Overview of Disabilities by Age Group

Young Children
The first six years of a child’s life are its most formative  with the most cognitive, social and emotional developments. The Singapore government believes that early and appropriate intervention lays the foundation for children with disabilities to achieve better outcomes and to participate more actively in society. Programmes that are tailored to their needs maximize their developmental growth potential for mainstream education.

Children & Adolescents
Depending on the abilities of the child, both mainstream and special education programmes are available in Singapore. Educational and auxiliary support such as equipment and facilities are made available for the child in school.

Children with disabilities are integrated into mainstream schools, from pre-school to tertiary institutions, as far as possible. The appropriate support is provided at each level of education depending on his/her needs.

1. Environment: In every neighbourhood, one out of a cluster of eight schools is fitted with the appropriate facilities to accommodate pupils with physical disabilities. These schools are equipped with disabled-friendly features that are readily accessible.
2. Equipment: The Ministry of Education provides special equipment for children with sensory disabilities in schools. Instructional materials with Braille for the visually impaired and FM systems and receivers for the hearing impaired are some of the resources adopted to cater to such children.
3. Learning Support: Specially trained resource teachers are deployed to help lower primary school pupils requiring additional support in key academic subjects such as languages and mathematics. Integration support for the children come in the form of therapy and educational assistance run by voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) with support from the government and the National Council of Social Service.

Adults
Securing employment is the key to achieving independence and making valuable contributions to society. A series of support services have been established from vocational assessment to training to job placement services to help these persons in doing so. Better educational facilities and opportunities enable persons with disabilities to be better qualified with the right skills and therefore integrated into the workplace.

Elderly
As people grow old, their physical and mental abilities deteriorate, often developing impairments such as Alzheimer’s disease and failing eyesight. An estimated 30,000 elderly Singaporeans above 60 years old (7% of the elderly population) have difficulties with at least one activity of daily living (ADL) and are in need of caregiving support. In view of the number of elderly persons with at least one ADL difficulty estimated to reach 65,000 by the year 2020, more is needed to coordinate efforts among eldercare services so as to enable the elderly to receive the appropriate levels of care.

Service Map Overview
Please click here for the service map for persons with disabilities (including the frail elderly).