Autism in Singapore
by Kenneth Lyen
DEVELOPMENT OF PROVISIONS FOR CHILDREN ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM IN SINGAPORE
The Beginning at Margaret Drive Special School
A number of children attending the Child Development Clinic at the Department of Paediatrics, National University of Singapore, displayed symptoms that included speech delay, poor socializing, and obsessional repetitive behaviors. They were referred to child psychologists who confirmed the diagnosis of autism. Armed with this information, a proposal to set up a special program for children on the autism spectrum was made to the Community Chest of Singapore, the funding body for social services and special education. It was quickly approved by the Chairman, Dr Ee Peng Liang.
The first special program catering to children on the autism spectrum in Singapore was established by the Margaret Drive Special School in 1989, which eventually came under the umbrella of the Rainbow Centre in 1992. Associate Professor Dr Vera Bernard, of the Department of Psychology at the National University of Singapore, was invited to develop this program. She based it on Applied Behavior Analysis and named it “Structured Teaching for Exceptional Pupils” or STEP.
To manage the school and to assist in the setting up of the STEP program, Mrs June Tham-Toh SY was appointed Principal cum Executive Director in May 1989.
Teachers were trained to take data and conduct structured teaching to help modify the behaviors of students on the autism spectrum, which was the core of the STEP program. In addition, the children received speech therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Other services added later included music and art therapy. Social workers and educational psychologists also formed part of the professional team.
The STEP program began in the Rainbow Centre with 12 students in 1989. Initially it catered for children up to 12-years-old. Since then the number of students enrolled have progressively increased, and so did the waiting list. Later, the age of students attending was raised to 18-years-old, stretching resources and exacerbating the waiting list even further. By 2019, the Rainbow Centre had established three campuses, catering for nearly 800 children on the autism spectrum.
In the meantime, before the establishment of Singapore’s first autism specific school, the Pathlight School in 2004, other special education schools started taking in children with autism, to alleviate the long wait for these children to receive services. Teachers and allied professionals across these special education schools (SPED schools), including the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN), and METTA School, began to get training in the understanding and teaching of children with autism.
Current Landscape
The special education landscape has evolved since the beginning with many other Social Service Agencies (SSA’s) previously known as Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWO’s) were established to provide programs and services for the autism spectrum population.
With the increased awareness of the benefits of early detection, more children with autism are diagnosed at a preschool age. The majority of them are diagnosed by doctors and psychologists and referred to SG Enable, an agency that helps people with disabilities. They are then further referred to early intervention programs run by Social Service Agencies, including the Rainbow Centre.
In addition to the schools run by Rainbow Centre, there are now many more schools in Singapore supporting children with the autism spectrum disorder. Pathlight School, the first autism specific school in Singapore has two campuses with a student strength of 1400. Other schools dedicated to students with autism, include Grace Orchard, Eden School and St Andrew’s Autism Centre.
Doors are starting to open to children on the autism spectrum in mainstream primary and secondary schools, if they have the capability to employ teachers who have some training in special education.
Vocational training and co-curricular activities, such as art, music and sports are introduced as part of their holistic intervention program. For persons with autism with potential for open employment, opportunities with collaborations with community partners, there are job-training programs which cover a wide range of activities, from food catering, gardening, office management, banking and computing. For adults with high needs requiring residential care, there are now homes and hostels available for short or long-term stay.
The Future
Singapore has come a long way in setting up early intervention and special educational programs for autistic individuals. With the growing demand of autism schools in Singapore, three more special education schools will be set up within the next few years after 2019. Pathlight School will be adding another school for primary level students by 2023, while Metta School will also establish another school to include students with autism.
Some of the autistic individuals have made outstanding achievements including Glenn Phua Yi Jue and Ezra Chan who won the UOB Most Promising Artist Award in 2006 and 2015 respectively.
Such examples are helping to change the public mindset that we should not view autistic individuals as disabled, but rather, differently abled. It is heartening to note that many public organisations, including libraries, museums, institutes of higher learning, etc, are welcoming us to give talks and conduct training workshops towards how to be all-embracing with individuals on the autism spectrum and other conditions. They are in the forefront for accepting these individuals as members of our Singapore family. It is hoped that in future we can continue to evolve into a fully integrated society, where the educational system becomes truly inclusive, and we no longer segregate people with different abilities into separate schools. This can only be achieved with everyone including policy makers, professionals, caregivers, students, employers and the community at large to embrace and practise inclusive values in all settings. We believe the rainbow will come out in the future!
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Mrs June Tham-Toh SY and Faridah Ali Chang for their input and editing of this piece.
Kenneth Lyen
Founder of the Rainbow Centre
Updated 4 January 2020
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