The Silent Voice

There are many things that we do not notice around us. Don't worry, this post has nothing to do with the video regarding abortion. I'm not sure whether that video was titled the silent voice or the silent scream but today, I speak for the children who have mental disorders, mainly autistic children.

My brother, Micah, was diagnosed with autism when he was about 2 or 3 years old. He was unable to express his thoughts in English or Chinese. What a pity, because he is one of the brightest kids I have ever seen. He used to love going to the playground daily, and at times, it was rather inconvenient to go out perhaps due to the weather or that none of us are free to take him out. He figured the keys to unlock the front gate, and ever since then, we had to keep hiding the gate keys at all sorts of weird places. As the most dangerous place is the safest place, I came up with the idea of hanging the keys at the top of the gate. I thought that he wouldn't be able to find it in a week but less than 5 minutes, to my horror, he was taking a chair to get to the top of the gate.

A few weeks ago, my father voiced his frustration to me regarding his math. In the past, more means addition and less means subtraction. During those times, perhaps mathematicians weren't as educated regarding English as of now. It was just plain English and the math problems. However, nowadays the math questions are twisted in a way that it really pissed my dad off. And because my brother haven't been performing up to mark in the main stream (AKA normal stream. He doesn't go to a special school for now) and my parents had to meet the level master or the HOD of math. My father brought this issue up to the teacher there before but she was unable to do anything about it. It's not the fault of the school nor the teachers but rather the syllabus on how the way the questions are phrased.

I've spent 15 minutes today, helping him in his math questions, and I've felt the same frustration my dad had every time he had to teach my brother his math. For example, Sue is 5 years old. Her father is 7 times her age. How old was her father when she was not born?

Even in this questions, there are problems. Her father can be still in his mother's womb when Sue was not born! What kind of retarded question is this. I just feel like throttling these smart alecs as I teach my brother his math. I'm already having difficulty teaching the fundamentals of mathematics such as division and the explanation of the question to him. And they come up with such a question, thinking that they are geniuses without sparing a thought for the children.

With just plain English, the older generation was able to grasp complex concepts as they continued their education such as algebra, trigonometry and calculus. Why then do the MOE or whosoever in charge of the current syllabus feel the need to change the way of the phrasing of the questions?

Changes are made to improve but these changes are superfluous. Their garbled phrasing has caused me so much difficulty in teaching simple primary school math to my hapless brother. If only he was born earlier, perhaps he wouldn't be caught up with these idiotic phrasings.

At the same time, I cannot help feeling that his potential has gone to waste. During that 15 minutes as I sat next to him, much to my embarrassment, his mental calculations were way faster than mine. I'm taking my O levels soon and I'm 7 years older than him, yet he calculates faster than me. How shameful.

I believe many children with mental disorders have their own specific talents. Certain autistic children may have difficulties with their studies but they are brilliant in the aesthetic aspect. And I remember from a very old local drama regarding an autistic man who had brilliant calculation. He could calculate the final answer to a tough math question within minutes but he was unable to show the working on paper, which was what the education system is looking for. And as a result, he failed his PSLE.

Doesn't Singapore need local talent? It is one thing to attract foreign talent, to face great competition in local universities and to face a even greater competition in the work force. But has the government forgotten about this small minority of people who though are stunted in their social aspects but have huge potential to accomplish great things?

If this continues to carry on, sooner or later Singapore would suffer a severe brain drain situation.

I just hope that this minority group will be taken care of and that those smart alecs could be a bit more considerate and spare a thought for these people. Seriously, nobody cares if they phrase it in a sophisticated manner or a simple manner. It is just math, we are testing on the concept and not the presentation of the question.

Dr. Carlos P. Romulo, late president of the UN General Assembly, once said,"The fact we must remember is that we are educating students for a world that will not be ours but will be theirs. Give them a chance to be heard."

Sadly, I can only speak for these children, the silent voice, on my blog. I really hope more parents can gather and write feedback to MOE or whosoever in charge of the syllabus to reflect on this issue.

Til then, I'll have to continue teaching my brother his guai lan math.

-Abigail