News

It is recognised that every Singaporean child with special needs such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) requires some form of basic support in early intervention, which is more expensive than normal pre-school education. Currently, there is a fixed subsidy for all Singaporean children in need of the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (Eipic), plus an additional means-tested subsidy. However, private support services such as speech and occupational therapy or applied behaviour analysis therapy are currently not subsidised. Programmes at Eipic centres such as Rainbow Centre take up only a short period of time – about three hours a day, four days a week. This time is often not enough to help children with mild, moderate or severe ASD who might exhibit traits such as delay in speech and movement, or sensory processing disorder. Hence, parents often consider private therapy services to supplement Eipic. But given that even basic Eipic services would not be an option for many families if not for the subsidies, private support services are even more out of reach without subsidies. Also, in many cases of ASD, private therapy services might still be required even after the children have completed Eipic and progress to other programmes in special education schools. Now is a good time to look into enhancing the current funding framework for families with special needs students to go beyond basic support. I am sure this would help us as a growing nation, and move us closer to the objective of leaving no one behind.