2016 marks a milestone for the special needs community in Singapore as our national swimmer, Yip Pin Xiu, made the headlines for clinching two gold medals in the 2016 Summer Paralympics. However, some of us may not be aware that those medals were not her first and that she had already become a Paralympics gold medallist when she won a gold medal for the 50m backstroke (S3 category) in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. While it is heartening to see the greater awareness of people with special needs in Singapore now, we may still have a long and arduous path ahead of us before becoming a truly inclusive society.
On my first day as a special education teacher in a school for students with multiple disabilities, I was tasked to assist a student named Carrie (not her real name) during recess time. During those 20 minutes, I saw her struggle through simple everyday tasks such as eating, swallowing and brushing her teeth, yet she never gave up. She was all smiles and never once showed any frustration or unhappiness throughout. I am certain that this same positive attitude was what spurred her to become a proud member of Team Singapore, representing our country as a Boccia player at the 2015 ASEAN Para Games (APG).
Carrie suffers from cerebral palsy. In her case, her condition can be seen clearly through her physical impairments. Similarly, for those with physical disabilities such as visual or hearing impairment, they can be identified through their physical outlook. However, there are many different categories of special needs and for some categories, the impairments may not be very visible. For example, for conditions like autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficient hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or specific language impairment (SLI), the impairments may not be easily seen and may only be recognised when we interact with those with these conditions. As such, these individuals are often misunderstood.
In order to raise awareness of people with special needs and work towards inclusiveness, we need to do more than merely making places more accessible by building ramps. Instead, we should have more contact and interaction with them, equip ourselves with more information and knowledge of the different special needs conditions as well as look beyond their inabilities in order to recognise their special talents and abilities.
INTERACTION IS KEY
According to Lim, Thaver and Slee (2008), “we exclude because we don’t understand…we don’t understand because of limited contact… we lack contact because we exclude.” For me, this aphorism summarises the underlying truth about the awareness of people with special needs and the notion of inclusiveness. Thankfully, it seems we are slowly breaking away from this cycle as we see more people with special needs along the streets of Singapore compared to 15 years ago, be they on motorised wheelchairs or walking hand-in-hand with their caregivers. This may be due to the fact that accessibility is far greater these days, with wheelchair-friendly buses, lifts at all MRT stations and more universally designed buildings. One other factor could also be that with greater awareness of the special needs community, parents are now more willing to take their children with special needs out to public spaces rather than just staying at home. While this provides opportunities for people around them to have more contact with individuals with special needs, it also allows these individuals to learn social behaviours and have new experiences.
The government has also been a driving force in promoting inclusiveness. One of its initiatives is the opening of the very first inclusive playground in Singapore in 2015, with the aim of having 11 such playgrounds island wide by the end of 2017. While this initiative is certainly a much needed one for the special needs community, we need to understand, however, that the special equipment and innovative features of the playground, such as the wheelchair swing, roller slides and panels with bells, do not make these playgrounds inclusive. Only when children without special needs are playing together with their peers with special needs will these playgrounds be truly inclusive.
LET’S EDUCATE OURSELVES
My first contact with an individual with special needs was when I was an undergraduate tutoring secondary school students. One of my students was a lower secondary student, whom I tutored in English and Mathematics. It was a frustrating experience for both of us as she had trouble understanding mathematical concepts. And even when she did understand them, she would forget them the following week. She continued to struggle over the concepts, at times, to the point of tears. I could not understand why it was so difficult for her and eventually informed her mother that I was no longer able to tutor her. I cited a growing workload in school, but the truth was, I had no idea how to help her. It was only when I started my training as a teacher for students with special needs did I reflect on what had happened and realised that she probably had a learning disability. But my experience with her highlights how misunderstood individuals like her must feel when faced with someone who lack the knowledge or awareness of those with special needs, especially if those around her, such as her teachers, do not understand the difficulties she is facing.
In my early days as a teacher for students with learning disabilities more than a decade ago, I met Primary 5 and 6 students who were not able to read. They were merely passing through the education system. The good news is that effort has now been made to ensure teachers in schools are better trained to identify students who may have learning disabilities earlier and activate the support system in terms of intervention, accommodation or parent education in order to best support these students. With this, we are able to identify the conditions at an early stage and provide early intervention to help these students overcome their challenges. However, knowledge not applied correctly can be a double-edged sword as there may be those who label and wrongly diagnose others with special needs just by looking at them. It is important to note that special needs conditions can only be diagnosed by a medical doctor or a trained psychologist. And at the end of the day, the diagnosis only remains a diagnosis. What is more crucial is for us to understand their impairments and subsequently identify strategies to overcome these impairments.
LOOKING BEYOND, RECOGNISING TALENTS
Recently I helped a student, Nessa (not her real name), who is deaf and mute, to look for internship opportunities in order to fulfil the requirements of her tertiary course. On the day of the interview, her mother and elder sister accompanied her and that was when I realised that her family members were deaf and mute too. At that moment, among the four of us, I stood out as I had trouble communicating with them while they had seamless conversations with one another. So, was I the one with special needs then?
In June 2016, the ‘See The True Me’ campaign was launched in Singapore to reposition the public’s view towards people with special needs. This is a crucial step in working towards an inclusive society. Even as our infrastructure becomes more universally designed and many initiatives are underway to provide opportunities for inclusion, if the perception of the general population remains unfavourable towards people with special needs, all these changes will be in vain as far as inclusiveness goes.
The essence of being truly inclusive is to consider the person first, special needs second. We need to look beyond what the special needs community are unable to do because of their impairments and recognise that they have their own unique talents and abilities. Furthermore, with such sophisticated technology we have around us, much can be done to create more opportunities for inclusivity and them to be active contributors to society. As Nessa once told me, “Deaf people can do anything hearing people can do, except hear. ⬛
Aishah Mohd Said works with special needs students in a local educational institution doing learning and behavioural intervention. She holds a Master in Education (Special Education) from National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore and has over 12 years of experience working with students with a wide range of disabilities.
