Hi! I feel I have a social responsibility to share from my experience so that other parents may benefit and save themselves from similar arduous process.


My son was expelled from a branded preschool that markets itself aggressively. A couple of childcare centres including one in the POP scheme refused to accept him also, quoting lack of trained personnel like the preschool that expelled him. Then at KKH, we received the news that our child is diagnosed with Autism. KKH gave us a list of charity-based & voluntary welfare organisations-run EIPICS to go to and be on wait-list to enroll my son into a special school. My husband & I were devastated. I was crying buckets and heart broken…

We went to a charity-based EIPIC and the premises look beautiful and spacious with all kinds of equipment. I wish the intervention is as impressive as the hardware. The claim of including OT & SLT was doubtful if it happened as promised and I wonder if it is helpful to have 20-30 minutes of it once a week/fortnight. I didn’t like that many of them were volunteers or part-timers and it seems messy in the organization with high turnover. The staff, volunteers and intervention quality and effectiveness were very poor. My child was not improving even after 1.5 years.
As we are new to this whole early intervention thingy, we thought whatever KKH recommended should be right & good especially if it is a government/gahmen backed institution (stupid Singaporean mindset I have).

So when I was emotionally more adjusted, I googled for other EIPICS. Then I realized that there are private EIPICS. So silly of me right? KKH should have told us all our options and so we can choose and decide wisely. I hope the hospitals and doctors understand we have a right to be informed of our options.

I went to whatever intervention centres that were advertised or appear top on Google. I went to Dynamics, Leapfrogs, Cognitive Development Learning Centre, ABA, Kids for Kits and a few more OT & SLT. I do not want to spew too much negative talk but my view is that these I went are just not worth the money & time except that Leapfrogs is relatively the better one out of these. Their speech therapy is good and my child benefitted. But I think educational therapy isn’t their strength. Why I left is that the effectiveness seems to vary a lot, highly dependent on who teaches your kid. I think more sincerity will be better. The lack of understanding of our education system as they were many foreigners was not helpful towards the goals we want for our child.
Instinctively, I just feel the method and therapy were not most suitable for my son but I was desperate to do all I can, so I stayed on in these places for quite a while and some simultaneously.

One day I had courage to share with my colleagues about my child’s condition and the disappointing intervention I experienced both at charity-based and private EIPICs. One mummy shared that she sends her child to Bridge Learning and she was praising it non-stop. She was referred by her friend who was also referred by a relative. In her exact words, “Bridge Learning is the best early intervention centre to go to. You need to try.” I was of course skeptical.

I checked up on it at http://www.bridgelearning.com.sg and was happy with their approach and philosophy towards children with learning difficulties. It is in sync with what I think but I didn’t have the professional vocabulary to articulate it. It is very different from rest of those in Singapore or at least those I went to.

We went for the DDA assessment and we heard of things unheard of, unlike the past assessments. This is much more detailed, useful and understandable. We were taken aback that we were told for the first time that my child has hybrid difficulties. The Founder said that his combination of learning difficulties may manifest symptoms or characteristics that may look like ASD or it could be both Asperger and other lds existing together. We were told that he needs to be monitored to ascertain if he has Asperger only after some time of intervention on the hybrid lds. If the symptoms improve lots, it’d be good news.

We have paid between S$1300 to S$3500 for similar or psychological assessments. DDA assessment we paid for was only about S$120 as my child could not do many activities during the assessment and was out quickly in half hour and our consultation time was about another 30 mins.

I like that the DDA is pro-rated accordingly instead of a lump-sum, the charges and procedure were clearly told when I called up. They also have a written form stimulating the terms and procedure for us to sign before the assessment can start. Quite kiasu I thought. Most importantly, I think the depth of expertise, experience and ethics impressed us most.

Of course there wasn’t any immediate progress initially but 1 year later, we testify to the remarkable progress of the intervention. My son is never the same as before! He has established better eye contact, able to concentrate better, comprehends much more, learns so much faster and is so much confident and interested in learning now. His social skills are still weak but he definitely communicates much more and more socially aware now. It’s unbelievable to us that his Autistic characteristics have reduced significantly and meltdowns are rare and few now! We are simply elated.

They worked on his sensory motor integration through Neurogym, auditory processing, conceptual development, social-communication skills, visual processing etc.. and now is progressing towards the academic development to prepare him for mainstream school. He is now in both Bridge School Readiness Programme and Harvard Little now. The small group prepatory is really ideal for him who needs more individualized attention.

Yes, now we can see more hope and more readiness for him to go to mainstream school! But they told us he may need deferment. Need to monitor further. Deferment is definitely a better outcome than going to a special school because my child is cognitively fine. I thought it’d be a pity if he goes to special school. I've visited several and I really dislike it.

The IEI is truly tailor-made for each child as I’ve compared my IEI with other parents. The IEP I had at other places are all the same for all autistic kids. The attention to customizing to individual child’s needs and abilities were not as good for sure. And they have a really nice Neurogym which my son talks about a lot. They integrate their Neuroscience-based whole brain exercises as part of intervention. It’s one of those ingredients that makes it work, I guess.

When my child improves, he was able to join the small group programmes. Initially we wanted to put him in a group programme too besides IEI, but we were told that “it’d be waste of the child’s time and our money if you enrol him now.”

I really respect that they monitor my child closely and recommend programmes only based on his needs & development instead of just wanting to make money and make us join everything. He was in AuditoryPro and SocialArte and they were both about half the fees we paid for auditory training and group social skills intervention. We paid about S$20+ per session here while other intervention places are about S$50-S$80 per session.

I like that they have an effective method, structure, and intervention curriculum not based on the labels but on my child’s needs and brain architecture. I learnt it’s called Cross & Non-Categorical Approach whereby they look across linearly on child’s needs instead of trying to pigeonholing children under each label. This child-centric approach is very different from the typical Categorical Approach that dish out assessment scores and intervention based on a diagnostic label. It’s refreshing and more effective.

I’m truly surprised to read that they are expensive. I thought Bridge Learning fees are the lowest we have paid compared to the rest of private EIPICs who are charging about S$130+ to S$250 per hour for IEI. As we were not eligible for subsidies at the VWO EIPIC, we were paying the full fees and they are almost the same or slightly less or even more expensive than Bridge Learning. With the free money from government subsidies and donations at VWO EIPICs, my auditor husband thought they maybe making more profits than the private EIPICs. Hahaha…

We think value for money is more important than the cost itself. We are doubly happy that we are getting not only value but also paying lower fees than before. At first I was doubtful if it’s less effective, that’s why the fees are probably the lowest in the private sector and maybe lower than charities.

Besides the effective intervention results, the next thing we are most pleased with is the staff team. They are the most dedicated, loving, patient and passionate educators I’ve even seen. The whole environment has a kind of love, peace, faith and authenticity. They are highly experienced and many have worked there for many years. You can tell they really love kids.

In a workshop whereby The Founder was conducting, I learnt that they have a sound systematic system of training, hours of planning and case conferencing behind the scene. They have an intervention method, strategies and even an internal portal with videos on how to conduct intervention to boost. They also integrate Feuerstein Institute’s brain techniques into the IEI, who is their partner.

I thought it’s amazing that they have so many things going on for the children that we don’t know. And that’s why it can ensure the quality standards of intervention is similar through the years and across all the Early Intervention Specialists, through the training and sharing of expertise and combined experience. I saw on their FB page that the staff has at least 150-200 training hours annually.

I’ve personally met a parent whose son is on subsidized intervention as the family income is eligible for their social enterprise subsidies. This mummy even went on radio with them. She said she is grateful to Bridge Learning that her son who was diagnosed with ASD and intellectual impairment but is now scoring 90+ marks for his Math. They even send her some tonics when she had an operation. Her son has been there for many years and on subsidies since day 1. I understand from her that the subsidies is not from government but from their own revenue. I’m not sure about this part so if you need help, just approach them for help.

The only negative comment I’ve about Bridge Learning is that it does not spend money on advertising and marketing. If it does, our family would not need to go through unnecessary processes & ardous journey. It depends on referrals too much. If I do not know anyone who would recommend Bridge Learning to me, I’d have missed this place that creates a significant impact on my child and is fulfilling his potential.

That’s why I hope by sharing positive experience will do justice to them and help let parents learn about this place of hope and effective help. Even my husband said it’s money well-spent and is happy with our son’s progress.

We sent a hamper last Christmas as a gesture of appreciation and realized they received many hampers and gifts from other parents like me, who are very happy with their intervention and love for our children.

I pray my child will be well prepared for mainstream school and do better than what his diagnosis said. Keep believing & loving! All the best to your children too!