I must admit that I wish I could write as often as I could but sadly....I can't. My endless mountains of assignments demand for my attention and studying, too need to be prioritised.

However, I couldn't stop myself from stealing into the computer lab and do a little blogging. I will just have to sleep less to make up the time spent here. I thought perhaps I should go into how I got myself involved with special children.

I was a clueless post-STPM student with nothing to do back in 2000. I did get myself a job as a temporary teacher, but as the word "temporary" is there...I was soon out of job. However, I had a friend who volunteered in an early intervention centre.

An early intervention is a centre for children who have learning disabilities from the age of 0-6. Here, the children are given intervention as early possible so that they have a better chance at learning. They must be accompanied by a parent, usually their mothers. They need not come everyday; only on days that they have sessions which means once or twice weekly. It is not a kindergarten, nor is it a daycare centre. These children are taught in a different way. Here, the children are given more stimulation and they learn things that we normally can learn by ourselves, such as buttoning, sorting objects, putting jigsaw puzzle together, screwing and so on.

This centre is in my hometown, Ipoh. It is called New Horizons Society. So, I thought why not join my friend when she asked me to. Besides, I was intrigued with the stories she told me about the children there.

And that was how I stepped into their world and I could never get out since. I was excited and nervous. I didn't know what to expect. Like so many people, I didn't know much about special children. I remembered having seen only a Down's Syndrome child before. Thus, I didn't know what I was getting myself into.

Two thoughts came into my mind when I step into New Horizons (NH). The first is - it's a mini version of Toys'R'Us Kids! I have never seen so many games and toys before in my life other than those in a toy shop. It was like a toy heaven for me. The inner child in me was struggling to get out then.

The second one was - there were many special children in Ipoh, when they gather together in one place. I thought there would be very few considering the fact that I have only met one in my entire 20 years of life then. The next question that came to my mind - Where did they hide?

On that very first day, after seeing the children for some time, I suddenly found my eyes welled with tears. I was overcome with emotion. Was it pity? Was it because I was touched seeing how much perseverance their mothers had for them? I wasn't sure. However, after that day...I never once shed tear for them again. For one, I don't feel pity for them anymore. In the period of time I was in NH, these children taught me how to see each of them as an individual and not as one who is handicapped.

I had the best two months of voluntary job there. I looked forward to going to the centre each day. I get to play with the children and learn about things I never would have thought I could learn.

After that, I just couldn't get these children out of my mind. I made the most important decision of my life then - I wanted to work with special children for my whole life. I wanted to be in a field where I will continously see special children. This is how I ended up doing speech therapy in UKM.

Some of you might be wondering why I would name my site Up-side DownS. Well, there is a story behind it. About a year ago, I read a newspaper report on a 12-year old girl with Down's Syndrome. She was in a shopping complex giving a speech to a crowd of people. Now I'm not sure about other developed countries, but here in Malaysia, it is very rare that a Down's Syndrome child will be able to do that. So, I was quite motivated by this child. There was a phrase in her speech that I felt particularly inspired. She said "Let's look at the up side of the down. Meaning that instead of focusing on negativities of the syndrome, we should look on the positive side of it. Thus, I name this side Up-side DownS, which stands for 'Up Side of the Down's Syndrome'. This site is not only for the Down's Syndrome but I used it metaphorically for all special people. I wish to focus on the positive things we can see and learn from these unique people, who are very much part of our lives.
Most, if not all of us have always been guilty of viewing the special people with pity if not fear. Pity, because the poor child will not be able to go to normal school and lead a normal life. They won't be able to get a university degree and the family will have to bear the burden of having a special child to look after. Fear, because we think that special people behave abnormally. We can't understand why they behave in such a way. Some of us shun them. Autistic children are one of those who get little understanding from the public.
We fear what we do not understand. We don't understand the nature of special people. We do not care to learn about them because most of them are not intricated with our lives. It is really not the public's fault. Up till today, most of these special people are kept at home and hidden behind the closet, mostly because of shame and due to lack of awareness that these people are not hopeless. Thus, in a way, we have helped cultivated the fear among the public by keeping these special at home.
We are ignorant when we think we do know them. Some of us think we know them. We have decided that they can't learn, they can't take care of themselves and they are forever dependent on us. We are then, in the danger of being ignorant. We decided that they is nothing we can do about them. Did it occur to us that we could be wrong about them? There are a lot of things these special people can do, if we give them a chance. Luckily, the area of special people is developing now and there are more professional help for these people. However, we still need a lot more resources for this area, especially here in Malaysia.
I won't claim that I know a lot about the special people. There is a lot to learn. Many researches reveal many findings which we have to keep up with. The people who will be most dedicated in keeping track with the latest intervention technique, new discovery and so on are the parents of the special people and the professionals involved.
It is my wish to share the joy I've found working with the special children. Maybe in a way, people will get to know about them. In the same way, I too, will be motivated to learn more about them and continue to be inspired by them.

At last, I have learned the basics of blogging. Thanks to my dear friend Fooji, who spent a few hours showing me how. Well, he was also the one who inspired me to start blogging. I didn't have the slightest interest to do so in the beginning. I didn't have much views to air anyway. But then, it suddenly occur to me how I could actually fulfill my dream, which I thought could perhaps happen only in the future. My dream is to have a column on my own to write about special people, who have touched and changed my life. I hope by writing about them, it will not only make people more aware about their existence but also to let them realise what an inspiration these unique people can be. So, here I am, embarking on a journey less travelled. I'm not sure how I will be doing it. But well, a start is better than nothing. I will unfold some stories about some children I've met and also on their nature. This will be a site dedicated to these very people.