For years, 68-year-old Ng Beng Tiaw has been the main caregiver to her granddaughter, who has special needs.
Lee Xin Hui, 15, has global developmental delay (GDD), which slows down her development in physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills.
But since February, Xin Hui has been spending time at a new after-school care centre for children with special needs, sited in MINDS Woodlands Gardens School.
For Madam Ng, it means she can take a break in the afternoon before going out to pick up her grandchild.
Xin Hui is one of 23 students attending the centre run by the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS).
Besides providing before-and-after school care for special needs children aged seven to 18, MINDS Raintree tailors learning programmes for them.
Madam Ng became the main caregiver for Xin Hui and her 14-year-old sister after their parents divorced about a decade ago. She further shared that programmes at the centre have helped Xin Hui socialise and develop confidence.
MINDS deputy chief executive Koh Gee May shared that the opening of a special student care centre was planned as many caregivers in MINDS have no additional caregiver support, and had to give up their jobs with regular work schedules to care for their children with special needs.
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Source: The Straits Times, 6 September 2019