It was a graduation ceremony for children from local disability charity SPD’s early intervention programme. Parents accompanying their children to the event had least expected to see this special guest there – Professor Ho Lai Yun. A few rushed to greet the Guest-of-Honour after the ceremony, each with a special story or memory to share about the paediatrician who cared for their children.
Besides screening tests and medical care for newborns, Prof Ho’s experience extends far beyond medicine. His name has come to be associated with early childhood education, early intervention and being child centric in the social service sector. Such was the illustrious career of this trailblazer who dedicated nearly 40 years to growing paediatrics and neonatology in Singapore.
In the earlier years, SPD offered mainly rehabilitation programmes for adults with physical disabilities. When it was deliberating in the early 2000s to offer rehabilitation services for young children with disabilities, SPD turned to Prof Ho for guidance. At this critical juncture in SPD’s history, its chief executive officer Mr Abhimanyau Pal, who was then the director of rehabilitation services, consulted Prof Ho at length. The pioneer and veteran in paediatrics and neonatology assembled his team from the Child Development Unit (CDU) of KK Hospital and SingHealth and shared some service gaps with SPD. With their expertise and guidance, SPD was able to narrow down a key group – children with developmental needs who continue to need therapy support after graduating from the Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC). This led to the development and launch of SPD’s first children’s programme in 2005 – the SPD Continuing Therapy Programme (CTP).
Subsequently, Prof Ho rallied the Child Development Unit and KK Hospital to assist SPD in its plans to introduce the Therapy Outreach Programme for Pre-schoolers (TOPPS) in 2010. The direct intervention programme delivered by professionals in pre-schools and childcare centres, which are the child’s natural learning environment, sought to change the way children are integrated into pre-schools. The programme achieved much success and its framework was adapted for national roll-out. It was renamed the Development Support Programme (DSP) in 2012.
“There are a lot of buzz about health and social integration these days. But back in the earlier days, Prof Ho took it in his stride to drive many of these initiatives. He was one of the few doctors who recognised the importance that the community plays in making a child’s growth a holistic one,” said Mr Pal.
“And because he trudged on and never gave up despite the many roadblocks that came his way, he gave hope and support to many children and their parents as a result.”
Caregivers play an important role in the rehabilitation of those with disabilities, especially for young children. Prof Ho recognised this from the start and constantly reminded the SPD team to build this caregiver partnership into their care delivery models. In many of SPD’s programmes and services for adults and children today, they involve and engage caregivers in the rehabilitation of their loved ones.
Much of SPD’s successful foray into children’s services was due in large part to the vision and guidance of Prof Ho. His strong conviction that a holistic intervention for children exists beyond just the hospitals sees him volunteering actively in various ministries, statutory boards and social service agencies.
In August 2012, despite his many commitments, he found time to volunteer on SPD’s Services Committee (formerly known as Budget and Programme Committee), and was co-opted as a Board member in the same year. Prof Ho chairs SPD’s Services Committee, a post he has held since 2014. Prof Ho was instrumental in SPD’s Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) journey in 2016. His vast medical knowledge had helped to guide the CTP team to achieve the stringent CARF standards, making SPD the first local outpatient medical rehabilitation centre for children to receive the accreditation. Till today, Prof Ho remains a guiding light for SPD as it continues to build its paediatrics capabilities. He was appointed SPD’s vice president in August 2022.
Prof Ho supported SPD’s mooting of the social service’s first Early Intervention Conference in 2018 which brought 10 EIPIC service providers together with KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and National Council of Social Service for inter-agency sharing and learning. As co-chair of the conference’s organising committee, his extensive experience and knowledge helped to shape the focus of the first conference which was attended by about 1,000 participants.
Under his guidance, SPD has made inroads into the early intervention space and has grown in strength over the last 10 years. It now operates four EIPIC centres and provides the Developmental Support-Learning Support in the eastern and western regions of Singapore, supporting about 1,000 children with developmental needs every year.
“Even with Prof Ho’s extensive experience in the field, he has never imposed his ideals or thoughts on the team. He places his trust on the team to know what works best for our programmes and services. Despite this, he remains ready to share his views and guided us in the right direction when consulted. Prof Ho readily shared his wide collection of resource books with SPD staff to deepen their knowledge in providing support to children with developmental needs,” said Ms Becky Hoo, director of children services at SPD.
In a career spanning four decades, Prof Ho has earned several accolades and titles including emeritus consultant and Justice of the Peace. But ‘friend’, ‘teacher and mentor’ and ‘disability champion’ are what we at SPD see in this unassuming gentleman.
This article by SPD CEO Mr Abhimanyau Pal was first published in a festschrift by the SingHealth Duke-NUS Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme honouring Prof Ho Lai Yun’s contribution to Community Paediatric Services in Singapore.
