Meet Wen Xi, a spirited 8-year-old girl born with a unique set of challenges including a single kidney, hearing loss, deformed fingers, and the rare Fanconi Anemia - a bone marrow disorder. Much smaller in size for her age due to her medical conditions, she has undergone bone marrow transplant and requires frequent hospital visits for treatment of her various medical conditions and requires assistance for movement and transportation.

Yet, amidst these hurdles, Wen Xi has found a haven of hope when her mother brought her to The Little Hands Bilingual Bicultural Programme, an early intervention project run by The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf). Despite her adversities, she continues to find joy in painting, art, and reading, immersing herself in phonics, English, and maths classes, while eagerly participating in speech and drama activities. On top of these, she also receives art therapy and learns Singapore Sign Language.

Her boundless enthusiasm for learning and SADeaf’s social engagement activities help her explore new horizons and broaden her worldview. SADeaf has also helped to seek funding in order to alleviate the family’s financial difficulties and is continuing to support the family’s needs.

ABOUT THE LITTLE HANDS BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL PROGRAMME

In Singapore, Wen Xi is not alone in her struggles. Three in every 1000 babies born in our city-state face significant hearing impairment, potentially delaying their speech, language, intellectual, social, and emotional development.

In addition, one or more children out of five with unknown cause of sensorineural hearing loss may have genetic Hearing Loss which is the leading known cause of Hearing Loss currently, more so than infections or injury.

This is why The Little Hands Bilingual-Bicultural Programme was established in 2018, to provide young children (usually between the age of 2.5 to 7) with hearing loss, the opportunity to learn through play, using Singapore Sign Language (SgSL).

It encompasses a linguistic environment in which the children have the opportunity to develop their linguistics skills (Singapore Sign Language and English), as well as build their cognitive and social-emotional development. The "bilingualism" part of the programme refers to the use of both sign language and speech, if the child is able to.

Besides learning the Singapore Sign Language (sgSL) used by the deaf community here, art, maths and English (grammar and vocabulary), the children also go through role-playing exercises that build their confidence and acclimatise them to varied social settings where they may or may not be the only one who is deaf, embodying the "bicultural" element of our programme.

The class is conducted by a trained teacher of the Deaf and a Deaf assistant teacher. The sessions include storytelling, SgsSL lessons, English and Mathematics lessons, art and craft activities, indoor and outdoor play and snack time.

It has been 5 years since The Little Hands Bilingual-Bicultural Programme was established and we are heartened by the lives we have touched and empowered. Today, as we celebrate our 68th Anniversary of SADeaf, our mission doesn’t end here and we wish to continue our effort to nurture more “Little Hands” in the future.

With your support, we will be able to reach out to more people in the deaf community, continue to make a difference in the lives of those affected by hearing loss through programmes like Little Hands and more, offering them the same opportunity to thrive and reach their fullest potential.

Your generosity will help us in creating a society where the deaf have equal opportunities and are not limited by their challenges.

Help us transform silence into strength, isolation into inclusion, and fear into fearlessness. Together, let's shape a world of endless possibilities for these extraordinary children and the deaf community.

ABOUT THE LITTLE HANDS BILINGUAL-BICULTURAL PROGRAMME

Help us transform silence into strength, isolation into inclusion, and fear into fearlessness. Together, let's shape a world of endless possibilities for these extraordinary children and the deaf community.

Every donation counts. Your support makes all the difference. Thank you.