More subsidy to buy disabled-friendly devices; Assistive Technology Fund also open to more students

By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 2 Jul 2012

BEING wheelchair-bound, Mr Tan Kai Soon, 31, had to enter MRT trains back-first to avoid getting stuck in the platform gap.

With the help of a fund set up for the disabled to buy assistive devices, he bought a new $6,000 wheelchair last year that lets him board faster, face forward.

From the start of last month, people like Mr Tan can get up to twice the amount of subsidy - from $10,000 to $20,000 - from the Assistive Technology Fund to buy items such as hearing aids and wheelchairs.

Students in special education schools can also now apply for the fund, previously limited to groups such as the lower-income or those in preschool. The Government said this will allow the fund to benefit 900 more students.

These changes come at a time when take-up rates of the fund have been less than robust since it was set up in 2003 by the then Ministry of Community Development and Sports. Since then, only about 780 applications have been approved by the Centre for Enabled Living, which disburses the funds. Funds set aside for each year depends on the number of applicants. Since 2003, about $1.5million has been disbursed.

Mr Sam Tan, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), said that the low take-up rate could be due to people not being aware of the fund's existence.

After a visit to the Asian Women's Welfare Association last Friday, he told reporters that MCYS would step up its outreach efforts to the disabled, and announced a new committee to take on the job.

Called the Enabling Masterplan Implementation Committee, the 19-member group includes representatives from disability groups. Members will give feedback to relevant agencies when recommendations from the Enabling Masterplan, a national blueprint for disability services, are implemented.

MCYS forms Enabling Masterplan Implementation Committee

Channel NewsAsia, 29 Jun 2012

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) has formed an Enabling Masterplan Implementation Committee. The committee will provide feedback from the disability sector to the government on recommendations.

It aims to strengthen dialogue between the people to build an inclusive society for persons with disabilities.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for MCYS, Sam Tan, is chairman of the committee.

He said: "You will need the committee to study all these recommendations together with the stakeholders, and the people - the private and the public sector, so that we will be able to put in place more comprehensive implementation plans to materialise all these recommendations, from the drawing board to the actual physical being."

One of the recommendations of the committee is to enhance the Assistive Technology Fund (ATF). The ATF provides financial assistance to persons with disabilities, to fund assistive technology devices for education and work.

Starting this month, the subsidy amount will double to S$20,000 per person, and will be extended to students in special education schools.

Mr Tan said: "The latest gadgets and assistive devices are getting more expensive, but they have become a necessary tool to help people with the disability conditions, so that they can function normally like other people.

"So it is timely that we revise and increase the ATF funding support so that people who need such an assistive tool, will be able to afford them."

The committee comprises representatives of the various disability groups across the life stages of persons with disabilities.