by Rachel Kok Chian Yee, Content Contributor
As a 12-year-old, Umaira enjoys going to school and meeting with her friends, listening to relaxing music and taking walks at the park. One of Umaira’s most striking traits is her carefree nature and her excitement towards meeting others, a testament to her desire to be undeterred in her daily social interactions despite living with Global Developmental Delay and multiple congenital anomalies.
Umaira has weak lower limbs and balancing issues as such; she needs assistance in her mobility. She is also non-verbal and requires the need for diapers.
We spoke to Umaira’s mother, Madam Noorliah, to find out more about Umaira’s daily life.
1. How does a day in the life of Umaira look like?
Umaira attends a special education school and loves seeing her classmates. Even though she is non-verbal, she loves interacting with people. She also likes watching Didi & Friends, watching me cook every day and taking walks at the park below our house. I feel so blessed to have Umaira in my life. This journey is not easy for us, but I believe things will work out well as God will take care of us and plan for our lives.
2. As Umaira’s primary caretaker, can you tell us what your greatest concern is for her?
I am most concerned about her eating difficulties. I separate the dishes every meal for her and feed her in small portions as she has a cleft palate, and we have to remind her to chew and eat slowly so that she does not choke on her food. She also has flat feet and tires easily when walking, so we usually use the wheelchair for her safety when we are out. It is not easy because she is non-verbal, but we always do our best.
3. How has life been like since CoVid-19 at home?
Life after CoVid-19 has changed a lot for my family since we cannot leave the house as much as we used to, mainly because Umaira does not like wearing masks. It is quite risky for Umaira as her immunity is not strong, and she can easily get sick. We try to avoid malls and crowded places and keep adhering to the safe distancing guidelines and monitoring our health. We will keep praying for good health and safety.
4. How is it like for Umaira to be a part of Club Rainbow?
I want to thank my social worker Janeth from Club Rainbow, for her great help. She has helped us a lot ever since we joined Club Rainbow. Through Janeth, we have been able to seek speech therapy, physiotherapy and play therapy for Umaira, and I can see that the therapy sessions have been greatly beneficial to Umaira. Janeth has also helped us with food rations, getting diapers and applying for bursaries for Umaira. This has helped us a lot as Umaira is usually in a wheelchair, and it has been easy to communicate with drivers on this. I feel blessed and am thankful for Club Rainbow for bringing colour and sunshine into Umaira’s life.
Thank you, Janeth, for being so thoughtful and showing concern for Umaira and my family all these years.
Rachel Kok
a marketing university student in Singapore who loves bubble tea and coffee more than anything. She also enjoys music and film, and tries her best to read as much as she can.
As a language lover, she is proficient in English, Mandarin and Japanese, and enjoys the occasional debate about the areas these 3 languages have in common, especially when it comes to dissecting song lyrics.
Rachel identifies her purpose in life as engaging with like-minded people and bringing joy to others through her words.