Useful Organisations, Special Schools and Therapies

[Angelmum]

All those in blue are clickable links

Sg Enable

MOE Special Edu (read 3rd posting - below)

Disability & Quick links

Riding for the Disabled
The Riding for the Disabled Association of Singapore (RDA) provides free, therapeutic horse riding lessons to children and adults with disabilities from all over Singapore. It aims to teach people with disabilities to ride to the best of their ability.

MILK (Mainly I Love Kids) Fund is a charity organization, which reaches out to disadvantaged children in the hope of developing them into contributing members of society.

Do2Learn

My Special Kid Resource store

Shichida/Glenn Doman

Rehab Mart home care supplies, rehabilitation products for sales and rent

DNR Wheels deals with home care supplies, rehabilitation products, rental and custom make wheelchairs or buggies for children

for chromosome disorders :
http://www.rarechromo.org
http://www.raregenes.org/

Club Rainbow
The charity was registered as a independent not-for-profit organisation in 1992. CRS mission is to provide compassionate relevant services to children suffering from chronic and life-threatening illnesses and their families. Provides emotional, informational, educational, social and financial support to our beneficiaries - the children and their families.

To be a Club Rainbow (CRS) member, you need a doctor's referral. CRS organises a number of events for parents to get together, including year end overseas trip. No fee or strings attached.

Make-A-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish for your child (aged 3 years old & above ) with medical condition. Wishes will be screened and granted for each medically eligible child. Each application must be made with child's medical report and Doctor's referral. No fee or strings attached.

 

[Angelmum]

DIY Therapy

Therapists can apply years of training and experience, and roomfuls of appropriate equipment, to the care of your child, but you have one advantage that they do not: constant access. If you feel your child could use more help than he or she can get in the hours spent in a therapist's office, here are some sites that offer ways to help your child without leaving home - from organized therapies to fun activities with therapeutic benefits to catalogs that offer helpful equipment.


Play time cum Therapy

Finding the time to play with your child can be tricky, when you're also under pressure to do therapy and strengthen learning skills and bolster development. Try one of these eight play opportunities that do double duty, helping you both have fun and do good.

*Floortime

Floortime is a therapeutic approach that involves getting down on the floor with your child and following her lead as you play together. The hidden agenda is to engage children and help them advance through developmental milestones but to your youngster, it will just feel like play. To you, too, if you're doing it right.

*Brain Gym

Brain Gym is a system of exercises and activities that get the brain and body working together to improve learning, memory, and thinking skills. It's also fun to do, and as silly as you want to make it.

Below is a series of movements called PACE. They are surprisingly simple, but very effective!

Drink Water

As Carla Hannaford says, "Water comprises more of the brain (with estimates of 90%) than of any other organ of the body." Having students drink some water before and during class can help "grease the wheel". Drinking water is very important before any stressful situation - tests! - as we tend to perspire under stress, and de-hydration can effect our concentration negatively.

"Brain Buttons"

This exercise helps improve blood flow to the brain to "switch on" the entire brain before a lesson begins. The increased blood flow helps improve concentration skills required for reading, writing, etc.

• Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger.
• Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner.
• At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes.

"Cross Crawl"
This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension.

• Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching.
• Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.

"Hook Ups"

This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few "hook ups" to calm the mind and improve concentration.

• Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles.
• Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top.
• Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position.
• Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.

*Deep Pressure Play

If your child always seems to want to wrestle or push or pull or slam or drop, playing games that incorporate those activities with some deep pressure and massage may be a rewarding and calming experience. Wrapping up in blankets, pushing the boundaries of Body Sox, crawling through tunnels of pillows, splashing in a ball pit, having a tug of war, bouncing off the soft sides of a blow-up trampoline -- all can be fun ways to play as well as good therapy for input-craving sensory systems.

*Speech Play

Chances are you've played goofy word games with your child, or sang some silly songs. Did you know you were reinforcing speech and language skills along the way? Most word-related play involves rhyming, repetition, memory, word retrieval, tempo, volume, and fluency in ways so fun and distracting that kids don't even know they're working.

*Number Play

Doing a big old page of math problems may not sound very playful to your kids, but try a board game or a dice game, or challenge them to figure out the age of a favorite actor or count the number of pennies in a jar, and suddenly numbers look far more friendly. Work math into your playtime routine and get a learning workout for your time, too.

*PT Play

Many of the things you might ordinarily do with your child -- catching and throwing, kicking a ball, shooting a hoop, riding a bike -- may involve the very same skills that the physical therapist works on at school. Check with the PT to find out which activities would most reinforce what's going on in therapy, or read over your child's IEP to see what goals have been set.

*Make a Mess

It may seem odd to be helping your child make a mess but messy play can help children with sensory integration and occupational therapy goals, and the silliness of doing it with Mom or Dad only makes it more fun. Plunging hands into a bin full of rice with toys hidden inside, or sculpting with shaving cream, or drawing letters in pudding are all sloppy ways to strengthen skills.

*Use Your Imagination

In the end, you're the one who's likely to have the best ideas for productive play with your particular child. You know better than anyone else what your child needs, and the kind of activities he responds to. Give yourself permission to spend that time, whether it's a half-hour at the playground or a play-dough session at the kitchen table or a pillow-fight before bed. Having fun with you is important to your child, no matter what you do.

 

[Angelmum]

Special School or Home Schooling?

They are a number of resources to help the parent of a special needs child, depending on the level of severity of the child's issues. Some children may not be able to attend school for medical or psychological reasons, so therefore home schooling is a possible option for a special needs child. Consider a child with severe attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, behaviour problems, autism, or even a child with an auto-immune disorder who is susceptible to every type of germ imaginable. It is not appropriate or beneficial for these special needs children to be in a traditional school environment.

Some special needs children may be on oxygen, in a wheelchair or require regular medications throughout the day and schools are required to make special accommodations available for these kids

Children diagnosed with visual or physical disabilities can attend mainstream schools (from primary to tertiary level), as long as the schools are equipped with the right facilities to enable easy navigation for these students, trained staff support them in their studies, so as to enable these students to cope with the mainstream curriculum.

MOE provides children with special needs the opportunity to maximise their own learning paths and participate in society. The ministry training 10% of the teachers in mainstream schools at the certificate level. The training will provide a broad understanding of special needs and effective teaching approaches and strategies .. parents need to find the right school with the right teacher and environment.

There are help forums and information available on the internet. We would encourage parents of Special needs child to read and understand as much as they could which will help built-up the understanding with their child and this is extremely important in the long run.

Currently, Spore has twenty-one local run Special Needs Schools (given the title 'SPED' abbreviated for 'Special Education'). Each of these are run by 'Voluntary Welfare Organisations' (VWO) and funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the National Council of Social Services (NCSS).

Asian Women's Welfare Association (AWWA)
The AWWA School runs an 'Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children' (EIPIC), from birth to 4 years and a special educational 'Programme for Children with Multiple Handicaps' (PCMH) between the ages of 4 to 12 years. Also, since 2001, the school has catered for children with Autism and behavioural concerns under the title 'Project Challenge'.

Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN)
There are four APSN schools in Singapore, which cater for children with moderate learning difficulties 1, with IQ's between 50 and 70. Children between the ages of 6 and 12 can either attend Chao Yang School, or Katong School 2. Children between the ages of 13 and 16 can attend Tanglin School and those between the ages of 17 and 19 can attend Delta Senior School, which prepares the students for employment through a range of pre-vocational training programmes.

Autism Resource Centre (ARC)
Pathlight School was opened in 2004 and caters for children between 6 and 16 who have an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Pathlight School was the first school to offer mainstream education for children with specific special educational needs who have IQ's above 75. It caters for children cognitively able to cope with the mainstream syllabus yet unable to cope socially and emotionally in mainstream school. Students are provided with autism friendly facilities, small class sizes and qualified teaching staff in the field of autism.

Autism Association (Singapore) (AAS)
The AAS are the latest to open a special needs school in Singapore. The Singapore Autism School opened in 2005. Similar to Pathlight School, SAS caters for children between 6 and 16 who are on the Autistic Spectrum.

Canossian Daughters of Charity (CDC)
The CDC operates a primary school known as the Canossian School for the Hearing Impaired (CSHI). On reaching Primary Six the pupils take the Primary School Leaving Exam (PSLE) and, depending on their results, will either transfer to a mainstream school catered for children with hearing impairment or to the 'Vocational School for the Handicapped'. The 'Magdalene Kindergarten' is a feeder school for pre-primary aged children with hearing impairment.

Metta Welfare Association (MWA)
The MWA runs the Metta School which caters for children with mild to moderate learning difficulties, with I.Q.'s between 55 and 75. The age range for the Metta School is 6 until 18 years old.

Movement for the Intellectually Disabled (MINDS)
There are five MINDS schools, which cater for children with moderate to severe learning difficulties, with IQ's below 50. Children between the ages of 4 and 18 can either attend Lee Kong Chian Gardens School, Guillemard Gardens School, Towner Gardens School, Woodlands Gardens School or Yio Chu Kang Gardens School. On leaving school, students have the opportunity to either attend one of the two MINDS Day Activity Centres at Clementi or Ang Mo Kio, or attend one of the three MINDS Employment Development Centres / Sheltered Workshops.

Presbyterian Community Services (PCS)
Since 2002, the PCS has run the Grace Orchard School (GOS) for children between the ages of 7 and 16 years, with mild learning difficulties and IQ's from 55 to 70.

Rainbow Centre (RC)
The Rainbow Centre operates two schools, namely, Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS) and Yishun Park School. Both schools cater for children with Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other neurological conditions. The schools follow three programmes: 1) 'Early Intervention for Infants and Children' under 4 years old; 2) 'Programme for Children with Multiple Handicaps' between 4 and 16 years; and 3) 'Structured Teaching for Exceptional Pupils' (STEP), for children with Autism up to the age of 12 years.

Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf)
The SADeaf runs a primary school known as the Singapore School for the Deaf. On reaching the age of 14 the students can transfer to the 'Vocational School for the Handicapped' or, if able to pass the PSLE, can transfer to a designated mainstream school as listed in footnote 3.

Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH)
The SAVH operates a primary school known as the Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped. The majority of students follow the mainstream curriculum, although there is also a remedial class for slow learners and a special class for children with multiple disabilities. On passing the PSLE the students can transfer to a mainstream school 4. The SAVH also runs a 'Vocational Training Centre' which is for people with visual impairment aged 18 and above.

Spastic Children's Association of Singapore (SCAS)
The SCAS runs the Spastic Children's Association School for children with cerebral palsy between the ages of 5 and 18 years. The school curriculum is modified to meet the varying needs of each student. Additionally, SCAS have recently set up a programme called the 'Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children‘ (EIPIC) which caters for children, from 0 to 6 years old, with Cerebral Palsy, other physical disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder. Vocational training and employment is also available at the SCAS 'Goodwill Rehabilitation and Occupational Workshop' (GROW).

St. Andrew's Autism Centre (SAAC)
St. Andrew's Autism School caters for children with ASD from the ages of 7 to 18 years. It also runs a Day Activity Centre for ages 16 to 55 years.

Privately Run / Foreign System Schools
In addition to the above, Genesis School is a special school, commercially run, which caters to children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Communication Disorders, Attention Deficit Disorders and Learning Difficulties, from the age of 3. Individual Educational Programmes are provided for each child in addition to on-going assessments and small class sizes.

Dover Court Preparatory School is an International School, which runs mainstream, English as a Second Language (ESL) and Special Educational Needs classes ranging from primary to junior levels. The special needs department provides small class sizes, qualified teaching staff, teaching assistants in each class group and educational programmes catered to each individual child. Opportunity to integrate with the mainstream classes is practiced.

Furthermore, some International mainstream schools such as the Australian International School, International School of Singapore, Tanglin Trust School and the American School is open to take children with mild special educational needs. The latter school has full time speech therapists for both the primary and secondary school's.

Helping Special Students Integrate Better into Society :
http://www.schoolbag.sg/archives/2009/02/helping_special_students_integ.php

 

[aidaroyani83]

hi i hv a 15mths bb gal n her doctor just refer her to CDU may i know basically what will she be learning there

 

[Angelmum]

hi i have a 15mths baby gal and her doctor just refer her to CDU may i know basically what will she be learning there

CDU is more like a screening centre. Once they found yr gal need certain therapy, they'll refer her to KKH Rehab dept for physio, occupational or speech therapy.


Have u done or recommended any lab tests to find out why there's a delay?

A special sch will be suggested and referred by the doc.... but yours no diagnose yet so don't worry.

 

[austrina]

hi... i suspect my 22 mths DS havin sensory processing disorder... hw do i go abt confirmin dis prob? is there any subsidised prog 4 dat?

 

[Angelmum]

hi... i suspect my 22 mths dear son havin sensory processing disorder... hw do i go about confirmin this prob? is there any subsidised prog 4 dat?

get polyclinic to refer u to KKH or NUH for further tests.

 

[happy_aa]

How will KK test whether the kid has sensory processing disorder?

 

[Angelmum]

How will KK test whether the kid has sensory processing disorder?

Not sure how they test cos mine doesnt hv this.

Sensory Processing Disorder or Sensory Integration Dysfunction is a developmental problem that occurs when sensory signals (sound, light, touch, motion) fail to get properly organized in the brain. This lack or disorganization results in inappropriate responses or output. A child with SPD finds it difficult to process and act upon information received through the senses. This creates challenges in performing many common tasks. SPD can be exhibited as an over or under response to sensory input.


You might want to make an appointment for your child to see a developmental paediatrician at the Child Development Unit CDU at KK Hospital. At consult, the need for further assessment will be evaluated. Should the developmental paediatrician deem it necessary, your child may then be seen by the psychologist or therapists. These people will assess your child to determine his/her level of function, need for intervention and subsequent educational placement. The professionals, co-ordinated by the developmental paediatrician, who will be your child's case manager, work as a team to formulate plans to optimise your child's development.

 

[faith80]

Hey... there's a section on government policies and aid for disabilities... perhaps it might be of use to u... :wong19:

 

[Angelmum]

Hey... there's a section on government policies and aid for disabilities... perhaps it might be of use to you... :wong19:

Tks, hv seen this
Not really useful to my DD cos multiple disabilites n if need to go thru VWOs for discounted therapies, household income exceed $1500 wont get much subsidy.:embarrassed:


Govt still NOT very helpful. If they really want to help special needs families, they shld at least raise the household income to $3k or $4k, not $1500/mth in order to get subsidised rate. After all, therapies, schooling and equipment are much costly than a normal child. To attend 1hr therapy, would easily kiss bye-bye to $100 - 150.

 

[rae]

anglemum... totally agree with this point. i really dun noe when will they see the need to help special needs parents. the medical social worker once told me abt the income ceiling, and i told her - if we oni earn tat much, then my child will starve cos we still need to deal with medical bills. but then again, they always say if you are in need will review, so i was prepared tat if the last heart op came up too much, i will juz o-tang them and see wat they can do to "help" lor. but too bad... C class v cheapo leh, no need to owe. hehe...

btw, do you have to pay for mrt for sym? i dun noe how to get a student card for rac cos the school say they dun noe, and i'm sure she will get stopped pretty soon.

 

[littlehelper]

you can visit a occupational therapist for this prob.
From there she may be able to diagonosed the prob and will give him the care needed.

 

[Angelmum]

btw, do you have to pay for mrt for sym? i dont know how to get a student card for rac cos the school say they dont know, and i'm sure she will get stopped pretty soon.

When yr child hits 0.9m, just produce BC n buy a child ez card at ticketing booth. Get a form fm sch to make student ez card when she reaches 7yr old. For Rac's size, I doubt they will make her pay. Furthermore, she's being carried or sat on stroller.

 

[Angelmum]

you can visit a occupational therapist for this prob.
From there she may be able to diagonosed the prob and will give him the care needed.

wat prob n wat sort of care u referring?

 

[rae]

When your child hits 0.9m, just produce BC n buy a child ez card at ticketing booth. Get a form fm sch to make student ez card when she reaches 7yr old. For Rac's size, I doubt they will make her pay. Furthermore, she's being carried or sat on stroller.

oh, tats how to buy a child ez link? cos i always tot its frm sch, and someone wrote to the papers say her child in nursery hv to pay adult prices so i got confused. geez... shd hv juz chk w my sis. :shyxxx: student ezlink is it cheaper than child? actually, rac is quite big in size, but cos of her movements and she is always in stroller, ppl always tot she is a baby. even young kids point at her and call her "baby"! i dun mind lah, as long as i can escape paying mrt as long as i can! ha!ancing_tongue:

 

[Angelmum]

actually, rac is quite big in size, but cos of her movements and she is always in stroller, ppl always thought she is a baby. even young kids point at her and call her "baby"! i dont mind , as long as i can escape paying mrt as long as i can! ha!ancing_tongue:

Ride free ... next time u got plenty chances to pay n pay :001_302:
the old version kid ez think need to put deposit... now not sure. Student card got photo and I remember no need deposit.

 

[sushigal]

Govt still NOT very helpful. If they really want to help special needs families, they shld at least raise the household income to $3k or $4k, not $1500/month in order to get subsidised rate. After all, therapies, schooling and equipment are much costly than a normal child. To attend 1hr therapy, would easily kiss bye-bye to $100 - 150.

Yes the cap is place so low... Very hard to get the subsidy... Rem I went to see the social worker for the purchase of the pushchair that cost $3.8k... Immediately they tell us not entitled as both me & hubby working...

If both of us not working, and earning less than 1.5, how to survive thru the treatments cost~!!!! :bmad:

 

[earthliving]

Special School or Home Schooling?



Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH)
The SAVH operates a primary school known as the Singapore School for the Visually Handicapped. The majority of students follow the mainstream curriculum, although there is also a remedial class for slow learners and a special class for children with multiple disabilities. On passing the PSLE the students can transfer to a mainstream school 4. The SAVH also runs a 'Vocational Training Centre' which is for people with visual impairment aged 18 and above.


Actually, the School for the Visually Handicapped (SSVH), now known as Lighthouse School, is NOT run by SAVH, since the 1980s. It is also important to note that NONE of the teachers there are trained in teaching students with visual impairment, and NOT ALL are MOE/NIE trained teachers!

This has been brought up to MOE's attention since 2007 (or earlier), but they do not see that as an issue. Personally, I would not recommend any child with visual impairment to be enrolled there, unless the child uses Braille. There is no support currently for Braille users in mainstream primary schools in Singapore!

It's pathetic!

 

[earthliving]

AWWA has recently started school support for students with visual impairments in mainstream schools. To get into the programme, the school AED(LBS) or AED(Couselling) will have to make the referral. Will be placing my girl in the programme when school starts.
Please help spread message.