Educating young blind children for a better future

This cute little girl is four year old Maira from Kedah. She is the youngest child among her six siblings. Her father is a factory worker while her mother is a full-time housewife. Maira loves to play with colorful objects because she is able to perceive colors, but unfortunately she was born with bilateral eye corneal opacity in both eyes which lead to scarring and clouding of her cornea that reduces her visions significantly. Even though she is low vision, she still has a bit of light perception. Imagine being inside cloudy water at night with a little light that is very dim, that is how she sees. Regrettably, she will never be able to perceive the complete shape of an object.

Maira joined St Nicholas’ Home Early Intervention Programme in 2015, when she was just a year old. Initially, she was very shy and highly dependent on her mother. She answers only to her mum and was not very responsive during activity time with the teachers. In gross motor skills, Maira was unable to walk without the assistance of a stroller. She also could only focus on one task at a time. For instance, she was not able to count while holding something else such as a ball in her hands.

Over the last year or so, Maira has shown much improvement especially in her gross motor and social skills. She is now more engaged in activities with her teachers. Not only that, she is also more comfortable and sociable with the people around her. With this early intervention program, we believe that she would become more responsive to instructions and learn self management. We look forward to the day when Maira grows up to be a happy and independent girl.