Hani Zohra Muhamad is a Lead Educational Therapist and an Educational Advisor at the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS). She has over 14 years of experience teaching and working with students with dyslexia and other comorbidities. Apart from teaching, she also contributes to the training and mentoring of new educational therapists, as well as providing support to colleagues with challenging students. She is a Fellow member of the Register of Educational Therapist Asia (RETA).

She shares that as a staff of the DAS, being a member of RETA has allowed her access to various talks that RETA organises. These talks have benefited her as they are relevant to her areas of work.

Hani did not choose to work in the field of SpLD. It just happened. In retrospect though, her exposure to children with needs started early as her aunt used to regularly bring Hani to her school where she works with children with Downs Syndrome. After graduating with a BSc Management degree, her first ‘real’ job was as a teacher-aid for students with Autism. A few years later, she joined the DAS. In her 14 years at the DAS, she has been blessed with wonderful colleagues and the opportunity to work with students of various profiles and personalities.

To further add, Hani emphasizes that to be working in the field of SpEd, one needs to believe that children with special educational needs can learn and achieve success in the right environment and when guided by the right professionals and paraprofessionals. Quoting Feuerstein – “If you are not prepared to look at your pupils strengths, don’t touch their weaknesses”. Feuerstein had also stated that intelligence is not fixed; it is modifiable. Hence, it is important to believe that students with SEN can receive learning albeit in different ways.

Should a person possess special qualities to work in the field of SpEd? Hani personally does not think so. However, one should be hardworking if one is new and has no knowledge of this industry and its education aspects. Working hard will enable one to hone his/her skills to be a better educator/educational therapist. No doubt, one has to have patience when teaching or working with students with SEN. However, it is also important to possess empathy, understanding and mindfulness towards this group of people.

Today, there is greater awareness of special education in Singapore and if Hani could do one thing to further improve this, it would be to encourage the public and companies to donate to various special education causes, especially those that may not receive much funding from the government sectors.

Her words of advice,

Discover and know your strengths. Work towards sharpening those strengths. Find schools or jobs that are conducive to help bolster learning, enhance skills, as well as develop competencies that will enable you to thrive in the real world.

View Hani's Bio