Wednesday November 26, 2008
Have a heart
ONE VOICE
By PANG HIN YUE
The local authorities should be more supportive of centres that try to meet the needs of the learning disabled.
HE WORKED in the accounts department, crunching numbers for Telekom Malaysia until five years ago when he opted out to teach music full-time. A lead guitarist and singer who conducts drum lessons, Richard Sequerah took up another challenge two years ago. He accepted students with autism even though he did not have formal training in special needs education.
But does that make him less qualified to teach?
“Everyone should be given a chance to learn and that includes those with special needs,” said Sequerah. With his cheerful countenance and patience, kindness and creativity in engaging his autistic students, Sequerah fits the bill of an excellent teacher.
For many parents who are desperate for services for their special needs children, having the right paper qualification is not the ultimate yardstick.
“When our options are limited, we can’t demand too much. We are just thankful there are places that welcome our children with open arms. We are grateful that there are teachers and volunteers who are prepared to invest their time and energy to learn interventional strategies to teach our children,” said Jenny Soh, mother of Tan Seng Kit, 19.
Seng Kit, who was diagnosed with autism at three, attends a home school-based programme. He is happy with the arrangement, and so is his mother.
This was not the case when she sent him to a national school for his primary education. For six years, Soh experienced prejudice from unsympathetic parents and frustration with teachers who did little for her son. In the end, she took him out of the school and placed him in a privately-run centre. Today, through her untiring efforts, Seng Kit has developed a flair as an artist and a bowler.
The crux of the matter is the demand for services consistently exceeds supply, given the increasing number of children diagnosed with learning disabilities.
Richard Sequerah engaging a student with autism in a drum session. For instance, autism is a brain disorder that impacts behaviour, speech, learning, body movement and social skills. It affects one in every 150 persons, with a higher prevalence among males. As no two autistic persons are alike, ideally, it requires different types of therapy to meet individual needs. But the reality is, such services are sorely lacking.
Less than 2% of the education budget of RM21bil for the year up to 2010, goes to the physically and mentally disabled community. This is pittance.
Based on the United Nations calculation, persons with mental and physical disabilities account for 10% of any given population. In Malaysia, that means there are at least 2.7 million people with disabilities. Statistics from the Social Welfare Department show that the learning disabled account for 39% of 197,519 persons registered with it in 2006.
Thus it came as a shock to parents and caregivers when a municipal councillor wanted to have a Petaling Jaya-based centre for the learning disabled cease operations late last month. But with the intervention of various parties, the centre has since been given a three-month reprieve to comply with the council’s conditions.
The municipal councillor listed guidelines which included having teachers with special education qualifications and with a ratio of one teacher to four students. That’s utopian. There is yet a national school which has met such a criteria. But if privately run centres are able to afford that and more, parents should be given the option to choose.
Any parents with special needs children will attest that time is precious and if they are to wait for an “ideal” class to emerge, the window of opportunity for their children to receive therapy and education may be closed.
If parents are given two options, which one will they choose: one is a government-sponsored centre for the learning disabled but it serves as a daycare centre; the other is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with teachers and volunteers who have different work experiences but have the heart to learn the required methods to reach out to the students. The choice is obvious.
There is no argument that whether a centre is managed by the government or an NGO, there must be guidelines to ensure the well-being of the students.
“The local councils should support NGOs that are serving the needs of the learning disabled, instead of wielding the stick. If there are shortfalls, the local council should guide them,” said B.C. Teh, president of the National Autism Society of Malaysia (Nasom).
“We are open to inspection by the authorities. We welcome other support groups and local councils that are interested in learning the teaching methodologies that we employ,” said Teh, who added that the main qualification is having a heart for the special needs community.
“In addition to training and caring, what is vital is that teachers are able to connect with the students,” said Wong Poh Wan, who headed Malaysian Care’s unit for special needs for over 20 years prior to her retirement.
Artist Tan See Ling concurs. A fine arts graduate, she started her career designing ornaments and furniture for a few leading corporations before she switched to teaching arts at an international school and at her studio in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.
But when she got to know an autistic boy five years ago, she realised that by teaching him drawing and painting, she was actually helping him to improve his motor skills even as she was nurturing his creative side. Since then, she has taken under her wings a few more students with autism.
Likewise for K.C. Soo and Foo Siang Mun who traded their corporate suits to teach students with learning issues. They left their respective jobs as communication and management consultants, and teamed up to advocate Dr Reuven Feurstein’s mediated learning methodology.
They work no less than six hours daily on a one-on-one basis, helping students with varying behavioural and cognition problems. Foo, who holds a masters in environmental science, finds her present calling very gratifying.
“Our aim is to bring about changes to enhance the students’ thinking process so that they may have a better understanding of their environment,” she explained.
Soo, a botanist by training, added: “Having paper qualifications does not make you a qualified therapist. What is pertinent is understanding the students’ needs and helping them overcome their problems. And that can only come with experience.”
One Voice is a monthly column which serves as a platform for professionals, parents and care-providers of children with learning difficulties. Feedback on the column can be sent to dignitytm.net.my. For enquiries of services and support groups, call Malaysian Care ( 03 9058 2102) or Dignity & Services ( 03-7725 5569).
Seminar on autism
NILAI University College, in collaboration with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, is organising a seminar on high-functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Topics covered include the assessment and identification of the disorders, available professional treatment and the empowerment of parents and caregivers.
The seminar will be held at Dewan Kuliah 1, UKM KL Branch, Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, on Dec 20, from 8.30am to 1pm.
Fees are RM30 per person. Forms can be downloaded at www.nilai.edu.my. The closing date for regisration is Dec 13.
For details, contact Dr Alvin Ng (03-9289 7620 / e-mail: nglaioon@yahoo.com) or Shoba (06-850 2338 / e-mail: seminardec20@nilai.edu.my
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