Disability/Needs/Social Inclusion
Contents
- 1 SOCIAL INCLUSION| |
- 2 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION| |
- 3 Resource Directory| |
- 3.1 Voluntary Welfare Organisations| |
- 3.2 Special education schools SPED| |
- 3.3 Social Enterprises that provide services for people with disabilities| |
- 3.4 Social Enterprises or Businesses that hire people with disability| |
- 3.5 Disabled People's Organisations| |
- 3.6 Initiatives| |
- 3.7 Government Agencies| |
- 3.8 Scholarships and Bursaries| |
- 3.9 International| |
- 4 Disability Conferences| |
SOCIAL INCLUSION| |
Need for children with special needs to be part of community outside of school| |
According to a Lien Foundation survey in 2016, of the 835 parents of special needs children who were surveyed, four in 10 think their children spend too little time in the community outside of school.Nearly half of those surveyed said their children do not have friends without disabilities (ST 2 Oct 2017)
Need for public to emphatically understand the circumstances PWDs face and know how to support and interact with them| |
Existing Resources
Society Staples
A social enterprise that uses mass engagement platforms to educate public about experiences of people with disabilities; provides team building services for corporates: eg experiencing blindness, learning sign language etc.
https://www.societystaples.com.sg
Purple Parade
See the True Me
Buddy'IN, a programme aimed at socially integrating graduating students from special education schools with their peers from institutes of higher learning, through semi-structured social activities and sessions.(ST 17 Jun 2016)
December 3rd, 2017, the International Day of People with Disabilities -AbleThrive is hosting meetups around the world for people with disabilities, their families and allies to come together
Lien Centre for Social Innovation Workshop on Inclusion - Allyship 101
https://lcsi.smu.edu.sg/programmes/changelab/allyship-101
Gaps and Their Causes
For 'See the True Me' there is a question about the reach of these campaigns because many at a forum, many from disability sector have not seen or heard about it
Invisible disabilities (learning disorders, hearing impairment) are less obvious, and therefore the public may not understand their behaviors and support may be less forthcoming (ST 28 May 2016)
Mr Andrew Soh, assistant director at Down Syndrome Association, said public attitudes are less favourable towards people with autism and intellectual impairments, compared with those with physical disabilities, because people fear what they cannot see. "People can't tell how serious their disability is and don't know what to say or how to help them," he said.(ST 3 Jun 2016)
Possible Solutions
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION| |
MIND’s keyword signing as total communication
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Need for mobility and access to transportation| |
Existing Resources Transportation subsidies:
Taxi Subsidy Scheme
VWO subsidy scheme
Public Transport Concession Scheme for Persons with Disabilities
Assistive devices for drivers with disabilities (ST 24 Oct 2016)
Accessible public transportation:
UberAssist Channel News Asia report
Wheelchair accessible taxis see taxisingapore.com and LTA accessibility push
Wheelchair Accessible Buses (About 80% of buses are wheelchair accessible, and LTA aims for 100% coverage by 2020).
Disabled facilities at MRT stations and in trains (More than 80% of MRT stations have at least two barrier free access routes).
Accommodation for drivers with disabilities:
Car Park Label Scheme for Persons with Physical Disabilities
SPD provides training for Tower Transit bus drivers how to help commuters with disabilities (ST 28 Apr 2016)
Gaps and Their Causes
Transportation costs, while subsidised, are still high for lower income PWDs
Cheaper transport options such as buses and trains are either too crowded for wheelchair users or other persons with disabilities OR there are service issues, such as some unprofessional or even discriminatory drivers or passengers.
Open prams used by caregivers now allowed on public buses, but not all bus drivers realise this yet (ST 2 Oct 2016)
Possible Solutions
Need for access to digital media| |
Existing Resources
Gaps and Their Causes
Potential Solutions
-Web Accessibility Guidelines https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/
-Accessibility reviews of the web https://www.abilitynet.org.uk/
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Need for access to leisure and recreational activities| |
Existing Resources
ActiveSG is promoting disability sports. Various sports have been adapted for them. In Singapore, the range of sports for people with disabilities includes handcyling, swimming, table tennis and boccia, a ball game that can be played by wheelchair-users with motor-skill impairment (ST 27 Sep 2016)
The inclusive playgrounds in Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and Ghim Moh and the complementary Children in Action programme (ST 17 Jun 2016)
Running Hour A sports co-operative that promotes integration of persons with special needs through running. We have members who are mildly intellectually challenged, physically challenged and visually challenged joining us to keep fit. We welcome anyone passionate about running to join us as running guides.
"Inclusive" art workshop to encourage interaction between children with and without special needs. Run by Superhero Me, a non-governmental organisation that runs art programmes for children (ST 2 Oct 2017).
Free entry for people with disabilities and caregivers to (special exhibitions of) NHB museums (ST 15 April 2018 “Free entry for people with disabilities”)
Gaps and Their Causes
Sports take-up rate among people with disabilities remains low, though they stand to benefit more than able-bodied people by being active(ST 27 Sep 2016)
Reasons why people with disabilities may shun sports:(ST 27 Sep 2016) •Difficulty in getting transport to the sports facilities. •Cost of specialised equipment and transporting them. •Struggles with the basics of daily life that push the thought of exercise into the background. •Depending on volunteers to help out, such as transferring the person with disability from a normal wheelchair to a racing wheelchair. •A tendency to withdraw from society and an unwillingness to leave the house for various reasons. •Logistics. For instance, when a wheelchair racer travels overseas for races, he has to take along a special racing wheelchair, a regular wheelchair for moving around and a commode chair. •There may also be psychological factors such as confidence, self image issues and a self-perceived inability to do sports.
Lack of opportunities to prove themselves ;being overprotective could limit their exposure, hindering their ability to lead a fulfilling and independent life (CNA 21 Sep 2017)
Possible Solutions
There should be regular disability sports sessions in all special education schools and organisations for the disabled (ST 27 Sep 2016)
Collectively refrain from assuming what PWDs can or cannot do, never mind their condition. (CNA 21 Sep 2017)
Need opportunities to give back to society| |
Existing Resources SPD Youth Development Programme - Trained and mentored youths with disabilities to enable them to champion social causes and give back to the society.
Resource Directory| |
Voluntary Welfare Organisations| |
APSN| |
Down Syndrome Association (Singapore)| |
http://www.downsyndrome-singapore.org/
founded in 1995 by parents, has close to 1000 members, of which over 300 are persons with Down syndrome Operates a DSA Thriftshop at Telok Blangah Crescent
MINDS| |
Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore (MDAS)| |
SPD| |
Bizlink| |
http://www.bizlink.org.sg/ training and employment for people with disabilities One of Bizlink's biggest businesses is providing cleaning teams to other companies. These teams are made up of able-bodied workers and those with disabilities (ST 1 Oct 2017).
Special education schools SPED| |
Rainbow Centre| |
Social Enterprises that provide services for people with disabilities| |
Olive Tree Development Centre| |
Social Enterprises or Businesses that hire people with disability| |
Dignity Kitchen| |
Personalised Love| |
https://www.personalisedlove.com/
SEOciety| |
Social Food Inc| |
https://www.facebook.com/pg/socialfoodinc/about/
Incorporated in 2013, Social Food Inc. Pte Ltd is an established Halal-certified food caterer that provide people with disabilities with employment training
Started by Sim Sin Sin. See Case Study of Social Food Inc
WISE Enterprise| |
https://www.wise-enterprise.sg/
Adrenalin| |
Six of the 25 workers at Adrenalin have disabilities and other special needs. Staff members include two deaf persons, an employee who uses a wheelchair and people recovering from mental illness (ST 1 Oct 2017).
Holiday Inn Singapore| |
Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre hotel in Cavenagh Road - 12 per cent of the more than 200 staff are PWDs, staff adjust to the different ways of communication of some PWD employees, some of whom have intellectual disabilities or autism (ST 1 Oct 2017). .
Han's Group| |
Han's Group, about 50 employees, or 10 per cent of its workforce, are persons with disabilities (ST 1 Oct 2017).
Disabled People's Organisations| |
Disabled People's Association| |
Friends of the Disabled Society| |
Initiatives| |
NUS Makerthon organised by Computing, Engineering, Design & Environment.
Government Agencies| |
MSF Disability Division| |
NCSS Disability Services| |
SGEnable| |
Scholarships and Bursaries| |
Dare to Dream| |
The scholarship provides special needs persons, who are successful in gaining entry into a diploma programme at the LaSalle College of the Arts, with funding of fees for the full duration of the diploma programme at the College. Dare To Dream
International| |
World institute on Disability https://wid.org/
Disability Conferences| |
| CONFERENCE | LOCATION | REMARKS |
| Having a Say Conference | Geelong, Australia | Organised by and for people with intellectual disabilities. While the programme isn’t jam packed with information, it’s definitely interesting to learn more about how people with ID raise issues of concerns, and really take part in setting the agenda. Seems fairly prominent within Australia, but not much international reach. Down Syndrome Association brought some of its advocates there last year to share their advocacy programme |
| Zero Project | Vienna, Austria | Packed chock-a-block with presentations, sharings, and booths. The theme changes year to year. 2018 was on Accessibility and saw representatives from a whole host of countries sharing more about accessibility (challenges of accessibility). Most interesting were the South American presentations that pretty much shared about how people took issues into their own hands and made spaces in their cities more accessible. The conference is accompanied by innovation booths that feature innovations from all over the world (e.g., a group of people in India who set up a form of landline service for people with disabilities to post and apply for jobs). Really cool stuff. 2019’s theme is on Political Participation. |
| Global Disability Summit | London, UK (2018) | Organised by International Disability Alliance. Seems to be the place to meet the who's who in the disability sector globally. |
| Inclusion International World Congress | Birmingham, UK (2018) | |
| Harkin Summit | Washington DC, USA (2018) | 2018 - Rather US-centric. But great information on employment and employability practices by large organisations. |
| ASEAN Disability Forums | Thailand (2019) | Moves around the ASEAN region depending on who the Chairman is. |