| Abstract: | Leaena Tambyah nee Chelliah, qualified as a professional social worker. However, she has devoted the greater part of her life to voluntary service, especially for children and young adults with special needs. Under her inspiring leadership of more than 30 years, the Asian Women's Welfare Association's (AWWA's) General Welfare Services, grew to be the forerunner of Singapore's Family Service Centres. She is best known for her pioneering work in caring for, and starting Singapore's first school for children with multiple disabilities in 1979. Leaena also introduced a mobile therapy service for students with physical disabilities in mainstream education, whose parents could not afford the money or the time to take their children to hospitals for therapy. This is a feature of AWWA's Therapy and Education for Children in Mainstream Education or TEACH ME Services. Raffles Girls' Secondary School became the first school in Singapore to become completely disabledfriendly for students with physical disabilities… |
