Ms Ng and other workers under the scheme, which has been in place since 1963, receive up to $60 per day but they do not get other benefits, such as CPF contributions and medical subsidies.
This is set to change under a new partnership between the SAVH and Bizlink Centre, which has also been providing sheltered employment to the disadvantaged, especially disabled workers, since 1986.
The partnership will see Bizlink Centre train SAVH members to improve their skills in order to make them more employable and receive better terms of employment.
With Bizlink and SAVH having a combined supply of 124 members, the two partners hope the bigger workforce will enable them to secure more job contracts from commercial companies and government agencies.
FLORIDA: American scientists have developed a free website that allows parents to spot signs of autism in their children more easily.
It has close to a hundred video clips of youngsters playing and performing tasks, and points to actions that might indicate a form of autism.
The developers said the aim is not for parents to self-diagnose, but to help them decide if they need to consult a specialist.
… Videos of Nicholas showing signs of autism have been posted on the website, www.autismspeaks.org, along with videos of unaffected children in order to highlight the differences.
… The developers of the Autism Speaks video library believe their project will help address that problem as early diagnosis is key in treating autism.
They said if children are diagnosed early enough, it could help them live relatively normal lives.
Look ma, no hands!
A new hands-free computer system which promises to make computers easier to use for the disabled has been designed by a group of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) undergraduate students.
“Basically what this system does is use infrared to detect movement off a reflector on a person’s head,” the system’s software package designer, Herman Ngo, said.
“The system detects any small movements, moving a pointer on screen and then by using voice recognition the user can shout out commands, such as ‘click’, ‘open media player’, ‘open internet browser’, and it will all be done on screen.
I discovered (via JulesLife) this article by Gilbert Tan, member of the Mouth & Foot Painting Artists (MFPA) Singapore. He shares the challenges he faced when he picked up mouth-painting.
Learning how to painting well already requires patience and practice (I dabble in some artwork once in a while). And to do it with your mouth? Wow.
Just take a look at some of the artwork that these artists can do — featured at this post (Malaysian MFP artists?)
I also learned there’s Association of Mouth and Foot Painting Artists of the World (AMFPA). Here’s the link to the Singapore page (some artists are listed at the end of the page).
… valuable lessons for the able-bodied, especially when it comes to organising programmes for the disabled.
Here are some of the jottings from my notebook:
Set up a disabled/elderly hospitality committee: This is the first thing that needs to be done considering the specific needs of the handicapped. Invite a disabled or elderly person you know to offer input. If one is not available, try putting yourself into the shoes of a wheelchair user, or a blind or deaf person. Consider each and every angle from their point of view.
The show starts at the car park, not at the event hall: Even though we had arranged for our able-bodied volunteers to accompany us to the concert, some inevitably couldn’t turn up on time or were caught in traffic. At Sunway, some of us were stuck in our cars for some time. Fortunately, friendly university security staff or students passing by came to our rescue. Although the organisers had done the right thing by alerting the security about our arrival and providing them with our car number plates, contingency plans can save the day. A standby team armed with mobile phones should be posted. They should remain there until all the disabled guests have arrived.
Meanwhile, I was delighted to see wheelchair ramps at Sunway. However, some of them were a little steep. This would make it difficult for students with disabilities to manage on their own.
Another feature for the university to consider is voice-activated doors. This would be of great benefit to physically disabled persons with profound disabilities.
Reserved disabled parking a must: St Andrew’s initially told us that they couldn’t guarantee reserved parking lots for us at the church’s entrance for fear that their able-bodied members might get upset that their spaces had been taken. But in the end the church decided to get tough with its parishioners by blocking three parking spots for us.
A Japanese-inspired sensory park to be built in Singapore will be filled with sweet-smelling flowers designed to appeal to the elderly and Braille signs describing the plants for the blind, news reports said on Friday.
Scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2009, the 1.1- hectare pilot park near housing for many of Singapore’s elderly is planned to include water features, sculptures to touch and pavement to create special sounds.
The Housing Development Board engaged Miyake, who pioneered the concept in Japan, to work with with an architectural firm to create a sensory park in the city-state, the report said.
Disability groups are also fighting a move by Australia’s biggest independent regional carrier, Regional Express (Rex), to introduce restrictions they say will make flying harder for disabled people in the bush.
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