Tabitha is a 7 year old autistic girl in Pre-Primary One (PP1). She comes from a low-income family of four children and despite having both parents, things are still hard for them. Her mother is sadly illiterate and is only able to do odd jobs around a dumpsite to earn a living. Her father, the breadwinner, is a hawker who earns too little to support his whole family. Due to Tabitha’s autism, she requires therapy 3 days per week but this is very difficult because her parents are not able to afford the sessions. She also experiences isolation from her peers because of lack of awareness for her condition.

Tabitha is just one of many special needs children who live in the slums and suffer in silence due to lack of a special needs unit to educate the masses on different types of mental disorders, including autism. We hope that Tabitha’s case will be the genesis of one such special needs unit that will in time accommodate and take care of more special needs children.