A VISION FOR TOMORROW

July marked the first year anniversary of Summer's Therapy Services!

As the founder and director of Summer's, I am proud to announce that with effect from 1 July 2016, we are known as Summer's Therapy Services Private Limited.

It has been a really enjoyable year working with children in their homes. Several parents have shared that they appreciate that the sessions are at home because their child is much happier in therapy. This feedback encourages me greatly. I am thankful that I have created a service which helps these families.

July was also a month of visions!

At this one year mark, I am reminded of why I had started Summer's, when one of my good friends, Lee, introduced a book called 'Larger than Life'. It is a collection of stories of Singaporeans who are serving in developing countries, through a wide range of projects, using whatever talents and skills they have been blessed with.

Be inspired by Larger than Life!

Several years ago, I had a vision of setting up a travelers' lodge in a developing country. I want to employ people with disabilities (this population has always been a burden on my heart because I had seen many of my ex-students graduating from school with nowhere to go. The vocational skills which the team had worked hard on were futile!) A lodge can supply jobs in the areas of cafeteria service, laundromat service, house-keeping, reception desk and even a gift shop!

With this dream of a traveller's lodge, I have always wondered where I would get the funding from. The lodge would bring in income, but it might not be sufficient. Suddenly I thought, "How about running a business???" That's how Summer's came to pass. Two purposes: (1) To provide a service which benefits children with special needs (i.e. home-based therapy services) and (2) to support my vision of a traveler's lodge run by people with disabilities.

From 'Larger than Life', I was also given the idea that I could also run a farm in the developing country itself, just like The Little Honey Man in Uganda featured in 'Larger than Life'. A farm will provide employment opportunities, especially for people with disabilities who are not suitable for work in the travelers' lodge, as well as generate income! What a brilliant idea!

I am excited for what is to come. Join me in prayers as I work towards my vision. Feel free to share your thoughts about this. You will open doors for me and definitely for people with special needs!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CANCELLATION POLICY

Image
"There will be a late cancellation fee of $100 for cancellations made within 12 hours of session time." From February 2023, it was with a heavy heart that I decided that Summer's should have a cancellation policy. Since I started Summer's in 2015, we never had a cancellation policy, for the full 7-8 years. It is because I strongly believe the following: (1) All parents knows that our therapy is beneficial and will not be absent without valid reasons.  (2) Young children fall sick often; young children with special needs fall sick even more often.  (3) Children with special needs may have sudden meltdowns, making last minute cancellations unavoidable.  (4) Summer's will have enough profit margin to buffer 'last minute cancellations without penalty'. (It would also give my staff members some down time for other work such as preparing for sessions, reading up on the latest research, or even just some me-time.)  We did have enough to buffer for last minute can
Read more

SPEECH BUDDIES REVIEW (Part 2)

Image
The Speech Buddies is a rather interesting set of tools. It targets the five most common problem sounds. Each tool trains the tongue to make the correct shape by providing targets that the child can feel. http://www.speechbuddy.com/parents/tools I will share about three children whom I have used the tools with. And all were success stories! However, I regret to say that all three had problems with the same sound /l/.   The Story of Ariel   Age: Turning 7 this year Problem Sound: /l/ Her Story: Ariel was having severe motor planning difficulties when I first met her. We worked on sequential movements, through activities for gradation and dissociation of her jaw, lips and tongue. After about 6 months, we started on individual sounds. She sailed through /s/, /z/, /f/ and /v/ but her difficulties with /l/ persisted. Ariel tends to stick her tongue out between her teeth when saying words such as 'lion' and 'lamb'. She has difficulty with tongue elevation, i
Read more

INTERVIEW WITH OUR YOUNGEST THERAPIST!

Image
A Circuit Breaker (CB) in Singapore! Being stuck in the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia! What a way to mark the first anniversary of our Speech Therapist, Jayne. Let's have a chat with her and get to know her a bit more.  Me: Hi Jayne, time flies! It has been a year since you started at Summer's. Tell us a little about how your first year went. Jayne: Hi Hui Ting 😄 Time has definitely flown by! Well.. to summarize the year, I would say that it has been a year of growth, both from a personal and professional standpoint. Lots have happened over the past year, particularly this past 3 months which is an unusual time for all of us as we face the global pandemic together. Having to change our routines, the way we work, while coping with the unfamiliar situation has definitely taught me personally to value simple things in life and to count my blessings each day. Last year I took a big leap of faith to relocate from Malaysia to Singapore. It was not an easy decis
Read more