Therapists for Children with Learning Difficulties

Ms Low Yen Ling asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the current number of therapists (psychologists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists) in public and private sectors who are serving children with learning difficulties in Singapore; (b) what is the current number of children under 18 years old who are diagnosed with learning difficulties; and (c) what is the progress of training and recruitment of manpower in child development that was announced under the $46 million fund for the Child Development Programme.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The management of children with learning disabilities is a complex issue which requires multi-agency coordination across the social, educational and healthcare sectors. Currently, it is estimated that there are about 22,000 children under 18 years old with learning difficulties. They are assisted by several programmes that seek to develop their potential to be independent, self-supporting and contributing members of society.

Under the Child Development Programme (CDP) (under MOH), child development experts from KKH, NUH and four community-based clinics work together to identify and treat children with developmental problems, including learning disabilities, early, that is, in children from 0 – 6 years old. The programme complements MCYS' and MOE's efforts under the Enabling Masterplan, a national roadmap to chart the direction for the disability sector in Singapore, to help such patients and their families.

Children identified with special needs under the CDP will be referred to centres under the Early Intervention Programme for Infants & Children (EIPIC) or Integrated Child Care Programme (ICCP) (under MCYS) that provide therapy and education support services, depending on the severity of their conditions. Children with special educational needs at school-going age (6 – 18 years) are enrolled in either Special Education (SPED) or mainstream schools. SPED schools run special programmes catering to distinct disability groups of children who are not able to benefit from mainstream schooling. Children with mild learning disabilities enrol in mainstream schools, where additional support is provided to them through Allied Educators or professionals from Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs), such as the Dyslexia Association of Singapore, Singapore Association for the Deaf or Asian Women's Welfare Association.

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It is estimated that there is a total of about 230 psychologists and therapists in the CDP, EIPIC, ICCP programmes, SPED and mainstream schools. This includes a total of 36 psychologists, occupational-, speech- and physio- therapists, in the CDP. The injection of $46 million into the CDP has enabled KKH and NUH to increase their child development manpower by more than 65% over the last 3 – 4 years. KKH and NUH will be further enhancing the manpower resources by recruiting trained professionals both locally and from abroad.

Overall, the Government has been expanding its support and programmes to train child psychologists and therapists. For example, MOE has collaborated with NIE to offer a Diploma in Educational Psychology since 2008 to train Associate Psychologists and psychologists from SPED schools and ITE, to equip them with competencies to provide psychological services to schools under the supervision of qualified Educational Psychologists. KKH, together with Parenting Research Centre (PRC), Australia and with the support of the National Council of Social Services (NCSS) and Temasek Cares, started a "Signposts" programme in 2011 to train therapists to be Signposts facilitators, with the objective to equip parents to better understand and manage their children's behaviour. To date, KKH has trained over 70 facilitators, including therapists and social workers, in the 12 EIPIC centres. It has also trained 3 local trainers certified to train others.

In addition, as mentioned by my colleague, Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing, in Parliament last month, MCYS has introduced a new "place-and-train" scheme to allow EIPIC teachers and therapists to be hired ahead of enrolment. This will help expand the capacity of EIPIC more quickly to meet the needs of the growing number of pre-school children diagnosed with disability or developmental delays.

Medical intervention (under the CDP) plays a part in the integrated support for children with developmental needs. Such children require coordinated support from the social, educational and health sectors. MOH will work with MCYS and MOE under the new Enabling Masterplan to further meet the emerging needs of the disabled sector, including children with developmental needs.