I ECHO the frustration of Madam Linda Lim in her letter, 'Ease burden of special needs kids' parents' (ST, Sept 8).
I have a three-year-old autistic son who is currently on the early intervention programme at Rainbow Centre Balestier Special School.
In June, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) took over the early intervention programme. I hoped the fees would be reduce and the therapy sessions increased under MCYS.
On the contrary, I was shocked to receive a letter in July stating that school fees would increase by 100 per cent from this month. This was due to an increase in co-funding. If we had difficulty paying the fees, we could approach a social worker.
No other institution - even private schools - operates in this manner by increasing its fees by 100 per cent.
There was a dialogue session held a few weeks later and I spoke to three other parents. None of us attended because we felt it was pointless as the decision had already been made.
We parents felt it was not a matter of whether we could afford to pay but was it worth it? Many asked: Does it mean our children will receive more therapy sessions? Does it mean the number of hours will be extended? Does it mean there will be more one-to-one?
Under the new guidelines, the ratio of therapist to children is 1 : 100, and teacher to children is 1 : 6. As such, Rainbow retrenched one therapist and rejected another's application.
Our children attend this programme from age two to four plus. It is overwhelming for the teacher to handle more than two children with special needs at this age. I can't imagine if there are six of them.
With all this, the three parents asked me to write to MCYS Minister Vivian Balakrishnan to express our concerns and frustrations.
During these three months, I have been cycling around my estate to look for childcare centre or kindergarten that is willing to accept my son's condition and have found one. It may not have the best trained teachers and programme tailored to special needs children, but I am willing to give it a try and withdraw from Rainbow.
