Educating young blind children for a better future

Meet Hii*. A bubbly 6-year-old boy who is part of St. Nicholas’ Home’s Early Intervention Program. However, Hii is not your average boy. In addition to his Oculocutaneous Albinism or OCA which results in visual impairment, he has also been diagnosed with Autism. These conditions have rendered Hii, practically dependent on the help and care of others since birth.

During his time in the program, the greatest improvement we’ve seen in Hii has been in his communication. His language skills in both Malay and English has improved by leaps and bounds since his introduction into the Early Intervention Program. Most of his lessons are conducted in English and he also understands the conversational side of the Malay language. He has even learnt how to say the numbers 1-10 in German thanks to our German volunteers, Miss Pauline and Miss Alena.

Besides his language skills, his love for numbers can be seen whenever mathematical worksheets are given. He is able to add and subtract two digit numbers within minutes which is remarkable for his age and condition. He has even tried calculations involving multiplications and divisions with great success. Besides his involvement in the program, Hii attends a pre-school near his house and interacts well with the teachers and other children.

Hii’s cognitive skills are also well beyond the norm. He is able understand and obey instructions given to him and at times question those instructions. This shows great critical thinking skills on his part. Another one of his gifts is his exceptional memory. Back in 2016, he overheard the birthdate of one of the trainers once. He remembered it for almost a year and wished her on her birthday. This event surprised even his own mother.

The trainers have started giving him activities to help him perform daily tasks which will increase his independence. Activities such as “buttoning” will help him be more independent and empower him to live his life as he chooses. However, at times Hii gets overly excited and forgets the task he was to do. So we are still taking baby steps to help him to complete these activities.

Our hope for Hii is for him to be an effective communicator, further enhance his admirable cognitive skills, and ultimately push him to live as an independent individual. With the continued support of his parents who have taken steps towards Hii’s integration into society, we believe that we will be able to achieve greater progress as time goes by.

However, all of this would not be possible without the kindness of our sponsors and donors. Your help will go a long way in ensuring the sustainability of our Early Intervention Program and will greatly improve our capability to reach out to more children like Hii and bring light into their lives. Any assistance that you can provide no matter great or small will go a long way and we will appreciate it greatly.

*Not his real name

Links:

• St. Nicholas Home Official Website

He was referred to our Early Intervention Program when he was one years old. Unlike other children, this cute and energetic child, whom we address as Rafi was discovered to have a cerebral visual impairment, where the primary vision problem lie not with his eyes, or even with his optic nerves, but with his brain. His cerebral palsy and low vision make it hard for him to move around freely.

Now three years old, Rafi who sees the world in his own unique way is more visually attuned to movement rather than objects that are stationary. When I visited him for the first time, I noticed that during the training session, he was really attracted to one of the games that we prepared for him. It is the “Bouncing Ball” game. Catch it if you can! He kept breaking into a toothy smile whenever we play this game with him.

He can be very sensitive to sound as well. When we were playing with him using the hand bell followed by singing the nursery rhymes, he was tremedously excitedly, waving both his hands and could not stop grinning. However, he will cry as soon as we started him on streching exercises. Often when he is frustrated by his obesity from steroid treatment and cerebral palsy, he would throw tantrum by throwing his body backward if things do not happen as he expected.

“There is hope!” That was what his mother said to me, when I was talking to her. With the Home’s Early Intervention program, she believes that Rafi will eventually be able to adapt better to his surrounding. We will continue to focus on physio exercises in the hope that Rafi will eventually be able walk by himself.

And yes, we believe there is hope and a future for little Rafi as we would continue to serve these children as long as they need us. With your support, we can continue to provide free education and training to individuals with visual impairments. Donate to our cause as we keep their hopes alive!