Advocate for Inclusion and Neurodiversity

I spent my whole Saturday today "working" for a good cause. I wouldn't have wanted to spend my Saturday in any other way. Working for a  cause  I personally believe in, for and with a community I belong to. In the morning, I met with an autistic person from Australia, together with my Singaporean adult autistic friends. How awesome, enriching and enlightening to hear from a person who is an autistic, a mum of autistic children, and a teacher. Plus from Australia, a leading country in autism and inclusion matters! Such a rare gem. In the afternoon, I was involved in a meeting with the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) (ARC(S)) to brainstorm some ideas for next year, together with other ARC clients and staff. In the evening, I met with my team of organisers (all autistics) for a year-end community gathering we are organising for autistics and their family members. All back to back, with not much break in between except meals and commuting.  But I had the drive ,...

I had a chat with two fellow ASD guys who started serving National Service (NS) only recently. I am heartened to hear that the Pes E Basic Military Training (BMT) programme has gone through major improvements since my time. The programme is a lot more robust now. Vocational training more in depth too. These guys have such a positive attitude toward NS, and that really encourages me! I did not have such community peer support during my time as I had no ASD community back then. That made life very tough for me. But I am glad today I can be part of the efforts to create that support for those who come after me. And with another ASD NSMEN on board, and with the first two ASD  NSFs guys (i.e. currently serving NS), who tap into this support, possessing such positive attitude... I believe this spells hope for us to be potentially be able to light the way ahead for others who come after us. There is hope. And if we can successfully create such a support system in future, then I would say ...

The beneficiaries of my company's CSR event today included autism schools. I volunteered with the team of volunteers who played the role of hosts __________________ THE EXPERIENCE (MORNING) In the morning, my sub-team hosted an autism-focused school which integrates mainstream academic curriculum together with life readiness skills in their school programme. I told the teachers I am autistic too. It was an enriching experience to relate to like-minded students whom I see so much of myself in them and able to connect with within the first 5 minutes of conversing.  More importantly, by the way they communicate, and express themselves, I saw so much potential in them to be the next generation of autistic leaders to further our cause for our autism community. Before they left the event, I told some of the school teachers these: When I see these students, I see hope I hope they can build/groom this next generation of leaders to build our future - the future ...

We concluded a "Life After Death" Autism Forum on 28th September 2019 Being a groundbreaking first of  its kind initiative, this marks a significant milestone for the Singapore autism community. Here is why: It is Autistic-led, something n ever done before in Singapore. The main organiser who initiated this is an autistic adult . All the panellists are autistic adults. Volunteers are made up of both autistics and neurotypicals (of course it is good to have neurotypical allies, especially those with a genuine heart for the autism community and those with experience in event management) The Forum's focus is a very different spin compared to other Forums and Conferences attended in the past. This Forum focuses on Inclusive Equality which is a concept of novelty. Coined by the main organiser of this event, it is defined as promoting autistics as equal partners with allies, as opposed to being the needy ones. Empowering autistics to take responsibility for our...