70% of students in Minds, Rainbow Centre schools have autism

Some special education schools that have traditionally served children with conditions like intellectual disability are taking in more students with autism.

At least 70 per cent of students in Minds and Rainbow Centre, which together serve about 1,900 individuals with special needs across the seven they run in total, have autism.

The organisations said they have seen a change in the profile of students, with rising numbers of kids diagnosed with autism and fewer with other needs such as multiple disabilities.

There are currently 25 special education schools for students aged seven to 18 in Singapore, with three more to be set up by 2032 to cater to those with autism.

Minds, which previously catered solely to people with intellectual disability, saw a 60 per cent increase in enrolment of kids with autism, compared to 2022. Close to 700 out of over 1,000 students across the four schools the organisation runs have both autism and intellectual disability.

Intellectual disability is characterised by difficulties in problem-solving, abstract thinking and planning, whereas autism is defined mainly by having issues with social interaction and communication, and repetitive behaviour.

People with autism also have heightened sensitivity to sound and light and tend to be fixated on certain things.

Rainbow Centre’s Margaret Drive School and Yishun Park School have been taking a larger proportion of students with autism compared to multiple disabilities.

Around 70 per cent of students at the two schools have autism, while the other 30 per cent have multiple disabilities, which refers to having at least two impairments across a range of sensory, cognitive and physical functions. Individuals with multiple disabilities may also have accompanying medical issues.

To cope with the demand, Rainbow Centre opened its third school for students with autism, Admiral Hill School, in October. Its three schools serve a total of 907 students.

Rainbow Centre’s executive director Tan Sze Wee said the yearly enrolment for students with multiple disabilities has been decreasing over the last four years.

From 2025, Yishun Park School will cease to take in new students with multiple disabilities, while continuing to serve existing students with multiple disabilities till they graduate. Only Margaret Drive School will continue to take in students with multiple disabilities.

Adapting to their needs

To support students, Minds launched an Autism Spectrum Disorder-Intellectual Disability (ASD-ID) programme at Fernvale Gardens School, and this has been gradually rolled out to all four schools since January 2023.

The programme shifted the curriculum from a strong emphasis on functional skills, such as numeracy and daily living, to a more holistic approach that helps them discover what they enjoy and thrive in, and lets them learn in group settings to develop social skills.

Some interest areas the school offers include sports, visual and performance arts and media arts.

“This translates into allowing students to make choices from their interests, which promotes self-determination,” said Ms Aslinah Ahmad, principal of Minds Woodlands Gardens School.

The programme also seeks to help students acquire social skills and critical thinking skills, such as decision-making, to better adapt to the environment and be more independent.

“As students have to work in teams, it lowers barriers of social awkwardness and helps to develop social adaptive skills of students with autism,” said Ms Aslinah.

To address students’ sensory needs, the school also made changes to its environment, such as having clear physical structures in classrooms, installing ambient lights, improving acoustics and using neutral colours for walls and furniture.

One student who benefitted from the changes was Putra Firmansyah, a student at Fernvale Gardens School who has moderate autism.

In school, Putra, 14, discovered he enjoys music and can now play nursery rhymes on the keyboard. He also found an interest in maths and is doing assessment book sums at the Primary 1 level.

 

Putra’s mother Juliah Sulaiman, 45, said her son, who was non-verbal, is now able to speak a few words. And while he used to have meltdowns in places with loud noises, he now puts on earmuffs to block out the sounds.

After learning daily living skills in school, he now helps to make his bed and wash the dishes at home, albeit reluctantly, said his mother, who is a housewife.

Rainbow Centre’s curriculum focuses on life skills such as brushing teeth, road safety and counting money.

It has a fixed curriculum for students of the multiple disability and autism profiles, but adapted to different levels.

Rainbow Centre’s teachers create visual schedules and learning materials, as well as structure learning areas in a way to help students process information and follow instructions better.

Ms Tan said the schools’ curriculum is functional, with an emphasis on partnering with parents and application in real life. This helps support students’ varying needs and equip them with the essential skills, she said.

Students with multiple disabilities often have higher needs, needing help with feeding, and as some use wheelchairs, they are placed in a first-floor classroom.

Those who can get around independently and manage themselves safely are placed in the same classes as those with autism. They are placed in these integrated classes to stretch their learning and development, as they are cognitively able to understand content of a similar level, said Ms Tan.

One such student is Sara Lim, who has mild intellectual disability and Dravet syndrome, a rare form of severe epilepsy with prolonged seizures that are often triggered by hot temperatures or fever.

 

Her mother Kyoko Masuda, 52, follows Sara to school every day in case she has epileptic seizures. When this happened in 2023, she had to send Sara to hospital in an ambulance.

Ms Masuda, a housewife, said the curriculum is helpful for her daughter, recounting how once she found Sara in her room with her eyes closed. Sara, who was upset at the time, declared she was meditating – a calming strategy she had learnt in school.

Sara, 11, joined the integrated class with seven students with autism at Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School in her second year at the school.

Ms Masuda said Sara’s autistic classmates are better at reading, writing and numeracy than her, but being with them has helped to helped her to improve as well.

While her autistic classmates are talkative, they sometimes have screaming meltdowns, said Ms Masuda. “But Sara accepts them and is excited to go to school to play with them every day.”

At Rainbow Centre, about half of the students are non-verbal. To communicate with them, teachers use cards and books which show a range of words in visual form. Some students have an iPad where they can tap buttons to express themselves.

Over and above any achievements in literacy and numeracy, Ms Masuda’s hope is that Sara can further improve her communication skills.

“I hope she can be a considerate and nice person because if people like her, they will be more willing to help her. And she’s going to need a lot of help when she grows up and goes into society,” she said.