When Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching visited the White House in 2016, all eyes were on what Ho Ching was carrying: a purse made out of dinosaur fabric designed by a youth with autism.
See Toh Sheng Jie is a 20-year-old student at Pathlight, an autism-focused school in Singapore. His love for dinosaurs began to develop when he was a young boy. At first he began shaping dinosaurs out of putty. Then he started reading everything he could about dinosaurs. Later, he began drawing the creatures.
Sheng Jie’s father keeps a book filled with his son’s dinosaur drawings and hand-written facts about each species. And although Sheng Jie cannot verbalize his thoughts well, he can rattle off facts, including names and traits, of a variety of dinosaurs.
Sheng Jie’s teachers noticed his artistic abilities when it came to drawing the prehistoric creatures, and this led to him becoming one of the pioneer students to join Pathlight’s Artist Development Programme. Sheng Jie’s drawings are now featured on notebooks, notecards, and purses, and are sold at The Art Faculty, Pathlight’s online store.
Sheng Jie’s family were pleasantly surprised to learn that Ho Ching had chosen to carry a purse with their son’s design on it to the White House. Ho Ching also took a set of cups and mugs with the design of another Pathlight student’s on them. She presented the cups and mugs to First Lady Michelle Obama as a gift.
“Sheng Jie is not really aware of the impact of Ms. Ho carrying his pouch to the White House,” shares his father. “He is just happy when we tell him someone likes what he’s made.”
This article is a part of our #AbleFamilies campaign in Singapore. Stay tuned for real life stories, advice and experiences from people who believe in and represent the potential of all kids. By now empowering the thousands of kids with disabilities in Singapore and supporting their parents and caregivers, we strengthen the next generation of citizens to promote a more inclusive Singapore.