Helping students with disabilities Her patience builds their confidence

Occupational therapist develops trust through simple, everyday interactions for students to reach their potential

- By GENEVIEVE CHAN

The air at the Housing Board playground was filled with the laughter of kids having fun. But from the corner of her eye, then eight-year-old Lim Yu Jie noticed a little girl quietly in her wheelchair with her older sister. No one else paid any attention to her.

"I think when I first saw her, I was quite scared," admits Ms Lim, now 27. "I was very young, and it was my first time interacting with a person with disabilities."

She didn't know what disabilities her neighbour had, but remembers that she couldn't speak.

"I really wanted to try to bring her into our play group but I didn't know what to do," she says.

She was also afraid of accidentally hurting her neighbour. So she started small - greeting the girl whenever she saw her around the estate.

"She didn't respond to me, but it was okay. I kept doing it because I wanted her to feel welcome."

Power of patience

This is the same approach she uses today to build rapport with students with disabilities under her care as a senior occupational therapist at Rainbow Centre, where she has been working for close to four years.

Rainbow Centre is a social service agency that provides a range of services for persons with disabilities, including three special education schools that serve 908 students. Ms Lim currently oversees about 70 students in the senior cohort, aged 15 to 18.

Her students typically have moderate to severe disabilities, with difficulty communicating verbally and socialising.

Gaining their trust can take about six months of near-daily interactions - just five minutes of popping into their classrooms to say hi, or greeting them when their parents drop them off at Rainbow Centre Margaret Drive School in the morning.

She also tries to learn more about their preferences and interests through their families, teachers, and even external partners like the students' private therapists or medical teams.