Summer's Journey

Yeah! Another year of Summer's has flew passed... I am proud and thankful of Journey 2019. Our team has grown! We have onboard our IT Engineer, Hon Tjuin, in March and another Speech Therapist, Jayne in June. I am especially thankful that these two new colleagues share similar values and passion. This is priceless. In November, we visited Hon Tjuin, who is working remotely in Sitiawan, Malaysia. We had such a great time connecting with one another and even had our early annual DnD. Hon Tjuin also updated the team on his latest work projects. It was great to see his work station too; now we can visualise where he is when we do our Skype calls. We also met his Aunt, Grandmother and Grandfather. Oh! And his two dogs. This year, we also see a new collaborative relationship with Inner Circle, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. I have been consultating for Inner Circle's Speech Therapy services since April. I see the Speech Therapy team group grow from one therapist to three, and th...

Whenever friends ask me, "So how many staff members do you have?" My reply of "I have three therapists and an IT Engineer." never fails to draw a surprise "WHY do you need an IT Engineer?" Here's why...  Interview with Hon Tjuin, our Trusty IT Engineer Me:  Hi Hon Tjuin, great to finally have this interview with you. You have been with us for more than six months and everyone has been asking why Summer's needs an IT Engineer! Please help me clear the air.  Hon Tjuin:  Hahaha! Great question! My main role is to oversee the IT needs of the company, such as maintaining the company’s website and choosing IT software and services, with the aim of improving productivity. In addition to that, I also revamp existing apps, while developing new ones. Me: Thank you for clearing the air. That is for sure a lot of work and that is why Summer's need an IT Engineer. I hope everyone's happy with hearing it from the horse's mouth. ...

The first quarter of the year flew passed just like that. It has been an exciting start at Summer's.  On 1 March, we welcomed Hon Tjuin, our IT Engineer. Not only will he be supporting Summer's IT needs, he will be continually revamping and developing our Sing-To-Talk app series. Sing-To-Talk Sing-To-Talk is something which I hold very dear to my heart. The series of materials was created by myself and my Music Therapist friend, Jenny Lee from New Zealand. http://summerstherapyservices.com/#sing-to-talk The Little Monkey and Ice Cream Man are ready for download. They focus on basic vowel sounds and consonant-vowel (b/p/m) combinations. Research shows that music supports the development of speech and language. I have also witness its wonderous effects in the children I work with. The children love the catchy tunes and it helps them produce the sounds and remember the long sentences. Sing-To-Talk is still very much a work-in-progress. We hope to beef ...

2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018... Fourth Thanksgiving post! I am thankful just for that alone. Reflecting this year, Summer's has experienced much and so have I...  On the Personal Front 2018 is another year of plenty of overseas travels, but the trips are personal trips, not just work trips. I have made eight personal trips and connected and reconnected with people whom I hold dearly in my heart. In February, I was in Yangon for a day to attend the wedding of one of the teachers at New World Therapuetic Center for Special Needs Children. It was my honour to be invited to share the joy. These teachers are more than 'only people whom I work with'. In March, Mag invited me to join her life group to visit Israel. Her life group makes up of people closest to her, who have walked through life with her for nearly twenty years. This Israel trip did not only bring the Bible to life, it also brought Mag and I closer. Bible sharing at the Sea of Galilee \ Mag a...

Finally back in Singapore after nearly three weeks in Myanmar! The word that came to mind when looking back at the last three weeks is 'connecting'. The first leg had me spending time with Danielle Ryan, the Angmo (Caucasian) version of me. We had met in 2012 when we were working in SPD. Since her return to Ireland in 2013, we kept in touch through infrequent text messages. However we made a point to visit each other every two years. This year, she came to Singapore where we retraced our favourite places and did our favourite activities, i.e. supervision over kaya toast and hanging out on The Bridge. Later we went on to Myanmar (Yangon and Taunggyi). It was awesome to show her Myanmar, a place I love.   Danielle and I having lunch at Inle Heirtage Centre! We had a great time looking at Burmese cats, not! Oh well, at least Danielle did! It was also in Taunggyi that I connected with Thiri Nwe, a Facebook friend. She is the founder of a therapuetic center in Taunggyi. It ...

Saturdays have been the 'golden days' since I started my private practice three and a half years ago. This is the day when children do not go to school and parents are off from work. For the first two years, I saw five children every Saturday, then four and now finally three. With the extra time now, I started scheduling 'screening' sessions. These are new referrals who needed to be screened, so that I know the child's needs, their parental concerns and which of my therapists will be able to meet those needs and concerns best. Last Saturday I had scheduled one of these screening sessions. Maybe due to my recent heavy workload of therapy sessions, supervision, travels for consultations and preparation for my upcoming long trip to Myanmar, I was feeling tired. I would love to finish my Saturday a couple of hours earlier. I would love to go home for a nice shower, rest and a change of clothes before my dinner appointment, rather than going in my work clothes like a...

Recently my niece, TT, is into 'Kaycee & Rachel in Wonderland'. Now, who is this Kaycee and Rachel? (Hint: Check out the Youtube video below) With this new interest, TT wants me to role play 'Kaycee & Rachel' with her; she is the younger sister, Rachel while I am the older sister Kaycee. Even though I know nuts about the two girls, being the coolest Aunt, I had to oblige. So from the moment I said 'yes', TT has been calling me 'Kaycee' . After hearing 'Kaycee', 'Kaycee', 'Kaycee' thousands of times, I started calling TT 'Kaycee' instead of 'Rachel' . And this does not sit well with TT. #coolauntfailed Suddenly I was reminded of the many children I work with... When asking for water... they say 'What do you want?' When asking for cookies... they say 'What must you say?' When asking for more cookies... they say 'You want more?' When asking for a toy car... they say ...