Our Therapy Services

At Margaret Drive Special School and Balestier Special School, we offer various therapy services, ranging from physiotherapy to parent training. Parents, therapists and teachers work closely in this inter-disciplinary setting towards the betterment of our children.

Physiotherapy involves helping children achieve their gross motor functions, which include creeping/crawling, rolling, sitting, standing, walking, etc.

The Physiotherapists at Margaret Drive Special School assess, design and carry out stimulation exercises for children to maximise their gross motor functions, prevent further deformities and minimise the effects of disability.

Children are seen individually as well as in group sessions in combination with music therapy.

Occupational Therapy involves the purposeful use of activities to enhance independence in a person's life tasks.

At Margaret Drive Special School, the Occupational Therapists help children gain independence in daily living skills, such as dressing, self-feeding, grooming; improve perceptual-motor skills, prevent or correct hand deformities/contractures; maintain proper sitting posture and to react appropriately to sensory stimuli.

The Occupational Therapists see children individually or in groups for half hour sessions. They also conduct class consultation sessions on feeding, pre-writing and scissoring skills.

Speech-Language Therapy helps the child realise his or her maximum communicative ability. The Speech and Language Therapist assesses the child's needs and then prioritises the intervention goals that include the communicative and oral motor areas. Intervention can begin with the individual, in a group setting or in consultation with the staff or parents.

 Intervention for communication is based on a formal or informal assessment. Therapeutic goals are set based on the developmental communication processes and also on the needs of the child.

Another area of importance for the developing child, is appropriate oral motor function and swallowing. These areas are carefully evaluated to determine the best method of intervention. Oral motor exercises along with tactile, verbal, and visual stimulation can be successfully administered to improve strength and agility of the oral structures.

Music Therapy involves the creative use of music in establishing an interaction and a shared musical experience with the child.

The therapist works on individually set therapeutic goals during the weekly half-hour sessions, where the children are seen either individually or in small groups of 2 - 4 children. Goals include increasing eye contact and on-seat behaviour, encouraging vocalisation, choice-making, learning turn-taking skills, and initiation. Improvisation plays a key role in music therapy, where children are given an opportunity to improvise on a wide variety of percussion instruments.

Joint Physiotherapy and Music Therapy sessions are also held for certain groups of children for an hour once a week.

The Psychologists provide support for teachers and parents in the management of challenging behaviours that can impede a child's learning. Before a behavioural intervention is carried out, the psychologists need to gather information from individuals who are involved directly with the child. An observation is then made of the child in the school setting, and sometimes in the child's home, depending on the need. The psychologists may be involved in the intervention directly, but the eventual goal is to enskill the teacher or caregivers in the management of the child.

Another area of involvement is in the remediation of skills, where a formal or informal assessment is carried out on the child. The information obtained from the assessment, together with other pertinent information gathered about the child from the parent or teacher, is then used to evaluate the child's learning potential. In some cases, these children may be referred to an appropriate educational or vocational setting.

Social Workers at Margaret Drive Special School help families of children on the waiting list and in school in various ways, depending on the needs of the families. These areas include: following up on all referrals from the hospitals and other agencies; individual and/or family-focussed counselling; reviewing subsidy applications for school and/or transport fees and purchase of special adaptive equipment. Social workers also network with external agencies, such as special schools and other social service agencies for the purpose of referral. Other supporting services include Family Therapy and Sibling Workshops/Camps. Social Workers also coordinate the volunteer programme at Margaret Drive Special School.

Parent Training provides the theory-base as well as hands-on experience to help parents take on the role of 'teacher' to their children. Parents are encouraged to play an active role in helping their children progress at a much faster rate. The ultimate aim is to empower parents so that they can use the knowledge and skills acquired with their children independently and confidently.

Rainbow Centre is the first special school to offer parent training as an official and formalised service (or programme). It was introduced in 1993 as a new approach to helping our children and their parents, who were on the waiting lists for our programmes.

The Parent Trainer is a staff of Rainbow Centre and serves the parents of children on the waiting lists of both Margaret Drive Special School and Balestier Special School.

Training is conducted either in small groups of 10 adults or 5 couples (maximum) to enhance the personalised, tell, show and guide method of training. Both parents are encouraged to attend so as to ensure consistency in carry-over of what is learnt with the child. Should domestic helpers be the main caregiver of the child whilst the parents are at work, they too are encouraged to attend the training.