gaia and other guests here. You were the only ones who comforted me in this trying times. It is not over yet for my case, but I got a really positive response from George after showing him our new reports from the clinical psych and pedia neuro. Hope the waiting time will not take that long as this has really taken a lot of toll on my emotions and physical health lately.

Hi guys, I just wanted to update you on my case. I had a second opinion for my son, and a clinical psychologist conducted WISC and ABAS for my son. I also sought the medical advise of another pediatric neurologist about the case of my son and all the results were very positive. Both of them are of the opinion that my son has no neurological deficiency. The past 6 months has been a rollercoaster to us. We will be submitting all the new reports by the end of this week with the aid of my agency, and I am fervently praying that the decision will be overturned in our favor. I just found out also from my colleague that our previous dev ped who diagnosed my son has a lot of negative feedbacks in their hometown. She was advised by her medical professional not to return to that dev ped anymore as her evaluations are not at par with her son's progress. I was appalled at knowing this, and I guess not complying with her recommendations was a good gut instinct from the very beginning. I am so compelled to complain to the right authorities about this case, but I just also learned that this DSM 5 might not be really a solid work after all. The emotional damage it creates will stay with me for a very long time. I can only think of all the patients that are overdiagnosed because of this meaningless PDDNOS and Asperger label.

My son has never had special education needs since he entered school. He also never had any extra support all throughout his school. No mental issues, not taking any medication at all. The MOC has quoted in our letter "Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder Form and severity of the applicant's condition : The applicant has mild ASD and requires ongoing therapy to improve his communication skills"... I am so struck by this, because in all honesty he never had any speech therapy before. It was only when he was on vacation here abroad few months ago that I had him assessed because my intentions were to ENHANCE his speaking skills since he is a fast talker and would sometimes stutter. Though there was no comprehensive assessment done by the speech pathologist, she initially rated his speech and language skills as VERY GOOD. In addition to my son's education, he was always in maintstream school and in the top of his class. So Im really appalled with the statement that this can cost taxpayer's money. I cannot believe how they have to be so discriminatory on all people in the spectrum when they are really brilliant in a lot of ways. I hope I get some insights about this.

I believe my son who is now 15 will not cost any money to the taxpayer. Do you have any idea how Im going to explain this to the letter?

Yes Im in the process of contacting him. Hopefully by next week. Havent got enough sleep for the past 2 days already thinking about this.

Just an update of our Visa 489 application. Before my son had his medicals I went to see his neurodev pedia in our home country and she classified my son as having Aspergers. After that, we went to the panel Dr and showed his medical report. The Panel Dr. found nothing wrong with my son. I think my decision was wrong to have him diagnosed before the medicals. As I said in this thread his first diagnosis was PDD NOS (Pervasive Dev Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). Now, we just got the results and my son did not meet the criteria for health requirement. We were sent with a s57 PIC 4005 Natural Justice Letter wanting us to explain to the MOC. I have contacted George Lombard, but havent really got the appointment for the consultation yet. However, in his initial email to me, they have told me that the only way my son will pass the health criteria is to reverse the diagnosis or have a health waiver(which we unfortunately dont have). Is this a final advice? Or are there any strategies in replying the Natural Justice Letter? Im really stuck in a rut thinking that we are bound to fail and the Natural Justice Letter is just a formality of some sort. Can anyone advice me on what to do? I have until Nov 19 to reply to the C.O. As I said, Im booking a consultation with George Lombard, hopefully next week and have my questions cleared? Consultation wise, will they be giving me other options on what to do? I have a lot of questions in my mind, but I dont really know where to begin. Any advice will be much appreciated. TIA

Have you appealed for your case?

Thank you for you reply Mr. JohnDoe, your words eases my stressed mind. Although I have to clarify and correct me if I am wrong, but isnt PDD NOS considered as ASD as what I have read in the internet? Yes, my son did go for Occupational Therapy for a few sessions, but unfortunately for the speech therapy he was only exposed like once because of financial constraints, and from where we hail it is really scarce and expensive. So, when we enrolled him in a small nursery, that was the time when things really changed. He began speaking, and to our amazement he didnt speak our local tongue, but he was fluent in English. This could be because he watched a lot of english cartoons at that stage also. I even clearly remembered how he was crying so hard in my lap during his commencment in Nursery and asking me why he has not got a medal for himself. I told him "we should be studying harder so you can also get that medal". By the next year, he did get a third place medal for academic excellence. He is really an amazing kid. Very eager to learn a lot of stuff, but we never had a follow up with a psychologist or any professional apart from his pedia after that diagnosis. I am hopeful that with this entry to Australia, I can help him be his best self, and to also harness his potential. Do you think I should seek a psychologist before the medical exams for the Visa? I am gonna get back and inquire with my agency if they can address my concerns about it. I know I am not supposed to ask in here since Im very new and I have a migration agent to handle this, but it really is a relief to hear other people's perspectives as well. I appreciate you guys for the time and effort you all are taking to try and help out those who are in need of information. God bless!

Thats very good to hear! Thanks God. Yeah, Im seeking Mr. Lombard on this matter though I have an agency here in Singapore, I think they are not equipped to deal with this kind of circumstance I guess

What was the outcome of your application?

Hi there! May I know how your application is? I have the same case as you but we have not yet proceeded with the medicals.

Hi there! May I know how is your application? I received an ITA for Visa 489 recently and I have never really foreseen this matter. I have been feeling so sad about it as my son has PDD NOS and this might cause us our visa, although he is really high functioning and we did not get a second opinion anymore. Also, he has been in mainstream school always and he has been included in the top 10 of his class for most of the time. I am really bothered at the moment, and the agency though they have asked me to proceed I would like to get insights from individuals with the same dilemma.

Hi there! May I know what is the outcome of your application? Thank you and God speed!

Hi everyone! May I ask if any of you here has the same situation as I? I have received an ITA for Visa 489 last May 17, 2018. My partner and I has applied for it together with my 15 year old son. Unfortunately, it really did not cross my mind that ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) is a big issue and hurdle in our application. I have sought advise from my agency here in Singapore and they have told me to proceed since of course a substantial amount has been paid for. Now, my situation is that my son was diagnosed with PDD NOS(Pervasive Developmental Disorder Non Otherwise Specified) when he was 3 years old, we followed what the Developmental Pedia advised us before to get Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. Also, his pediatrician has encouraged us to still enroll him in mainstream school and observe him if he is able to cope. Fortunately, he has really grown into a productive person, he is in the top ten of his class and he is really amazing with computer stuff, sometimes the school sends him to represent in a contest. I feel so sad for these past weeks thinking about our application and the implications his diagnosis will have with our future. Any insights on this matter will be greatly appreciated. I am now in the stage of preparing my documents for the VISA application. I have read in a lot of forums that Mr. George Lombard is an expert in this field, so I have sent him a query about our chances. Should I hold off the application for now and wait for his reply or should I proceed? Any insights about this matter will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance and God bless!