Children with special needs and youth-at-risk
Emilia Binte Mohamed
The story of Emilia. In spite of her cerebral palsy, Emilia is empowered by SPD to develop her self-help skills and actively participate in daily living.
Emilia was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 6-7 months old, which means that she is unable to live independently due to delayed development, mobile disability and speech impairment. She is fully dependent on others for all her daily living activities and is unable to verbally communicate.
Mr and Mrs Mohamad are Emilia’s main caregivers. As a family of 5, along with Emilia’s 2 younger half-siblings, the situation at home can be challenging but they never give up. With the support from SPD, Emilia enrolled in their Day Activity Centre (DAC), which has arranged specialised transportation services funded by Community Chest. She attends DAC daily where she is engaged in activities aimed at maintaining activities of daily living through sensory play activities and assisted ambulation exercises.
Emilia at the DAC and the help of the arranged transportation has allowed Mr Mohamad to be gainfully employed as a part-time chauffeur earning a minimal income to help relieve the family’s financial needs while her stepmother focuses her care on her younger half-siblings. In addition to the funded programme attended by Emilia, her family is also being assisted by SPD’s Daily Needs Programme which helps their clients from low-income families with monthly grocery vouchers.
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