Each child is special and some are born even more special with conditions like cerebral palsy, spina bifida, developmental delays and many more. What should parents do for these special kids? Give up hope OR give them wings to fly? Limited access to cutting-edge therapies has caused many families to give up hope for their child. Enter WINGS Therapy and Learning Center where dedicated and highly trained therapists provide new options and a ray of hope to your child by giving them a place to learn, make friends and progress to their fullest potential.
It was our pleasure to know about the initiatives of WINGS Therapy and Learning Center when we interviewed CEO and Founder Judith Julia Justin. Read on!
Tell us about the background and your personal story. What motivated you to start WINGS THERAPY AND LEARNING CENTER?
WINGS was founded in 2017, inspired by my son, Jake Knight. He was diagnosed with a rare genetic mutation called NACC1. This genetic mutation was recently discovered in 2019 and is not inheritable from parents. There are approximately 30 kids worldwide diagnosed with this rare disease.
Jake had been attending therapy services in Singapore, which were good but they were more traditional services and I was determined to find a solution that focused more on progress and goal-setting rather than maintenance services.
I decided to start researching alternative therapies that could potentially change and improve Jake’s life. We travelled across 4 different continents over the last 12 years : Philadelphia, California, Poland, China and Chile to seek out methods that were different and provide hope for special parents around the world. It is then that I discovered a whole new world of new, innovative and amazing therapies such as the Glenn Doman program, The Intensive Model of Therapy (IMOT), Neurosuit™ Therapy, Spidercage Therapy and Universal Exercise Unit (UEU) as well as Cuevas Medek Exercises® (CME).
For the first time after years of searching, my son started to show progress and I felt a glimmer of hope.
However, I was very aware of the plight of other parents with special children who did not have access to these services which are niche with practitioners being few and far between.
As a result, I made the decision to invest in an education in physiotherapy and certify myself in these therapies in order to launch WINGS. I did this while managing a multinational branding agency and raising my 3 kids.
What types of treatments or lessons are conducted at the center?
WINGS is the first intensive therapy center in Asia and its team is specially trained to practice:
- Neurosuit™ Therapy
- Therasuit™ Therapy
- Cuevas Medek Exercises®
- Spidercage Therapy
- Universal Exercise Unit
- Sports for the Special Child
- Autism Fitness®
- Occupational Therapy
- Task-Specific Electrical Stimulation
- Gait Training
- DM Orthotics®
Core to our therapy model is the Intensive Model of Therapy (IMOT) which entails 5 days a week for 2-4 hours a day typically over a 3-week period. Studies have shown that a 3-week session of intensive therapy helps a child realize the same goals he or she would usually achieve with a full year of traditional therapy. Patients with neuromuscular challenges need this focused and intense approach that provides time to practice the skills they need to learn — like sitting, standing or walking. Time is our greatest enemy. You get bigger, gravity hits you, therapy gets harder.
How do you help special children at your center?
We treat infants from as young as 4 months of age through to young adults with a wide range of neurological disorders, autism, genetic disorder, metabolic disorders. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Cerebral Palsy
- Developmental Delay
- Traumatic And Anoxic Brain Injuries
- Spina Bifida
- Ataxia
- Dystonia/Athetosis
- Hypertonicity
- Hypotonicity
- Post-stroke
- Down Syndrome And Other Genetic Disorders
- Prematurity
- Torticollis/wry Neck (Head Tilt)
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Delays In Developmental Milestones
- Hypotonia (Weakness, Low Tone)
- Hypertonia (Tightness, High Tone)
- Gross Motor Incoordination
- Motor Planning Difficulties
- Gait Difficulties
- Orthotic Concerns
- Neurological Problems
When an infant, child or youth comes to Wings for an initial consultation, our highly trained and specialised therapists assess the child’s medical history and records as well as the current state your child is in to create a long-term personalised therapy plan to reach all of his or her therapy goals.
Beyond attaining milestones, gross and fine motor-skills, we also place great importance on communication, social skills, critical thinking, problem-solving skills and internal organ health.
Movement is essential to the human body. Very often, for kids with special needs, it’s the lack of movement which causes respiratory issues, digestive issues, contractures, and dislocated bones. If you don’t move the child’s body, their joints are unable to develop, their heart function and metabolism become adversely affected and their muscles lose function overtime. That’s why it is important to get your child up and moving for their overall health.
What are the concerns of their parents and how do you address them?
To date, over 2000 kids from Singapore and across Asia; as far as Sri Lanka and New Zealand have walked through our doors at WINGS.
We know that the greatest concern of special parents in Asia is if their child will ever be able to explore their potential or learn skills that will aid in their journey towards independence. They are also worried about the future– for when they become too old to care for their child. As a result, achieving as much independence as possible is critical for the special parent.
Limited access to cutting-edge therapies has caused many families to give up hope for their child. This is tough on them because oftentimes they are told to give up before they have even begun working on a solution. It is the lack of hope and encouragement that can be demoralising and prevent them from seeking interventions for their child. They start searching for an answer, and that’s when they come to us—because we provide them with new and proven solutions from across the world at their doorstep in the heart of Asia.
We provide new options and a ray of hope to your child by giving them a place to learn, make friends and progress to their fullest potential. We search for the best approach, tools and therapies to help everyone achieve the kind of freedom and independence they deserve.
We aim to give children the wings to soar to greater heights, to be their best and to prove wrong to anyone who has ever doubted them.
What is your message to parents of special children? What should be their approach to parenthood?
If we could give one message to our parents, it would be to never give up hope and to never stop trying and believing in miracles for your special one, no matter what his/her diagnosis or prognosis is. Always give your special one as much opportunity to succeed as you would with a normally developing child.
Future plans of WINGS?
Over the last year, we expanded our services to include Occupational Therapy, Autism Fitness, Sports for the Special Kid and our newest program: Task Specific Electrical Stimulation or TASES, which is basically electrical stimulation that is combined with other therapy forms such as Occupational Therapy, that is meant to help stimulate the specific muscles being used when completing a task in order to build muscle-memory.
We also hope to be able to expand our services to establish a one-stop shop providing speech therapy and educational services. As always, we are on the lookout for new, innovative solutions that will give our special kids a better life.
WINGS Therapy and Learning Center definitely comes across as a ray of hope and we hope that many more special children will find new opportunities to thrive through latest therapy options.
Get in touch:
Website
Phone: +65 6926 7899 / +65 9321 4776 (WhatsApp)
Email: Appointments / Enquiries: [email protected]
Employment / Volunteer Opportunities: [email protected]