Starlight | Autism After-School Care Centre

Title: After-School care for children with autism | Starlight Centre

URL Source: https://www.starlight.edu.sg/

Markdown Content:

An after school care programme for students with autism at mainstream, St Andrew mission school and Pathlight Primary schools. We help your child excel academically, foster social relationships, and thrive in life.

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Our Story

We have a boy, and he is special.

His preschool teacher pointed out his condition when he was three years old.

One day I received a call from his teacher asking us to meet her. Somehow I knew what might happen as there were murmurs from the previous school of his condition, but it was never confirmed, and we dismissed it, thinking he was probably a late bloomer.

I will never forget that faithful day when I called up my husband, weeping

“Yohanes’s teacher wants to meet up with us.”

Break the endless cycle of stress

Traditional learning approaches don’t work for children with autism. They have special needs.

At our after school care centre, we use techniques such as sensory overload prevention, positive behavioural support, and emphasis on celebrating progress instead of perfect scores.

This way, we help children with autism learn and thrive.

“Emphasize attitude over performance, celebrate achievement over failures. Over time, the result will come.”

– Candy Lee

An after school care for special needs student in Singapore

During our time with ISADD (ABA therapy), they had many successful cases of students transitioning from near-zero verbal skills to a high-functioning autistic child entering mainstream education (Pathlight Primary School).

When the children transition to higher learning, they will need more time to cater to the increasing demand for schoolwork, which outweighs the need for specialised behavioural therapy care. So, they eventually drop out to have more time for academic tuition, etc.

However, we soon realise our journey with the child doesn’t stop there. We need to fill a new gap:

A specialised after-school care programs for special needs student in Singapore.

Transitioning is scary

After all, transitioning from child care to a school with a more extensive environment is stressful, even for a neurotypical kid; it is worse if you are also suffering from sensory and speech delays.

That is why we always recommend that parents go to Pathlight or another specialised school that knows how to deal with a child with special needs rather than try to go mainstream.

It is better for your child and yourself.

Not easy to find a specialised After school care for special needs

In Singapore, it is normal for kids to go for after school care services as parents are usually working. There are many after school care for normal kids, but finding one that provides specialised student care services for special needs kids is impossible.

There are some special needs after-school care services. Though they provide some comfort (for the parents) in caring for your child while you are working, they are usually too overwhelmed to do other things besides ensuring their basic needs are well taken care of.

They further compounded the problem by accepting kids in all case scenarios, from down syndrome to low-functioning kids with autism. You can see how the well-being of your high-functioning kids can go downhill from there. Regressing is a real issue here.

Starlight Autism student care centre allows our special needs children to learn well in a conducive environment.

Starlight is born

We soon realised the child’s transitioning journey isn’t complete if we don’t continue to play a part in the child’s journey.

In the past, we adjusted their behaviour and did speech therapy when they were five. When they are 8 or 9, we need to teach them how to make friends and socialise when they are in school. Socialising is easy for normal kids, but it is not easy for a special needs child; human communication and understanding behaviour just isn’t natural to them.

On top of that, we need to provide school work support to ensure that they continue to do well and not suffer any stress, leading to mental health issues later on.

Join the community

Here at Starlight, many of our students were rejected from other student care facilities, and they come to us and we offer them a welcoming and accepting environment where they can thrive.

Our students find happiness and friendship with peers who share similar abilities and challenges. We believe that this sense of belonging is crucial for their social and emotional development.

I encourage you to take a look at our growing collection of testimonials from parents and students who have experienced the positive impact of Starlight firsthand.

Nurturing Academic Excellence

Our program offers individualised learning support to help your child master the skills they need to succeed in school…

Fostering social and Communication Skills

We actively promote interactions and effective communication among peers…

Equipping for Life Beyond School

We believe in preparing your child for the future, imparting essential life skills…

Set them up for higher learmings

Teaching students with autism to be good learners is an important part of helping them to succeed in school and life. The “good learner repertoire” is a program we implement to teach the necessary skills students need to be effective learners at school.

Early detection of skill deficits and learning difficulties

Our team of qualified therapists are experienced in identifying skill deficits and learning difficulties. Early detection of skill deficits and learning difficulties is essential for students with autism…

Programs

We will provide unparalleled care and support for your child daily from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Our programs are designed to meet the individual needs of each student. We use various teaching methods and strategies and work closely with parents and caregivers to ensure that each student is progressing.

Useful links

The first day of school!

Tomorrow is finally the day you send your special ones to primary school. Whether it is a mainstream or special education school, both are equally nerve-wracking. How much pocket money should I prepare for them? Does he know how to buy snacks in the canteen? How many textbooks should I pack on the first day? We wrote a helpful guide to breeze through the first day with your child.

Why Starlight?

By parents, for parents.

Starlight was founded by a group of parents and seasoned autism professionals who have experienced first-hand the challenges of finding the most effective therapy programs, preschools, and after-school care services. We understand what you’re going through and are here to help. No matter your child’s needs, come to us, and we will connect you with the right resources.

Highly qualified teaching team

A team of Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), psychologists, behavior therapists, and special needs educators applies the latest evidence based teaching approach to support your child’s individual learning needs.

Science & Evidence-based methodology in the teaching of target skills

We use educational techniques and tools based on the best available scientific evidence, including methodologies and technologies from the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) and other behavioural approaches in line with practices from Pathlight and other Autism friendly school in Singapore.

Quality education and competitive fees

We don’t always go for the cheapest things in life, nor should we. Our emphasis on quality means our price might be higher than other schools.

Unparalleled learner to therapist/teacher ratio of 2:8

Keeping our classes small allows our students to learn at their best. Our class size ranges from 6 to 8 students.