~Time To Start~

Hi,

I am very excited!!!! I am going to start my first CM training with my trainee!!!

CM training is to train them to travel on their own, from their house to the center to work.

I was very lucky that i didn't have a very hard time to convince the parents to allow the trainee to learn!
Because i always hear other co Training Officer saying the most difficult part is to talk to their parents and convince them.

I really happy for the trainee and the family, they had done a good decision! For a person with Special Needs to learn how to be independent is very important. As this kind of skill will helps them for life, this in some ways also helps the family to lighten the burden also.

I will work very hard to teach the trainee and ensure that the trainee will be able to travel safely, hahaha this also means that i need to put in a lot of effort and extra sacrifices like my SLEEP!

But i still feel very worth doing, because i doing something that will affect a person life and a family standard of living.

I really hope this will be a successful one which i can pass the trainee and allow the trainee to travel on the trainee own.

I really feels that by doing all this, i feel more eager to work harder and feel that everything i doing now is real meaningful. Looking back at my past, i feel i don't really like those day that i have to work for money and feel like i live my life aimlessly and meaninglessly just to earn more money.

In that kind of envoiroment, i only think of money and i even sometime think of stepping on others to achieve *but never done it because i'm too stupid*.

But in here, i really thinking only for the people who needs me and trying very hard to change their lives. I do feel very difficult sometimes, but at the end of the day when you look at it again you will feel so proud of yourself that you actually done that!

How many people can really change others lives?
How many meaningful things can you do in a life time?

Leonard Pang o==[===>

Very Difficult Qns to Ans

Hi,

I been thinking of this, does special needs people need a loving relationship like a normal person do?
Sometimes i wanna be love by the one i really love, wanna spend time with my love one, wanna do things together with my love one.
Will they have the same feeling that i have?

I been thinking........

I am really lucky, i am even more lucky to have GHZN and a soul partner having the same believe.

Things will never fair, life is also never fair.
We are the people living in the Grey area.
Its so easy to fall on any sides, but because of dreams and hope most of us will try to make the thing around us as fair as possible.
Are we wise enough? Maybe but maybe not.
But as long as we all try, our efforts will not go to waste.

Feelings............ Makes me feel alive.......

Leonard Pang o==[===>

Never feel Tried!

Hi,

Have you ever feel very tired to go to work?

Have you ever feel dragging your feet to work?

I do have this feelings, but ever seen i join the work of special ED, i feel so entoo to go for work!

Maybe i feel that the things i do for the trainees is affecting them for life!

Maybe its the nature of the job i like (Teaching)!

Or maybe its the trainee that always makes me laugh everyday that i feel happy!

I am so gratful to get the job that i enjoy doing, not many people can find a job that they are happy with.

Leonard Pang 0==[===>

shun...

=) shun has improved tremendously... his mother said.. =)

He has definitely "opened" up alot. He has started to say many words.. even answering "okay". =D He has started to react to people's demand, questions... He has also started to recognise alphabets.. He has also started to read a little of teacher's facial expression now.. all these are the improvements he had made throughout this 4 months that I became his teacher again.. haha..

He has thought me that most of our children with special needs need to learn through play. They already have a difficulty in learning. If we, as educator wants our children to learn the 'si ban ban' way.. how much do you think they can absorb?

signing off
Ying

Dare to dream, u'll achieve. =)

I would like to share a little of our Mr Leonard Pang's history (not too long ago though) of starting in this line. haha

One day, his best friend (Tai) asked him to join teaching line when he was out of job at that period. So he was wondering what can he (an ah beng) teach ppl. teach ppl how to smoke ah? - 1,2, breath in.... (LOL)

I thought of this field (special ed) and told him about it after that. He thought for a while and we went to find out more details about it. Everything went so fast as I thought about it now, and he's now in this field for about 4 mths le, right? I'm sure he's enjoying it...cos he's neglecting me =X lol

The point is... in this field, we need ppl with passion, compassion, patience. You may think that you dont know how to teach or help them, but who came to know the field with lots knowledge? All of us dont, we learn... in any field, right? =)

signing off
ying

Is it so hard to forgive someone?

Hi,

Something to share. Today 11-06-09, i brought 3 of my trainees out for CLSP ( Community Living Skill Program). I brought them to Vivo City, they were been observe by me about their social skills.
Eg: Taking the train, using the EZ-link, buying things, paying money and ordering food. Everything went well until, When we were going back to MINDS. As we walking from Kovan NEL station to MINDS, one of my trainee accidentally step on a old lady feet.

That lady shouted: " Oie, no eyes see where u going ah!"

I notices it only after i heard the old lady shouted, so i turn back as that trainee is behide me.

My first action is to faster apologize to the lady,: " Sorry Auntie, he (the trainee) don't mean it."

The lady shout back: " My Feet is very painfully already u still step on it!"

I replied: " Sorry he really don't mean it, and its was really an accident." I turn back and asked my trainee to face the lady to apologized. (Please note that my trainee doesn't know how to speck!!!)
My trainee trying so hard to say sorry by his actions, but because of his motor skill got problem his actions may not be like a normal person's body language.

The lady shout: " Go away lah! Step already than say sorry got what use! Stupid Idiot ( Retard )."

The whole conversion was all in Chinese.

I felt so angry, am i over protective toward my trainee or really is that lady no compassion towards a special person? Or maybe i been taking things a little too personal?

Hai~~~~~, life is unfair!

Face it man, Leonard Pang!!!

By Leonard Pang 0==[===>

Special Olympics

Many times my brother has been going for the event but i was unable to attend every time! But on 06/06/09 i attended the event with the role as a coach for my school MINDS IEDC. I didn't expect to feel much about anything because i thought i saw all kinds of sports spirits as i enjoy understanding sports! But at that time i really was amazed by the very first event, the 10M assisted walk event. I saw a very young boy from Rainbow Centre Yishun Park, he is the youngest of the 3 competitors, when the start horn blows, the other 2 competitors already dash forward to the finish line! But you only see that only boy who is really way back be hide far away! Seeing this view, i was so touch by the fighting spirit of that boy! He didn't give up even when he saw all the 2 other participants had already finish the race. As the third party view, i was so move by the spirit, because you will see every small steps he takes, its was so pain, so heavy, so tiring that he really took almost close to 7mins to finish 10M. I honestly will give up if i really see myself still a the starting line as all other participants had already finished! Next i will tell you about a girl from timor leste, she is the only one with intellectual disability and physical disability. She was in the event of 1500M single female. She was limping all the way and you see her performance was not affected by the limping at all! She out ran 2 physically able competitors and was able to maintain a very short distance with the first runner. You will keep enjoying to see her and the first runner trying hard to out run each other, in the end she did her best but still falls in the 2nd place. Sometimes when you look at the events it seems to be boring, meaningless or funny, but have you open your eyes and your heart to see and feel? We may feel putting one foot forward seems nothing at all but for them, they need so much training, so much effort, so much strength! We sometimes compare them to ourselves, are we so strong that we can train and challenge our physical limits? I myself will forget that i have to admit! I forgot that walking is so difficult because i can run and jump. And please i think there will be a group of people who will think that they wouldn't feel anything even if they lost, we are wrong from the face i could see the sadness in their eyes! Intellectual disable people had the abilities to feel emotions! Now looking at myself i feels so shame, as a normal person, i doubt myself to harbour that kind of high standard spirits in me. They teach me alot! And helping me to understand the teaching that i heard from REV in temple! Now i seems to learn to look at things in a very different views! Thank you! Thank you all for enlightening me! And sorry for my lousy english!! Hahahahaha Forgive me (o-_-o)

By Leonard Pang 0==[===>