Latest Updates and New Programs

Team Updates   We extend a warm welcome to new members of our team. Darin Thomas, Education Therapist (UK) has over 20 year experience teaching in a Special School in UK. Christina Yoon, Program Director, has a Masters in Occupational Therapy from San Jose State University USA and has practiced as an occupational therapist in the USA, Korea and Singapore.  She is a Korean Amercian Citizen and has a strong interest in Early Intervention and Learning difficulties of Preschool and School age children with Autism, ADHD and Learning Difficulties.  Guo Hua, Senior Occupational Therapist, is certifed in Sensory Integration  (SIPT) and has many years of experience in a paediatric OT setting. Dr Ang Kai Ling, Senior Consultant, Social Emotion Learning, has a Phd in SEL and many years of experience helping children with movitation, social-emotional issues overcome barriers in school and home, She is also a certified Nutritionist and helps children wih feeding issues and who are picky eaters. Vincent Soo, Counselor and Mentoring Coach, is a cerfifed counsellor and trained in Positive Education, VIA insitute of Character Development as well as Social Emotional LEarning (SEL). Vincent also enjoys orgainsing group sessions & outings for school age children with learning diffculties.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMS - June 2016 - For details,  Like us on Facebook  www.Facebook.com/olivetreedevelopmentcenter

Handriting Remediation Program 23-25 June. Handwriting without Tears (HWT)is an effectivet program for yound children to improve their Fine motor and Handwriting skillls, Conducted byqualified therapists , the lessons are multi-sensory and fun and parents feedback are excellent that the strategies really help thier children.

MusicGym 2-4 June  . Musicgym is conduicted by a team of Music Therapist, Occupational & Intervebtion Therapist. With Goals to work on sensory, behabiour, social skills. Musicgym was developed by Olive Tree in 2011 and one of our best running holiday programs. 

Speech, Language & Cooking Program 16-18 June.   Conducted by speech therapist,  the program velop a child's language capabilities in the context of cooking and baking, to develop play skills, language & social interaction. Learn to bake cookies, waffles, make sushi etc . 

Dyslexia Learning Clinics (in line with MOE guidelines) , we are organising a  2-3 weeks intensive Dyslexisa Learning Clinic during June  School Holidays. Research has shown that intensity and focus increases efficacy in overcoming Learining Difficulties. Applying a proven Dyslexia Remedian Program (DRP) Curriculum , we equip children with decoding and spelling stategies, we apply comcept imagery, verbalization and visualisation techniques to improve working memory and reading comprehension.  Part of the initial assessment is Visual Perceptual Skills. The clinics are cconducted by our Educational & Occiupational Therapist and may involve Speech Therapist for children who require Language Assessment on the Preschool Language Scale (PLS) or Clinical Evaluation of Language Functionality (CELF) tests.

Social Skills and Social Thinking Clinics 9-11 June  Built on reseach such as Michelle Garcia Winner ( peech Language Pathologist) work on Social Thinking for High Function children with learning difficulties, we group children into appoproate. 2 Age groups 4-6yr and 6-9yrs.

 Parents Info Network Seminars (FREE Registration) 

9 July SEMINAR on Emeging Strategies for Neuro-Developmental Disorders  Dr Chia Boon Tat will share 20 yrs of his research on "The secret on Brain Development lies in the Gut (Gut-Brain Development)". Serena Lo will share on Music Intervention - practical strategies you can work on at home . 

FREE AUTISM 100-day Kit - For families who have a child newly diagnosed with Autism we have a 100 Day Kit on critical information including intervention approaches. Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a free softcopy (66 pages)

Olive Tree Baby & Kids Clinic Website www.olivetreedoc.com Tel 67386488

* ABA / Verbal Behavior AVAILABLE NOW  Hybrid OT and behavioral therapy approach for children with Behavioural and Sensory Issues. Recommended under MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines for children with Autism.  ABA/VB sessions are typically 1.5hrs to 2. Although for young children 1 hour may be appropriate initially.Videoclip overview of ABA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyCx-OLzgJw 

* NEW Social Thinking and Skills weekly Tue 5-6pm, Thur 5-6pm, Sat 11-12pm or Sat 4-5.30pm, for children 4-7 yrs and 8-12yrs Led by Occupational Therapist and Educational Therapist

Educational Therapy, School Readiness Programs caters for older preschool and primary school children struggling with acaedmics. Unlike tution, this program targets and builds fundamental skills at your child's level necessary for academic success. Consisting Phonologocal remediation, Working Memory remediation, Mathematics remediation, Literacy remediation and/or Exam Readiness remediation, it is specially tailored to meet unique needs of the child. An assessment will be done to determine the needs and teaching approach suitable and the type of remediation. 

Events and News

Olive Tree EduCentre Early Intervention Program - Strategies Series Talks 

As part of our Community Outreach Initiative, we conducted a series of FREE Parents talk on Early Intervention to train and provide practical home stragegies for parents to support children. The talks were conducted by senior Educational, Occupational, Speech Therapist. We had great a great turnout and hope to hold this event again in Sept/Oct 2015 again.

* Strategies for children with ADHD 

* Using Phonics to Overcome Reading Difficulties 

* HANEN Speech-Language Workshops - An Adapted Hanen Approach from "It Takes Two to Talk" and "More Than Words" 

* Strategies in Early Intervention for School Readiness - TEACCH, ABA, Dir/FloorTime Approaches 

* Stragegies for children with Sensory & Visual Motor Integration Challenges - Sensory Profile

 * Strategies to improve Comprehension and Composition 

The Sunday Project 

16 May 2014 was a pilot launch of our Sunday Project where were provided  Free OT, ST and Educational Therapy to Tanglin/Cainhill WELL Learning Center in Henderson Blk 93 to children of poor families with learning difficulties. Blk 93 and vicinity are 1 room HDB rental flats with low income families and children undergoing free tution provided by Merdaki. We assessed the children and provided a treatment plan for 1-1 therapy at OTDC as well as potential support for the teachers and parents. Hidden communities like Blk 93 struggle to make ends meet and parents have little or no resources to support their kids who tend to fail their exams and if not supported are likely to drop of of school.

Since Feb 2015, we are supporting Beyond Social Services to provide FREE Education Therapy to disadvantaged children with learning difficulties.  We also assisted Beyond Social Services Whampoa Centre to start a Family Music & Movement to help distressed families from low income families. Music in their Culture, helps connects children @ risk and parents, helps them relate and communicate and overcome relationship issues. Serena Lo, our Music Intervention Trainer, kicked start several sessions and we are thankful for a team of 5 musicians from all walks of life helping to run a weekly Music & Jam Session to love these children and families.The kids and youths had great fun making improvised instruments such as percussion, drums from milo tins, pails and we have Bands taht rock !  We welcome you to help us on Sat 5-7pm.

ADHD Workshops "Understanding and Supporting Your AD/HD Child/Teen at Home and at School" In Aug & Sept,  KathyNichols, Founder of F.O.C.U.S. Hong Kong  (Focus On Children's Understanding in School) shared about AD/HD, provided an over-view of AD/HD and the conditions that often co-exist with AD/HD such as SLD (Specific Learning Disabilities - dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia), Anxiety, Depression, Addictions and the underlying issues of Executive Functioning.  She shared about  her experiences as a classroom teacher as well as a parent of four children, university graduates who carry/carried the AD/HD diagnosis. Parents have found the discussions interactive and of practical help.

KOREA organised a Special Music & Arts Festival (6-10 Aug) in PyeongChang as followup to the Special Olympics World Winter Games held there earlier this year. Due to our focus on MT, DMT and AT, OTDC nomination of 2 special children was accepted . Serena Lo, our resident Music Intervention Trainer was also sponsored to attend the 5 day event which is like the Aspen Music Festival focused on Special Needs. check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVF4vuS-Mwg Serena shared that the conference was world-class with over 150 SN participants taught by some of the best Musicians in the world who flew into Korea . Xin En, 12 yrs old, represemting Singapore,  was selected to play the piano at the closing ceremony. The event was graced by the Korean Prime Minister and his cabinet ministers. Should Singapore host an event like this in years ahead ? 

Patricia Oetter Occupational Therapy Consultant MA OTR/L FAOTA had overwhelming response at her recent Sensory Integration workshop on Sensory Integration - a Framework for Regulation of Behaviour, Learning, Memory, Communication and Social Interaction.  Patricia is a well known OT consultant & expert in Sensory Integration and authored the MORE program that helps  SLT and OT in Oral Motor, Speech Development and Sensory Integration issues.  Workshop highlights include a indepth understanding of SI to create meaningful adative or motor responses. We had over 60 participants including 20+ parents and 40+ Speech and Occupational Therapist. She spoke to the heart of parents and therapist from her 40+ year of experience in sensory integration. Patricia will be back in Singapore in Nov 2013 to hold another workshop and clinics for parents.  

OTDC partners Knowledge Universe to train 50 principals & teachers from Pat's SchoolHouse, Learning Vision, Odyssey, Brighton Montesori.  June 8 & 9 - OTDC conducted special education seminars to help teachers understand children with disabilities such as ASD, ADD, ADHD, Down Syndrome and how to screen, build inclusive classroom environments and help in early intervention. We honor the significant role teachers play in our children's lives.

Discovery Program

Discovery Program comprises of  Discovery Learners program and Discovery Music program. These programs  help children with learning, behavioural challenges through multisensory activities. The programs incorporates music, speech and drama, story telling, phonics, social activities in a structured, small group or individual setting. It focuses on the ability of the child to enage, self-regulate and communicate within a social setting.

Adaptive Music offers children with special needs the opportunity to experience the joys of music making while learning to play the piano and percussion instruments. Musc Intervention applys the research and principles of evidence-based music reseach to address developmental skills such as attention holding, cognitive, social, speech and motor skills.  

Community Support

It is apparent that the journey of a special needs child is challenging, with parents often feeling a greater pain than the child at times. It is to this end that we find it critical for parents to have a 360 degree view of the progressive assessments and interventions by clinicians, teachers, caregivers. OTDC Team will meet weekly to discuss your child's development and work in partnership with you closely in the intervention approach.

In addition, OTDC cannot do this alone but we are priviledged to be connected to community networks of volunteers, parents and professionals who have walked the journey to share their experience and stories, encourgage and even provide practical support. A good example is FIN (Family Inclusion Network), setup since September 2011,  with over 60 volunteers & families with special needs children in their monthly meetings. Contact us and we can link you up.