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Journey into the autistic world.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Thank you to Larkspurs (Hwa Chong students) and Sebastien's birthday video spoof of "A Mother's Wish"

Dear everyone:

It's been another busy month... 

Special Thanks to Larkspurs!

And this time around, I would like to give special thanks to Larkspurs, a group of Hwa Chong students who initiated the "Opening Hearts Changing Minds" campaign to help raise awareness and funds for "A Mother's Wish" campaign. Apart from inviting me to talk at the school, they helped to organise an exhibition of Sebastien's paintings, sold my books, and created badges, and sold iced gems to raise money. I am also grateful for the support of the Hwa Chong faculty who bought Sebastien's paintings (please check out his portfolios).   

Fund Update

Thanks to these efforts, as well as a generous direct donation to "A Mother's Wish" campaign, the fund now stands at $5,487.02 (as of this update, we have not received the $8,000 cheque from the "Joy Truck' show). I want to especially those who have purchased Sebastien's art in support of the campaign: He has sold close to 60 paintings to date...

Purpose of the Fund

At this juncture, I still have not heard back from MSF or other related agencies. If nothing transpires from these negotiations, I plan to seek grants from other agencies such as the NVPC. Please write me if you have ideas for raising more funds. 

In the meantime, in order to stretch out the use of "A Mother's Wish" fund, while we still have no sustainable funding,I will likely begin with the rollout of a five-day, 3.5-hour holiday programme during the school holidays in December (Dec 16–Dec 20)Fifty percent of the costs of this programme targeted at 6 individuals with moderate to severe autism, aged 6 and above will be subsidised from "A Mother's Wish" fund. 

This small rollout will enable us to test out "A Mother's Wish" podular model that involves paying caregivers, assistants, and small-scale, but experienced, service providers for running group programmes. Moreover, we will be taking our end-users on public transport to cultivate their lifeskills and mingle with mainstream society. 

More details will be provided in early October, as the planning will commence in the latter half of September...

"A Mother's Wish" Spoof Video (Please scroll down)
Each year, for Sebastien's birthday party, Jerome (my boyfriend) and I put together a recap of Sebastien's past year. For this year, we created a light-hearted spoof of "A Mother's Wish" campaign: a 10-minute film comprising video footages of Sebastien in action within the context of our comical 'speculations' of potential careers for Sebastien... 

I will be taking a much-needed break (August 26–September 17) from the campaign. In the meantime, please forward this email to others and help to keep this campaign alive. 

Cheers,

Kah Ying