Letter from Felicity Crawford and Reuben Wong
04:45 AM Jul 22, 2011
We refer to Dr Noel Chia Kok Hwee's letter "Parents need the will to meaning in life" (July 19), which was a response to our commentary on educating Singapore's children with special needs (July 18).
We agree Singapore is stepping up efforts to include children with mild to moderate disabilities in the classroom. We share his observation that parents "play the most crucial role in ensuring their child's unique needs are met".
But Dr Chia is misguided in assuming that the child's parents know best what he or she needs. Those of us with experience in this field (including Dr Chia, who has met parents "in a state of denial") know that many new parents are overwhelmed by anxiety and fear in raising children with special needs.
First, training and support for parents is woefully inadequate. New parents in Singapore do not have the luxury of being assisted by a team of medical professionals, therapists and special educators during the first weeks or months after a baby is diagnosed with a disability or congenital disorder.
Further, congenital diseases are excluded from medical insurance, both private and Government.
Second, allied educators are too few in number. Dr Chia notes that since 2005, allied educators have been employed in mainstream schools, and pupils with disabilities are attending these schools in greater numbers.
The problem is that allied educators (at times, only two are sent to a school) are over-stretched and, as such, are unable to give every child the attention he or she needs.
Third, very wealthy Singaporean parents can and do access the best programmes available in international schools here, or send their children to countries like Australia and the United States to provide them the environment they need to flourish.
But what about the vast majority of Singaporean parents who cannot afford these options?
At issue here is not merely what systems are (or are not) in place. We argue that exclusion and resistance are symptomatic of a larger issue. Able-bodied people inadvertently and persistently exclude those who do not fit the standard definition of "normal", rendering them invisible.
Is it possible that the Education, Health and Community Development, Youth and Sports ministries could more humanely design our institutions to enable children with special needs to develop so that they, too, could contribute to society?
Mahatma Gandhi famously said that a nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members. How should Singapore respond?
04:45 AM Jul 22, 2011
We refer to Dr Noel Chia Kok Hwee's letter "Parents need the will to meaning in life" (July 19), which was a response to our commentary on educating Singapore's children with special needs (July 18).
We agree Singapore is stepping up efforts to include children with mild to moderate disabilities in the classroom. We share his observation that parents "play the most crucial role in ensuring their child's unique needs are met".
But Dr Chia is misguided in assuming that the child's parents know best what he or she needs. Those of us with experience in this field (including Dr Chia, who has met parents "in a state of denial") know that many new parents are overwhelmed by anxiety and fear in raising children with special needs.
First, training and support for parents is woefully inadequate. New parents in Singapore do not have the luxury of being assisted by a team of medical professionals, therapists and special educators during the first weeks or months after a baby is diagnosed with a disability or congenital disorder.
Further, congenital diseases are excluded from medical insurance, both private and Government.
Second, allied educators are too few in number. Dr Chia notes that since 2005, allied educators have been employed in mainstream schools, and pupils with disabilities are attending these schools in greater numbers.
The problem is that allied educators (at times, only two are sent to a school) are over-stretched and, as such, are unable to give every child the attention he or she needs.
Third, very wealthy Singaporean parents can and do access the best programmes available in international schools here, or send their children to countries like Australia and the United States to provide them the environment they need to flourish.
But what about the vast majority of Singaporean parents who cannot afford these options?
At issue here is not merely what systems are (or are not) in place. We argue that exclusion and resistance are symptomatic of a larger issue. Able-bodied people inadvertently and persistently exclude those who do not fit the standard definition of "normal", rendering them invisible.
Is it possible that the Education, Health and Community Development, Youth and Sports ministries could more humanely design our institutions to enable children with special needs to develop so that they, too, could contribute to society?
Mahatma Gandhi famously said that a nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its most vulnerable members. How should Singapore respond?
