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Firstly, sorry for the terrible and inexcusable lack of updates! School's been so taxing these days that (although it's really just an excuse) I haven't been able to scamper through the webpages of the infinitely expansive pool of information the internet has to offer to find volunteering opportunities and anything else related to the community and servicing.

Secondly, today I attended Raffles Girl's Secondary School's (RGS) concert, which is a Service Learning (SL) project by Team Awesome. It's to raise awareness on Autistic patients. A section of the concert consisted of a short lecture by Serene, a spokesperson from St. Andrew's Autism Centre. She mentioned a few facts that hit me hard and left an impression.

1. Autism cannot be cured and there are no known causes of it.

2. 1 in 190 Singaporeans are hit with Autism and males outnumber females by 4:1.

3. Autism patients with mental retardation and IQ of less than 50 will need instituitional care for the rest of their lives.

4. Autism patients have sensitive sensory skills. For example, the whirring of the fan or the simple tapping of our fingers on the keyboard will result in a amplified sound ringing at their ear, which then impairs their learning capabilities.

5. Autism patients go after a routined life as they lead an unpredictable life. As a result, they seem to be exceptionally neat as they close windows or push in chairs after use. 

After the concert, I am compelled to extend my services to them. A primary motivation is that stuffs that are mandatory or simple to us could be an impossible feat to them. We're too satisfied with our current lifestyle and take many things for granted.

Quoting a member of Team Awesome, "I enjoy the little things the most. Enjoy everything, including homework." 

If you'd like to help them, you can start with St Andrew's Autism Centre.

They welcome volunteers.