#LoveIsBlue 2.0

Awareness >> Acceptance

This April, join us in showing your acceptance for persons with autism.

I Accept Persons With Autism

Our #LoveIsBlue campaign returns with a new theme, “Awareness >> Acceptance”. For the month of April, let’s take this conversation further.

Here’s how:

💙 Consider the challenges persons with autism & their caregivers face in their daily lives, such as dining out, watching a movie & taking public transport.

💙 Where in your community do persons with autism & their caregivers need support and acceptance? Snap a photo of this public space/activity & share on social media on 1 April 2024.

💙 Please include the following text,

“I accept persons with autism”,

hashtag #LoveIsBlue, & tag us @saacsg

From Awareness To Acceptance

Autism a neurological disorder that affects individuals differently and can make it challenging to communicate, socialise, and process information.

Often called an “invisible” condition, it can be difficult to see from the outside. But this doesn’t mean it’s not there.

Hence it’s important to increase understanding, acceptance, and empathy towards persons with autism.

Autism lasts a lifetime. No one should take this journey alone.

Through lifelong acceptance and support. we can help create a world where persons with autism can flourish.

Open House 20 April 2024

SAAS Open House

Every child deserves the opportunity to receive quality education.

St. Andrew’s Autism School (SAAS) offers a person-centred approach and tailored programmes to ensure a meaningful educational journey for students on the autism spectrum.

With our team of dedicated teachers and allied professionals, and a commitment to strong home-school partnerships, we create an inclusive space to equip students with essential life skills and support them towards their aspirations.

Join us for a tour of our lovely campus! Check out our classrooms, rooftop farm and canteen – you will also get to speak to our teachers and allied professionals.

View Open House

Donate

Donate

One way to support #LoveIsBlue campaign is by donating towards our work.

We serve 450 persons with moderate to severe autism who live with complex lifelong challenges. Your support will enable us to continue providing quality education, training, and care so that these persons with autism can continue to be integrated and included in the community.

About Us

About Us

Established in 2005, St. Andrew’s Autism Centre is a non-profit organisation for the education, training, and care of persons with autism and their families.

We see people with autism leading dignified and meaningful lives. Our work revolves around enriching their lives, and those of their families, through quality education, training, and care, distinguished by Christian love and compassion.

Stories of Acceptance

A Heartfelt Farewell to Veronica: A Leader Who Led with Heart

As Veronica leaves St. Andrew’s Autism School to her next role, we look back at her years here, and the lives that she touched.

Pastor David at his office.

SAAC Chaplain Reverend David Teo: “People With Disability Also Have Abilities”

“It’s like an arranged marriage!” Reverend David Teo says of his vocation as a Chaplain. “You get married first, and then fall in love later.” Pastor David, as he is known among our staff, beneficiaries and their caregivers at St Andrew’s Autism Centre (SAAC), is also our Chaplain. He is an Anglican priest with The…

Aloysius Low, St Andrew's Autism Centre, Autism Spectrum Disorder

Aloysius Low: “I Like The Farm On The Rooftop… Yes, I Am Good At Farming.”

Aloysius Low attends St. Andrew’s Autism Centre Day Activity Centre (DAC) in Siglap. Here, he receives vocational training in urban farming, packing and craftwork.

Watch How Our Garden Grows

Blue hearts are springing up all over St. Andrew’s Autism Centre (SAAC). These exquisite artworks are a testament to the love, imagination and resilience of more than 100 pupils from St. Andrew’s Autism School (SAAS). Guided by art teachers Jaslyn Seow and Angelia Ang, the youngsters, aged between 9 and 16 years, took time out…

Why I allowed my son to go to camp: Kasper Gwee’s mom Jasmine

This is a follow-on post from Kasper’s account of his first camping trip, as shared by his mom, Jasmine (pictured left in photo) “When Kasper asked me about going to camp, I was worried but only a little. He is my youngest child and has never been away from me. But I trusted his teachers…

What Kasper Gwee learnt from his first camping trip

Kasper (pictured 3rd from right in photo) has been attending SAAS since he was 7 years old. Now 18, he graduates in November. He tells us about going to his first camp, and how it has made him more confident about travelling overseas. “I am Kasper Gwee. I am 18 this year. I am the…

Speech and language therapist Caleb Lai enables our beneficiaries to express themselves

There’s more to communication than words, says Caleb [left]. Pictures and symbols are crucial too. “I chose to specialise in speech and language therapy because it allows me to serve people with children. I love kids and have always enjoyed helping to take care of them. “A good speech and language therapist requires 2 Ps.…

Marisa Chua started volunteering with us while she was on a career break. But how did she end up donating too?

Marisa’s admiration for our beneficiaries’ simplicity and intelligence strengthened her resolve to contribute. Her home bakery business donates 5% of sales to SAAC. [Right: with David Matthew Fong, head of Strategic Partnerships & Volunteer Management] “In 2023, after more than two decades of navigating the complexities of the corporate world, I made a life-altering decision.…

Durai Pandian Visalakshi, St. Andrew's Autism Centre

How This Special Education Teacher Found Her True Calling

When Durai Pandian Visalakshi joined St. Andrew’s Autism Centre in 2005, she had never worked in special education. Here, she tells us about her leap of faith.

Ili Ibrahim, St. Andrew's Autism Centre

King Living: Giving Back Isn’t Just Good For Business

Supporting St. Andrew’s Autism Centre’s work to improve quality of life for beneficiaries and their families also helps staff to become more effective leaders, says King Living’s regional retail manager Ili Ibrahim.

Serene Chen, st andrew's autism centre

“Finally, I Figured Out The Algorithm!”

Senior psychologist Serene Chen was among the earliest staff to join St. Andrew’s Autism Centre when it started 18 years ago. Find out how she learnt to see the world through her students’ POV.

She Plans Programmes To Enrich Learning For People With Autism

She Plans Programmes To Enrich Learning For People With Autism

Lead teacher Siti Nor Aisyah Binte Sarip was among the staff who helped to get St. Andrew’s Autism Centre started in 2005. Here, her most memorable moments from the journey.

St. Andrew's Autism Centre

David Matthew Fong: A Volunteer Manager Champion Who Heeds The Call To Love And Serve

David Matthew Fong, who heads Strategic Partnerships and Volunteer Management at St. Andrew’s Autism Centre, on loving people “wired differently from me”.

All In A Day’s Work: Life As An Autism Coach

Observing Malkeith as he carries out his duties, be it patiently guiding his clients as they go about their activities or managing challenging behaviours, there is a certain rhythm and ease with which he does things that can only come from over a decade of experience on the job. Today, I joined him on his…

From Isolation to Integration, One Outing at a Time

Looking out the window, Viknesh clutches his bag expectantly. The excitement in the air is palpable. Today is movie day for the residents at St. Andrew’s Adult Home. For 28-year-old Viknesh, the last time he set foot in a cinema is a distant memory from years ago. As a child, Viknesh loved watching movies at…

Scarred, but not broken…

It is hard to look at the thick calluses covering Alfred’s forearms without feeling a whole gamut of emotions – like shock, pity, curiosity and even fear. The scars are physical manifestations of daily self-injurious behaviour over his 34 years of life. Alfred is a non-verbal adult with ASD and he bites himself as a…

My Brother, His Autism, and Me…

When I was about 7 years old, my parents told me that my younger brother, Tee Ray, is special. As a child, I did not fully understand what “autism” meant. It has taken me over two decades to learn what that word means, and every day I am still discovering new things about my brother…

“But You Don’t Look Autistic.”

“Why don’t you send him to IMH?” “So you have a genius in the family!” These are just some of the comments that a person with autism may encounter on a regular basis. Andrew Ang, father of 17-year-old Alex who is a student at St. Andrew’s Autism School, he can understand why certain misconceptions persist,…

Getting to Class…Chair by Chair

The moment the bus reaches St. Andrew’s Autism Centre, she slumps over in her seat, releasing the full weight of her body. When 21-year-old Sze Min first came to our Day Activity Centre she was determined not to go to class. Day after day, her coaches at the Day Activity Centre cajoled and even carried…

I may not be verbal, but I have a lot to share

Imagine being unable to communicate how you feel when you are unwell, what you need or even what you want to eat. How frustrating that would be. For most of SAAC’s beneficiaries on the moderate to severe autism spectrum who are non-verbal or have limited verbal abilities, the use of AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication)…