“Every morning, she would cry and refuse to go to school. I have to cajole and plead with her as I wanted her to have a proper school experience,” she said.“During an unannounced visit, I saw her standing in a room, crying as she was finishing her colouring homework which she did not finish at home. She was only four. It broke my heart,” she said. After that experience, she found another school but realised that it was also not the right one for Yu Yann who needed teachers who are better qualified to teach and handle her. “My mother who was living nearby told me about Taarana school which offered special needs education. I made a call and one of the administrators Ms Suba invited me to come and have a look at the school. We enrolled her there and her teachers are friendly, my daughter is happy there,” she said. “I am very glad that Yu Yann has gained her confidence in this school and even mustered the courage to go up on stage and perform during the school concert,” she added.
When Yu Yann who at the age of nearly three did not speak, her mother took her to the doctor who assured her that there was nothing wrong with her.
“I was not satisfied and still worried because my daughter was not talking, so I took her to a specialist who confirmed that my child was suffering from speech delay,” Yuen Peng said.
“I was very sad after learning about her condition, childhood apraxia of speech. I kept blaming myself for her condition, asking doctors if there was something wrong that I did during the pregnancy,” she said, her voice low.
Slowly, she came out of the self-blame and took charge. She enrolled Yu Yann at a kindergarten nearby but later found out that her child was being bullied in school during an unannounced visit there.
