Play therapy
Allowing special needs children to develop through fun and games
PETALING JAYA: It takes a lot of dedication and patience to deal with children with special needs but for Ho Nyet Fah, it is also a fulfilling vocation.
“I feel inspired whenever I am with these children. As a teacher, I try to create a safe environment for them. But most of all, I give them a voice,” she told theSun recently.
The 60-year-old quit her job as an administrator 15 years ago, at an age when most people have already settled on staying on in their current employment until retirement.
But working with special needs children was to come later.
“I began by teaching children English and IT,” she said.
Later her niece, who has cerebral palsy, joined her class. Initially, Ho felt she could not get through to the little girl.
However, she felt that conventional methods of teaching children were too rigid for special needs children.
“I knew then that I needed a different kind of skills to reach her,” she said.
“Children with special needs learn through very different methods.”
She eventually signed up for three courses centred on play therapy, a method of managing children with special needs through fun and games.
Ho began by applying some of the practices on her niece. “It’s about enabling them to be themselves,” she said.
“Play therapy is psychotherapy to counsel children. It’s a one-on-one session. I observe how they play, it’s their way of communicating with us. They’ll set their own pace and direction – I don’t interfere,” she explained.
Pointing to an array of soft toys and figurines in the playroom, Ho said each one of them means something to a child. Apart from that are materials for arts and crafts and drawing as well as sand play.
“Special needs children normally do not know how to communicate so when they play we will narrate to help them reflect on what they are doing so they learn how to connect with their feelings,” she said.
In play therapy, the teacher would create a safe environment to help the children feel comfortable enough to be themselves, she said.
“It helps them feel free to do whatever they wish to do. Some will play aggressively because there’s a lot of aggression in them and they need to release it. Others can be gentle, so each one is different.”
Ho also extents her practice to orphanages free of charge.
She has achieved a measure of success. She cited a girl who was abandoned at an orphanage.
“She was small for an eight-yearold, non-verbal and had tantrums and often wet herself.
“Initially she would just stare at me. Halfway through our first session she wanted to leave and I thought I had lost her.”
Ho said the girl eventually became aggressive and kept calling her “bodoh” (stupid). She realised the girl was just acting out how people had treated her.
She persisted and after about 20 sessions, the girl came around, and has became a totally changed person.
Realising that she has finally found the “right” formula to reach out to difficult cases, Ho wants to help each child to reach their potential.
“When there’s compassion, love, and acceptance, trust can be built and together we can progress,” she said.