Specially-Abled

An open letter from a BtG Teacher to the world… Hello! As an early intervention teacher at Bridging the Gap, my journey unveils a whole world of diversity in the lives of the young individuals I cater to. Two children may be at the same age but they could have a totally different pace in their development. While we live in a society where inclusivity matters a lot already in terms of race, appearances and principles to name a few; how do we impart awareness and empathy to children in dealing with their “different” peers?   It all starts with

Understanding somebody’s situation might require us to think how it is like to be in their shoe. Oftentimes, instead of putting ourselves into their shoe, we tend to fix the shoe first and redirect these into our own standards of  dos and don’ts. And unknowingly, we tend to approach individuals with Autism like that. But how is it really like to be in the spectrum? The world has invested massive studies on Autism Spectrum Disorder and thankfully, we have been more educated about it. More intervention strategies have been developed too, thus, services for individuals with ASD has been more

During the old times, we often experience doing household chores especially if you grew up in a very traditional family. Before all these gadgets and high-tech equipment were invented, we have been practicing numerous ways on our daily living activities. From waking up, to making of bed, to showering, to wearing of uniform – these are all activities that we do daily by ourselves. All these activities or the so called “skills” help to support and promote independence. True enough, these skills are quite easy to acquire through observation or modelling from our parents. However, for children in the spectrum,

Some children can read over a book for hours while others may only glance at the cover. However, all children who like to look at printed pictures or printed words tend to enjoy books. Unlike spoken word, the pictures and print do not disappear after they’re read. They remain on the page so that your child can make sense of what he is seeing and hearing. A good book can also be read many times over. Each time your child hears a story, he understands more and more as the book’s language becomes familiar. Some children with ASD have advanced

After the Christmas and New Year holidays, we are finally back to school. Back to school means back to schedules, back to classroom and sometimes back to stress. From preparing your child’s food, to sending your child to school and to meeting your requirements at work, all of these can often feel like walking into a battle field. However, it doesn’t have to be so. This is why planning and keeping your child’s sensory needs, this can lead to better transition to school. With these, more positive experiences will be created. How can you prepare your child for the new

We always hear the saying “no two children are the same.” This is a fact that we all know. This applies especially to children who have unique and special needs. When we talk about special needs, keep in mind that this is a very broad term, and is often used to describe a very wide range of physical, emotional, cognitive or behavioral disabilities. Given all these differences in every child, communicating with these children is not a one-size-fits all endeavor. Every child will have different communication abilities. Thus, we must accommodate to them so we can better understand them and

When it comes to having a child with special needs, there is one thing that you need to deal with and that is emotions. It is definitely hard to read, understand and deal with it. If typically developing child still gets confused with emotions, then it is twice as hard to a child with special needs. At times, even more. This because these kids have difficulty recognizing emotions. For some, they are not even aware of all these. One of the major fallouts of these challenges can be picking up on social cues.  Teaching students with special needs to not