Meet Gina (10), Joel (11), and Nicole (12) - three siblings who are overcoming their learning and developmental challenges with the help of Care Corner Learning and Special Needs (LSN) Centre in Toa Payoh.

Referred to LSN by KK Women's and Children’s Hospital in 2018, these siblings were enrolled in Care Corner KidsLearn English and Mathematics programmes, which use multisensory teaching methods to help children learn.

The children have 9 other siblings. When their father passed away in 2016, their mother Annie, a part-time security guard, struggled to make ends meet and provide for her large family.

With many mouths to feed, the financial burden on Annie was tremendous. Learning that it is a challenge to pay the 3 siblings' LSN lessons - even at the lowest tier, Care Corner LSN offered to subsidise the fees for the family.

Early Intervention Helps

After 4 years of receiving intervention at LSN, Annie noticed great improvement in Gina, Joel and Nicole - not just in their schoolwork but also their behaviour and attitudes towards learning.

Before intervention, Gina and Joel used to be loud, boisterous and were not responsive to their teachers' questions and instructions. They could not stay seated for long tabletop activities but now they are able to listen and follow instructions. They also show greater interest in their work and have improved in their reading and spelling. Annie said that Joel's school teacher also observed a lot of improvement in his speech.

Their older sister, Nicole, used to find it very difficult to recall mathematics rules despite repeated practice. Easily distracted, she needed a lot of reminders to stay seated to complete a piece of work. She now adopts a better attitude towards her studies, is independent and proactive with completing her homework without reminders.

Annie is grateful for the help she has been receiving from Care Corner. Besides the heavily subsidised programme fees, she has also received support in-kind, such as food donations and vouchers from corporate donors. She said that these have helped her greatly to cope financially over the years.

* Names have been changed to protect our service users' identities.