Last Friday was such a wonderful and memorable day for mummy and me. We were invited by Vasu, my former speech therapist from SSD, to the Opening of Headstart For Life. He is such an amazing therapist who has a heart and passion for special needs kids. (:
I'm really honoured to be his first SSD student to be given speech and eating therapy. :D I remembered the days I spent time with him and my mummy on eating and using my voice to speak words and letters. I remembered the laughter we together had. As time passed by, I finally learnt to eat baked beans, all thanks to him and his undying patience. I hated its taste but I had to because I needed to learn to start eating soft kinds of food. I couldn't rely on the feeding tube all my life. Through hard work during therapy, I slowly cultivated my love for food. Now I can literally eat practically everything!!! :D From porridge, milk and baked beans to Chicken Rice, Wanton Noodles and Spaghetti, and the list still goes on. ^^v I have too many favourites I can't even count on my fingers.
Okay, back to the main reason of writing this post.
Once mummy and I entered the room, we were warmly greeted by the people who worked with Vasu at the door. I saw Vasu and I actually managed to lip-read as he greeted, "Welcome" with arms stretched out. I surprised him with my appearance as he wasn't aware that I was tagging along with mummy! I giggled as he said he didn't know I was coming. In return, he said he had a surprise for me. It kept me in suspense for quite a long time.
Soon, the opening event commenced with a brief introduction about the Headstart For Life and the people who worked with Vasu for months or even years. I like the words "Growing Without Barriers" and an illusion - a combination of an elephant (head and body) and a kangroo (lower body). (: Some people look at the special needs kids with different perspectives. They treat them differently from normal kids. Thus the main goal is to make people look at special needs kids without any barriers, just like how they look at normal kids.
Then, we moved on to the prize-awarding time. I was so inspired by a Malaysian boy who won the first prize. His art piece was so amazed that I decided to take a photo of it! He has some kind of difficulty keeping his fingers straight. I wondered how he created this beautiful piece... Next, I was touched by a mother (2nd winner) of a special needs girl who wrote a poem, Especial Love. Her lyrics are very beautiful and true, just like her daughter which she showed me a photo of her on her iPhone.
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| First prize |
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| Second prize |
Vasu, who had been the one giving out awards to the three winners, paused and said that he had a small surprise. He took out a tile and showed it to his audience. I was so shocked when I recognized it immediately and I became a little teary-eyed. He told the audience that I was the one who gave it to him as a present for Teachers' Day in 1999. Mummy then shared the story behind this tile. She recalled that I tripped over something and dropped the initial tile. I cried when I knew it had broken into pieces. We had to rush home and made another one, ending up being unable to give it to him on Teachers' Day. Vasu didn't know about the secret till last Friday.
We were then brought on a tour around the rooms. There were various rooms such as Numberacy, Writing, Playroom, Consultation, etc. They provide kids with a comfortable learning environment. (: Well, let the photos do the talking about the tour.
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| Was shy when asked by mummy to lock arms like this... I used to say when I was young, "I love Vasu". Aiyo, me! |
Overall, we really had a nice time there and have had finally met Vasu years after. (: We took a group photo for our own keeps.
Till then, ciao!
