Early intervention

A good early intervention programme goes a long way to help children with special needs. ALTHOUGH she had retired four months ago, Wong Poh Wan is still very involved in the work that she started more than 20 years ago. It was at a time when little was known about autism and other forms of learning disability. But with foresight, Wong and a few like-minded individuals pioneered Malaysia’s early intervention programme for special needs children. A nurse by training, Wong was instrumental in helping Malaysian Care establish the infrastructure and develop programmes for preschoolers (age six and below) after she obtained her Masters in Special Education. Wong had hoped that by exposing learning disabled preschoolers to one-on-one therapy and learning strategies in a structured environment, they would be better equipped when they... [read full story]