Our children at Taarana often have great strengths, only they learn differently. Most parents will agree that raising a child is an overwhelming experience altogether but raising a child with disabilities can be a rewarding experience too. The children of Taarana need a lot of structure in life and developing basic essential skills can help them in their speech, language development and co-ordination.

Each of our children has special talents. With this in mind, the Vijayaratnam Foundation organised a one-day special workshop for parents, caregivers, professionals, and students from medical- allied colleges focusing on emotional functioning and learning difficulties. The workshop aimed to educate, advise and offer practical support to help cope with everyday hands-on caring, as well as the wider medical, emotional and financial issues.

The workshop was held at KUB Singgahsana Hotel, in Petaling Jaya on April 28 from 8 a.m. till 5.00 p.m.

There were five speakers who presented various topics on raising these special children, namely, Dr. Hajah Noraini from Pendidikan Khas PutraJaya who spoke about “Basic Rights in Special Education”, Mr. Chandran Kannan K.Thanapalan from UITM on “Occupational Therapy on Challenging Behavior in the Perspective of Sensory Processing Dysfunction”, Dr. Norazlin Kamal Nor of University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) on “Recognising Stress In Your Child”, Dr. Aminah Bee Mohd Kassim from the Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia on “Helping Children With Special Learning Needs Emphasise Healthy Lifestyle Habits” and Madam Goh Siew Sew from Brain Gym Malaysia on “Discover Learning Characteristics and Strategies To Assist The Learning Process”.

The feedback received was encouraging and positive. Participants even requested that more of such workshops be held, as they found the sessions to be engaging and informative, and the hands-on learning to be an enriching experience that brought them closer together.

Vijayaratnam Foundation Chairperson, Datin Umayal Eswaran, said, “We are helping people handling these special children to bring out the potential that lives within every child. This way, we can jointly pave the way to a better tomorrow. As parents, guardians, teachers and professionals, we not only bring up children, we mould their future. In our hands lies the power to change the world.”