Not Left in a Corner: How the Educational Support Programme Helped Austyn Find His Place

The Search for a School That Would Truly Include Him

When she thinks back on Austyn’s preschool journey, Kah Suan, his mother, remembers how challenging it was to find a school that would truly welcome him.

Before finding Little Olive Tree at Holland Village, Austyn had gone through other settings that did not know how to include him well. She recalls a season when he was excluded from activities so often that she felt they were essentially “paying school fees for him to sit at the corner” in school. As her child’s biggest advocate, she decided that the bar was clear: she needed to find a preschool where he would be truly included and allowed to have a sense of belonging. His safety mattered, of course, but simply keeping him from harm was not enough.

When asked whether she saw herself as his biggest advocate, she said, “Of course I have to be. Who else will advocate for my child if not for me?”

What Kah Suan wanted for Austyn was not merely a place that would accommodate him. She was looking for a school that shared her hopes for him: that he would grow as fully as he could. She wanted a school that genuinely cared for him and supported him.

At Little Olive Tree, that hope was met with both warmth and honesty. Principal Lian Choon remembers first meeting Austyn during registration, when she played with him while his parents completed the process with the ESP team. He struck her as chatty, cheerful and able to hold a conversation well. From that first encounter, she sensed that he would be able to integrate into the classroom environment. In many ways, he was like any other child. At the same time, his physical limitations meant that he would need additional support from his teachers, and she admits she was initially apprehensive about whether meeting his needs alongside the rest of the class might be stressful for them.

Yet that early apprehension gave way, over time, to something deeper: the reward of seeing Austyn grow. Though the journey was at times trying and demanding for the teachers, it also became deeply meaningful. As the school learned to work through the challenges, they also learned to celebrate his progress. For families like Austyn’s, the principal says, ESP offers not only support, but reassurance too. That kind of support begins with teachers who are relentless in finding ways for a child to participate in school life.

More Than His Diagnoses

Austyn lives with Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy and ADHD. He has physical challenges, including high muscle tone in his left leg, and wears an ankle-foot orthosis to support his movement. Yet his classmates and teachers know him not by his limitations, but by his warmth, determination and delight in others. He is cheerful, affectionate, enjoys being with peers, and often wants to join in whatever they are doing. Even when something is difficult, he will often try first and ask for help after.

Teacher Joed, one of the Education Support Teachers who worked with him, recalls an outing to the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden. There was a high-element obstacle that would have been difficult for him, but Austyn still wanted to participate when he saw his friends trying it. He set off first, gave it a try, then looked back and asked for help.

  Inclusion That Was Thoughtful, Practical and Persistent

Austyn’s desire to try was met with constant effort from the teachers and ESP team to include him. In his case, inclusion was never passive. It was thoughtful, practical and persistent.

His mother remembers one milestone vividly. At the time, Austyn was still working on walking stably. She would have understood if he had been exempted from some of the more physical challenges his class took part in. Yet he was included in an attempt to climb the stairs to the highest floor of a neighbouring HDB block. To her surprise and joy, he made it all the way to the top with his classmates. She remembers how his friends cheered him on and celebrated the achievement. His teachers also sent a photo of the children and teachers covered in perspiration after the effort.

For Kah Suan, this was more than a physical achievement. It was a reminder of what could become possible for her child when he was truly supported.

Learning Broken Down With Care

In Austyn’s earlier days at Little Olive Tree, there were discouraging times. Because of his condition, holding his head up and focusing on classroom learning was more challenging for him than for his peers. There were instances when he expressed his frustration with a task by knocking his head against his teacher’s. Once, when his teacher asked whether he was trying to show that he was angry with her, he responded, “I choose you.”

He was frustrated, yes, but he also wanted to persevere, with his teacher’s help.

Over the years he spent at Little Olive Tree, his reading and spelling improved.

His mother recalls how another EST broke learning down into manageable steps for Austyn. For spelling, she prepared laminated guides and started not with writing, but with magnetic letters, helping him build words before expecting him to write them. She also created another set of materials to be sent home so the family could practise with him. With his learning broken down and structured around his needs, those goals became far more manageable.

Time, Scaffolding and People Who Believed in Him

That steady support mattered. In the Educational Support Programme, what matters most is not how quickly children reach each milestone, but whether the environment gives them the time they need to grow. Austyn did not need lowered expectations. He needed more time, more scaffolding and, most importantly, people who believed in him and were willing to journey with him.

Austyn is now in primary school, appears to have adjusted well, and has buddies there. Even though his environment has changed, he still watches what his peers are doing and wants to join in. That desire to belong, and to actually find belonging, is precious. These may seem like ordinary moments, but for many families, they are hard-won victories. They are signs not only of learning, but of confidence, courage and connection.

What ESP Gives Families

For Kah Suan, the benefits of ESP went beyond Austyn’s academic and social growth. It also gave the family access to support they otherwise might not have been able to afford. She is candid about how meaningful that was. Programmes like ESP, she says, are the kind of support many families in their position would want, but may not be able to access.

But perhaps what moved her most was not only what Austyn learned. It was what the community around him learned too.

She points out that support like this helps children with additional needs integrate into society during their formative years. Just as importantly, it teaches typically developing peers how to respond with understanding, inclusion and consideration. In other words, ESP does not only help one child. It quietly shapes the kind of community all children grow up in. These children will eventually become adults, and inclusive preschool environments like the Little Olive Tree preschools that offer the Educational Support Programme help form the inclusive communities of tomorrow.

Why Austyn’s Story Matters

That is why stories like Austyn’s matter.

They remind us that inclusion cannot remain a slogan. Having a child with additional needs in the classroom does not automatically make it inclusive.

A truly inclusive classroom is one where learners of different abilities belong so fully that difference does not become a basis for exclusion.

True inclusion is patient. It is resource-intensive. It requires teachers who observe carefully, adapt thoughtfully, and keep making room for a child until he can take his place with confidence. It means removing barriers so that a child who once only watched the world go by can begin to step into it. As Austyn’s class teacher put it, when those barriers are removed, children gain courage in the world.

Today, Austyn is not just a child who made it to primary school. He is a child who was given the chance to participate, to learn, to be celebrated, and to belong.

Many other families are still searching for that chance.

Your support can help make programmes like ESP available at a subsidised rate to children who need them most. For families navigating developmental needs, early support can change not only what a child is able to do, but how he comes to see himself and his place in the world. When you give, you help ensure that more children like Austyn are not left at the corner, but find their place in the full life of the classroom and beyond. https://donate.presbypreschool.edu.sg/