In Singapore, there are limited Special Education services for persons with Autism
In addition, it does not mean that all persons with Autism may fit into the services available,
as the available programs may not be always suitable for them.
The Autism Youth Centre (AYC) is a joint project of the
National
Council of Social Service (NCSS) and the Autism
Association (Singapore). The AYC began services in March 1999 with support from Community Chest,
the fund raising arm of the NCSS and the Ministry of Community Development and Sports. It serves
youth with Autism that are unable to fit into mainstream schools or special needs programs.
Programme Objectives
AYC endeavours to improve the quality of life of people with Autism through the
teaching of basic skills that the youths need in order to function in daily life.
In addition, AYC aims to provide its youths with a balanced
training program that includes teaching individualized goals.
This is done through the Parent-Trainer meetings twice yearly.
Goals are also suggested and implemented by AYC for its clients with parental agreement.
Training programmes run from Mondays to Fridays in the morning for group settings and
Mondays to Thursdays in the afternoom for one-to-one setting.
Programme Structure & Content
Components of the AYC Training Programme includes:
Functional Academic Skills
(teaching money skills, time etc)
Community Integration Skills
(teaching how to travel on MRT, weekly outings, etc)
Home Living Skills
(teaching preparation of simple meals, drink, etc)
Self-Care (teaching how to take a shower, brush teeth etc)
Leisure Skills
(teaching in-door and out door games, etc)
Work Skills
(teaching how to attend to simple work, etc)
Social Skills
are also taught throughout the day when the clients are in attendance in the centre
through direct and incidental teaching approaches, and
Communication Skills
are taught to non-verbal youths with the use of Picture Exchange Communication
Systems (PECS)
