Equip deafblind children with skills for life!

Ravin’s Journey of Discoveries

(By E.Stephanie Ann – DBMH Teacher)

Ravin (Name Changed) a 12 Years old boy, was born with visual and hearing impairment due to Congenital Rubella Syndrome. He stayed with his mother till the age of 7 before enrolling at St. Nicholas’ Home, Penang. In December 2018, his father passed away due to some health condition. Ravin’s mother went through a lot of struggles in raising him as a special need child.

 “Now, my son eats on his own and able to communicate with us using sign language and body gestures. As a mother, I’m happy to see my son’s progress upon being taught at the Deaf-Blind and Multi Handicapped Programme at St. Nicholas’s Home,” Ravin’s mother shared.  

Ravin who lived within the four walls of his home was reluctant to get engaged in outdoor activities. He did not have a proper exposure as how a normal child should have. It was a great challenge for his teachers to start working on developing his gross and fine motor sensory and cognitive skills as Ravin is a hyperactive child. In order to enhance his communication skills, we integrated sign language into his Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Within four month of joining St. Nicholas’ Home, Ravin gradually showed improvements in his daily activities. He is able to focus longer on activities especially his favorite ones such as jumping on the trampoline, playing with water and grains which gives different textures for him to feel. Besides that, Ravin loves playing and wrestling with his best friend Jimmy who is also deaf and blind since born.

Currently, we are assisting Ravin to perform his daily activities with less help from the teachers. This is an early stage for him to learn things and we do believe by doing so, it will be helpful for him to be more independent in future.

• RAVINS_JOURNEY_OF_DISCOVERIES.docx (DOCX)

This voluntary project was beyond my expectation. I was given a chance to be a voluntary teacher in Deaf-Blind and Multi Handicapped (DBMH) program in St. Nicholas Home, Penang, Malaysia. During this project, I assisted the children in doing daily routines and taught them basic knowledge in English. Among all children, Siti is the one that I concerned a lot. She was born in April 25^th 2001. She is visually impaired, nasal deformed, and having a growth delay. Siti has become a part of St. Nicholas Home since she was eight years old after her grandfather was unable to take care of her anymore. There is no exact news from her parents, as I know, her mother left her and gave her to the grandfather.

At the first time she was sent to St. Nicholas Home, she wasn’t able to speak, walk, and even chew her food. She was having a malnutrition and weight loss below average. As the time passed by, St. Nicholas Home provides therapy and education to her until she is able to walk, speak, and eat by herself even though she is still facing difficulties in chewing foods. The teachers have to make sure that the foods are edible enough for her. Normally, we minced and shredded the food first before she eats, so that she can just swallow it easily.

Siti is a lovable and cheerful teenager. She always says greetings to teachers and her friends every morning. She can sing and dance to her favorite songs. She will get really excited when Chicken Dance song is playing. Moreover, she can easily understand basic knowledge such as numbers, name of the months, daily routines, name of the animals, and many more by listening to songs and practicing her tactile sense. Usually, I always ask her to count using English and Malay whenever she plays her ‘Egg toys’ and she can do it successfully. I’m so proud of her.

 As can be seen from her story, we should be grateful of what God has given to us. Despite of her disabilities, she can improve her skills and passion. Her imperfection is not a limitation for her in getting a better future. She always smiles in happiness even though she has a tough life. Her story has become an inspiration for us all to keep doing our best in living our life no matter how hard it can be.

We often believe those who are visually impaired do not have the same opportunities in life as those who are fortunate enough to be brought into a world with the ability to see the beauty of the world. This is not the case with Daniel. Daniel is a loving and gentle 16-year-old boy who is the eldest among his 3 siblings. He was born with Premature Retinopathy which is a disease that affects immature vasculature in the eyes of premature babies which progresses to retinal detachment or blindness. Daniel has been in the DBMH program at St Nicholas from the tender age of 7 and his teachers often comment on his great progress and achievement since. Apart from being visually impaired, Daniel’s hands are also deformed which makes it difficult for him to grasp objects properly. However, his physical and visual impairments are no burden to himself or the people around him. Daniel is an independent boy who is able to bathe, dress and feed himself. He is also able to follow instructions and follow his daily routine on his own. 

Meeting Daniel for the first time, it was already evident that he has a fun and playful personality. He loves dancing to his favourite songs, playing on the swings and enjoys playing the xylophone! There is always a smile on Daniel’s face, and he makes sure to put one on yours with his contagious laughter. He has no problems communicating with his teachers and friends but there are still improvements to be done to the clarity of his speech. He recognises his teachers and friends by touch and is always ready for a conversation. When asked about Daniel, it can be seen how proud his teachers are of him and how they admire his ability to live a somewhat regular life despite his disabilities.

Daniel is living proof that there is no disability that can hold a person back to living up to their full potential. The future holds endless possibilities for Daniel, and he is capable of achieving great things with the ongoing love, support and guidance from his teachers.

Deaf –Blindness refers to combination of hearing and visual loss that severely impedes communication, education, employment and independent living. In this case jimmy’s story is an inspiring ones. Jimmy is a quiet and gentle 13 year old from Penang who is much loved by all his fellow classmates and teachers. His teachers mainly describe him as jovial and passionate about food.

Jimmy was born with a bilateral hearing problem as part of rubella syndrome. As he grew, he encountered several developmental delays and learning difficulties as well as being mute. When he was 7, his vision began to deteriorate, leaving him totally blind and multi-handicapped. This was diagnosed as bilateral chronic retinal detachment.

Before he joined St. Nicholas’ Home in 2015, he was overly sheltered and lacked many skills. He threw tantrums when asked to do things independently and was also unable to feed and dress himself. As jimmy is both deaf and blind, he is unable to speak, making tactile signals his main mode of communication. This makes it quite difficult to communicate with him.

From a boy who could only move independently inside his house and had limited skills, he has now mastered most of the skills taught in deaf-blind and multi-handicapped classroom and he has grown to be very independent and obedient. He enjoys following a strict routine which has been set up with the aid of his teachers, and usually protests to any deviation from it.

Jimmy has a sharp senses of direction, after breakfast he does not want to be guided like his peers to the classroom. He is the apple of most of the housemothers, teachers and volunteers. He seeking attention by humming and approaches to hug his teachers and caregivers when he agrees to or likes something. Jimmy has learnt many things very quickly and he responds well to instructions by sign language.

Jimmy is now able to feed and use a white cane independently. He is also able to walk long distances on his own and understand signals such as when to return his bottle to his bag from his table and when to bring his cutlery and plates to the washing area. He loves taking morning walk, using the seesaw and going for outings. He also enjoys spicy food (especially sambal belacan with curry) and fast foods but hates vegetables and fruits. One of jimmy’s favourites past times is playing and wrestling with his best friend and fellow classmate Raagavan, who is also deaf and blind.

He manage to learn how to cope with his disabilities despite being very young and having little guidance in his early life to become the strong and loving boy that he is today. Jimmy’s progress has been outstanding so far as he continues to surprise with his resilience and there is no doubt that he will only grow stronger as time goes on.

I wish to share with everyone a story which is very close to my heart. It is a story about a girl named Siti. She was born blind on 25 April 2001. Doctors has diagnosed her of having median cleft syndrome, a birth defect condition that left her face and upper lip, nasal deformed.

Siti was in the care of her grandfather from a very young age. Her mother was herself intellectually impaired as was not able to care for Siti.

Little Siti was sent to St. Nicholas Home (placed in Deaf, Blind & Multiple Handicapped - DBMH) at the age of 8 when her grandfather was unable to find stable work and provide care for her anymore. It was a painful sight when she just arrived St. Nicholas Home. She was weak, unable to walk, under nourished and had difficulties communicating.

Due to her birth defects, speaking and eating posed great challenge for little Siti. She could not speak and chew her food properly at first. Thanks to years of speech therapy and rehabilitation sessions, little Siti was able to speak more clearly now. As time progresses, she had even started to dance while humming her favourite songs. 

Bubbly Siti have touched many hearts. Despite her disabilities, she faced each day cheerfully and with happiness. I greatly respect and admire her positivity and strength.

Transforming  tears of sadness to tears of joy, Siti should an example to us all.