Isaac Tan is a Principal Educational Therapist/Clinical Director of Care Corner Educational Therapy Service, a non-profit learning support service for children with learning difficulties. He holds a Master of Education (SPED), an Associateship (SEN) of College of Teachers (UK) and a Diploma in Child Psychology. He is a Fellow of both the Register of Educational Therapists, Asia (RETA) and College of Teachers (UK) and a Licentiate of Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology.

Trained in the assessment and remediation of learning difficulties, Isaac specialises in helping children with ADHD, Dyslexia and other specific learning differences. He provides intervention for children and training for parents and educators. He has also lectures for diploma courses in early childhood education and special education.

Using movement and reflex integration to enhance the learning abilities of children with learning difficulties is Isaac’s research interest. He co-authored a research paper titled “Effectiveness of a multimodal intervention using movement, mental exercise and dietary approaches on children with specific learning difficulties”, which has been published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences (APJDD).

Issac chose his career path in the Specific Learning Differences (SpLD) field when he noticed how children with SpLD struggle much in their daily learning and functioning, especially in our society with high emphasis on academic achievement. He found it very meaningful to be able to help these children learn and function better, thus reducing their difficulties and enabling them to maximise their potential. He has been in this field for 20 years now.

He adds that it is very important for one to be passionate about helping children with SpLD to truly impact the lives of these children positively and remain resilient serving in this field. Isaac believes that to improve special education in Singapore, there is a need to introduce and advocate the use of intervention modalities to maximise learning outcomes for students. He shares that findings from recent decades have shown that movement exercise and reflex integration can enhance children’s learning and reading abilities. Special education providers can harness these less known but effective modalities as a complementary intervention to help students achieve better learning outcomes.

So, after 20 years, what continues to put a smile on his face while working in the field of SpLD? He shares that it is when he sees the children making marked improvement in their learning abilities and academic skills, hearing from their parents how much their children have improved and how these children are now able to do what they could not do before.

His words of wisdom,

Different challenges come with different types of special educational needs. Generally, I would say this to someone with special educational needs: Be positive and do not give up though life may be very challenging and you often fail to meet the expectations of people around you or even frustrate them. Appreciate every small progress you have made and celebrate every small success that you have achieved!

Besides working on your weaknesses, discover your strengths and build on them. You are unique and you have potential yet to be discovered and developed!