We first learned about our son, Lucas, through a Channel News Asia (CNA) documentary about the plight of orphans with various disabilities in China. He was one of the four individuals featured in the documentary. As a family, we felt moved to adopt him, believing that his medical condition of bilateral Microtia (the congenital deformity where the pinna (external ear) is underdeveloped) and Atresia (the absence of ear canals) were challenges we could handle. We knew from the documentary that he had been fitted with a Bone-anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA) and thus could hear.
After a long adoption process, Lucas arrived in Singapore in February 2018. At this time, we were totally unaware and did not expect that there would be any significant public resources for children with hearing impairment. We were prepared to homeschool him for as long as it was feasible and necessary, accessing private resources as needed to get him the assistance he would need. Thus, we were pleasantly surprised to be told by a stranger who had heard about our adoption to consider getting in touch with the Canossian School as a primary educational institution specializing in educating hearing-impaired children.
Since our initial contact with Mrs Doris Ang and Ms Christina Michael, the principal, Canossian has been a God-sent. Being a very sociable individual, Lucas is thriving at the school making numerous friends, enjoying interacting with his many teachers, and picking up on the English language at a rapid rate considering that, up till the age of 7+, he had essentially not spoken a word of the language.
The small class size of a handful of students, the shared struggle with hearing challenges, and the dedication of resources to empower the children in their learning have all contributed to helping children like Lucas gain confidence and strive towards ever greater integration into the mainstream educational system as each is able. Lucas would not be where he is today, if it were not for being at Canossian.