Honey4Boyz

I just realised that this is my 101th post!! On 15th April, it's also the 101th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. And this post is Brandon's drawings especially on Titanic. What a coincidence.  Since our visit to the "Pirates of the East" exhibition in Marine Life Park, Singapore last Dec, he had started his drawings on ships. He spent a while drawing pirate ships, then this year, he came across the study of Titanic at school, and he has been on it ever since then. On his own, he looked through the internet for stories about the ship, how Titanic sank, went through the National Geographic documentary video on the ship and  even simulated the sinking with his Lego . It's not just his drawings, but we find it quite amusing watching his enduring interest on one subject. Hopefully he'll move on to some other things soon cos we're tired of listening to the Titanic soundtrack. These are some of his recent Titanic drawings. ...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent:  cerebral palsy , autism disorders and Down syndrome  from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read  more ). XianJin followed me to PKIK during the school holidays in March. He's kinda 'stunned' to see the environment and disabled kids in the beginning. And pretty nervous like me too. He played some soothing music in the background while we're attending to the kids. Classical music does have a very calming effect. When he's more warmed up, he even helped to guide a student. He observed that during a task to hang clothes peg on a line, the student had arranged them in a repeated similar colour pattern. Like XianJin, many of us have some common misconceptions about people with learning disabilities. I think most people can pick out a person with Down syndrome. People with Down's have some characteristics that make them look like each other, eg  eyes that are often almond-shaped an...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent:  cerebral palsy , autism disorders and Down syndrome   from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read more ). Autism is a common disability at PKIK, something like 7 out of 10 students have autism disorders (the other 2 for Down Syndrome & 1 for CP). It's a broad term, meaning the child can be a little autistic or very autistic. The disability can be devastating that may require institutional care, and on another spectrum,  you've the Asperger syndrome, which is often of average or above average intelligence.  Loges is 16yo, he joined the Day Training Programme in mid 2011. He was accompanied by his mother to attend the programme for more than a year. Finally, in March this year, he didn't need a chaperon anymore. Like many other autistic kids there, he looks like a typical child. If these kids remain still, it's kinda hard to identify those who have the autism disorders.  ...

I will be sharing three disabilities that are increasingly prevalent: cerebral palsy, autism disorders and Down syndrome from my experience as a volunteer at PKIK (read more ).  I met RuYi at the Day Training Programme. She's  the first CP child I know at PKIK. At 12 years old, she has the height of a 6-year-old. I was pretty nervous as I've no idea where to start. She has such a sweet smile that put me at ease immediately. Her caretaker acted as her translator at first. I realise that she could understand Tamil cos it's the mother tongue of her caretaker. She could also understand  English and Malay fairly well.  She started with some simple motor-skill coordination puzzle.  You see,   RuYi sees the world from a horizontal point of view. She spends her day lying down, in bed or on the ground. She waits for her caretaker to carry her around as she has   uncoordinated movements and postures.  Her immobile condition did not rob the joy o...

Lemongrass Tea anyone?  This lemongrass is part of the fruit and vegetable garden grown by the young adults at Joy Home in Semenyih. This is a place where the young adults with learning disabilities learn to live ordinary lives with minimal support, with their peers and away from their families. They usually check in on Monday and check out on Friday. During the day,  they will continue to go to their learning / training centre at PKIK..... Indeed true that we don't have to look hard to find opportunities to volunteer. One of the best places is in the community we live in. A few phone calls later and I learnt about  PKIK  or Persatuan Kanak-kanak Istimewa Kajang. It's not a home for special needs' people, rather it's a learning or training centre for children or persons with learning disabilities.  Currently, they have more than 90 students occupying 5 shoplots in Kajang Utama. Some of the students were referred by the nearby hospitals in Ka...

Our water chalet at Avillion, Port Dickson. It's a family-friendly resort and still well-maintained with good service. We got away for a night to chill before our back to school family routine. Spacious room, clean, no unpleasant smell in the toilet. And a good view facing the Straits of Malacca. Trying to spot some birds cos it's still the Raptor Watch month in March. Only spotted one or two raptors but could hear many chirping sounds from the tree birds. I felt calmer listening to the birds than the traffic noise.  Surprise, surprise, we thought nothing of the small beach with white fine sand..... but there were many seashells there. It's a very relaxing and soothing activity picking up some of them, but told the kids to pick up only those empty seashells. At that point in time, we're totally unaware and oblivious to the infamous sand flies in Port Dickson!! Later, we realised we'd such a close call. (Must remember that sandflies become activ...

Posting by Xian Jin I went to the 5th annual hot air balloon fiesta with my family in Putrajaya. There were 20 balloons, not just the traditional "inverted tear drop" shape but some special ones that looked catchy. There were teams who participated from different countries. Many people were there to see the hot air balloons taking flight. I was thrilled to get a pass to the launching site. I could see  so closely   the whole process of the hot air balloon getting inflated. The crews getting the balloon inflated and ready to fly. As I got near it, I could feel the humidity and heat from the burner.  The balloons came in different shape and designs. There were a clown, African elephants, a two-faced monkey, a green monster, Smurf and even a Sim card!! The crew trying to patch up a hole found in the monkey balloon. If I were to fly the balloon I would not choose this because I would feel unsafe. I could see the interior of the balloon and from...