LearnIn, a social enterprise set up in April last year by Mr Bryan Neo, 24, matches tutors who have a disability with students – who may or may not have special needs. The disabilities range from visual and hearing impairments to autism and intellectual disabilities such as cerebral palsy.
So far, LearnIn has set up matches between 13 students and tutors. It currently has a pool of 40 tutors, of whom 23 have special needs. Not all of these tutors have students at the moment. LearnIn collects a one-time referral fee for each tuition match.
Bryan had the idea for LearnIn in 2014 when he joined the Young Social Entrepreneurs Programme, a mentorship initiative run by the Singapore International Foundation. The first-year social work student from the Singapore University of Social Sciences will also start a series of workshops later this year to teach life skills to children and young people with special needs.
He has a co-working space at Tech Able, an assistive technology space for social enterprises at the Enabling Village. He takes tutors to the Enabling Village, a community space in Lengkok Bahru dedicated to integrating people with disabilities into society, so that they are aware of the various assistive technology devices. He also sits in on each trial class that he arranges to ensure that the tutor and student are a good match.
Eight-year-old Fong Ruo En, who has muscular dystrophy, has been going for mathematics tuition to prepare for Primary 1 next year. She has limited motor skills and is not able to communicate verbally. She uses an assistive technology device similar to an iPad application to express herself.
Her tutor, Ms Chng Ching Yee, 24, uses interactive PowerPoint slides to interest Ruo En during lessons as the girl likes to learn through technology. Ms Chng, a pre-school teacher, was first exposed to children with special needs in pre-school, where some had behavioural issues such as autism.
“They aren’t that different from us. As a teacher, when you see a kid progress, you feel a big sense of achievement,” said Ms Chng.
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Source: The Straits Times, 23 October 2017