April 8, 2016

Speakers

Mdm Rahayu Mahzam

Mdm Rahayu Mahzam

Member of Parliament, Jurong GRC

Rahayu Mahzam is an Associate Director at Heng, Leong & Srinivasan LLC. She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2003 and was called to the Singapore Bar in 2004. She was made partner in 2008.

In 2013, Ms Rahayu left practice and was appointed as the Deputy Registrar of the Syariah Court. She returned to practice in 2015 when she entered politics. She currently practices as a family lawyer and is an Associate Mediator accredited by the Singapore Mediation Centre.

Rahayu currently sits on the Malay Language Council and the Board of the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism and the National Youth Council. She is the Chairperson of the annual Malay Language Month and is Vice Chairman of the Social & Family Development GPC. She is passionate about social and community issues including women, youths and people with special needs. She currently serves Bukit Batok residents as their Member of Parliament.


Professor Hector W.H. Tsang

Professor Hector W.H. Tsang

PhD, OTR
Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health
Professor and Head, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Prof Tsang has an array of clinical experience working with people with mental illness. His research on social skills in the workplace won the Best Cross-regional Case Study Award in 1996 at the XIVth International Conference on the Social Sciences and Medicine. Prof Tsang has been focusing on neuropsychiatric rehabilitation for people with severe mental illness (SMI) and mind-body interventions for the past two decades. His research on integrated supported employment and anti-depressive effects of health qigong attracted worldwide interest. He has altogether secured more than 70 million research grants from Hong Kong, mainland China, and the United States. He spent his sabbatical at Yale University in 2007 working on social cognition and schizophrenia. He has more than 200 publications and is currently Associate Editor for Administration and Policy in Mental Health (APMH). He is now Editorial Board member of Psychiatry Research and reviewer of more than 100 SCI journals including Schizophrenia Bulletin, Schizophrenia Research, Psychological Medicine, etc. He is also Honorary Professor of the University of Hong Kong, and Visiting Professor of Peking University, Sichuan University, and Kunming Medical University. He currently leads a large-scale consultancy project on the review of Rehabilitation Programme Plan (RPP) in Hong Kong for and sits in the Steering Committee on Primary Health established by the Government of the HKSAR.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor Joy Hammel

Professor Joy Hammel

PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA
Professor, Wade Meyer Endowed Chair of Occupational Therapy, Departments of Occupational Therapy & Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago

Prof Joy Hammel’s scholarship focuses on using participatory action research with disability communities to identify key environmental barriers and supports to community living and full societal participation; designing and testing innovative community living, participation and environmental programming; documenting participation disparities and evaluating the impact of policy and systems changes on civil rights; and building disability community capacity and empowerment. Prof Hammel is a Professor and Endowed Chair in Occupational Therapy and Disability Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has practiced occupational therapy for over 30 years, and has been principal investigator on several national grants related to designing and testing innovative, participation-focused assessments and community-based intervention programs that are used nationally and internationally.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Robin Ann Jones

Ms Robin Ann Jones

Principal Investigator & Project Director
Great Lakes ADA Center

Robin Jones, MPA, COTA/L, ROH is the Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Great Lakes ADA Center, a member of the ADA National Network. The Center is located at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Robin has served as the director of the Center since its inception in 1991. The ADA National Network is comprised of 10 regional Centers that provide information, guidance and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Services are tailored to meet the needs of business, government and individuals at local, regional and national levels.

Robin’s academic preparation includes degrees in Public Administration and Occupational Therapy. She is an instructor within the Department of Disability and Human Development teaching courses in disability policy, community integration and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Robin is actively involved in providing training, consultation and technical assistance on the provisions of the ADA and related laws to business, employers, government and educational entities, architects, social service organizations and people with disabilities and their families. Robin is a Strand Advisory for ATIA (Assistive Technology for Improved Function) and serves as co-chairperson of the City of Chicago Task Force on Employment Persons with Disabilities’ and as a member of the governing body of the Chicagoland Business Leadership Network.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Tan Chuan Hoh

Mr Tan Chuan Hoh

Principal Occupational Therapist
Specialised Assistive Technology Centre
SPD (formerly known as Society for the Physically Disabled)

Chuan Hoh is the Principal Occupational Therapist at the Specialised Assistive Technology Centre (ATC), SPD (formerly known as Society for the Physically Disabled). He has a Master of Science (Occupational Therapy) from the University at Buffalo, New York. He is also a certified Assistive Technology Professional (ATP), awarded by the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) since 2005. He holds a Certificate of Advanced Professional Development (with Distinctions) in Assistive Technology Applications from the California State University, Northridge, USA. He specialises in AT applications with neurological and musculoskeletal dysfunctions especially in the areas of computer access, powered mobility and environmental control. His role in the Specialised ATC includes conducting assessment and training, modifying and customizing assistive devices, conducting public talks and training workshops to promote assistive technology and participation in research projects.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Chia Rui Min

Ms Chia Rui Min

Senior Occupational Therapist
Tan Tock Seng Hospital

Rui Min is a senior occupational therapist in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. She graduated with a diploma in occupational therapy from Nanyang Polytechnic in 2010 and went on to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from the Curtin University of Technology.

During her practice in the outpatient and inpatient acute disciplines of General Surgery, Orthopaedics and Acute Stroke, Rui Min has developed keen interests in the field of Wheelchair Seating & Mobility and Assistive Technology where she was presented with an opportunity to further pursue her interests with a Master of Science from the University of Pittsburgh. She seeks to provide appropriate seating and positioning interventions to ensure every individual have their rights to mobility and participate in their community.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Siti Juliana Binte Mohamed Ruslan Hadi

Ms Siti Juliana Binte Mohamed Ruslan Hadi

Senior Occupational Therapist
Cerebral Palsy Centre

Ms. Siti Juliana Binte Mohamed Ruslan Hadi, has been working as a (AHPC) registered Occupational therapist for about 6 years in pediatric school setting. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Occupational Therapy (Singapore Institute of Technology-Trinity College Dublin) and is certified in Neurodevelopmental Treatment (C/NDT). She has previously worked in adult acute area in a local hospital. Currently in Cerebral Palsy Alliance Singapore (CPAS), she provides therapy for several programmes including Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children (EIPIC) for children with special needs of various diagnoses who global developmental delay and many other conditions. She has been involved in the development of trans-disciplinary approach in CPAS which also runs groups within classroom settings other that providing individual treatment. Believing in the importance of parents’ roles in child development, she provides home recommendations for her clients related to sensory accommodations and also in relation to seating and positioning. She also conducts caregiver trainings for pediatric-related topics. Having a keen interest in providing holistic care for her clients with neurological and orthopedic conditions, she specialises in working with hand splints and provides mentorship in recommendation of specialised seating systems.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Lee Yong Jie

Mr Lee Yong Jie

Social Work Student
NUS

Yong Jie is currently in his second year of pursuing a degree in Social Work at the National University of Singapore. As a person with disability due to a rupture of blood vessel in his brain in 2014, Yong Jie is working towards being a social worker in the disability sector to serve others who are facing similar obstacles as he has.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Wu Xiao Yuan

Ms Wu Xiao Yuan

Occupational Therapist
Singapore General Hospital

Xiao Yuan is an Occupational Therapist working in Singapore General Hospital and is currently pursuing her Masters in Neurorehabilitation. Her clinical experiences include working with clients with neurological conditions in both acute in-patient, subacute and out-patient settings and in paediatrics.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Sharifah Rawiah Binte Matnor

Ms Sharifah Rawiah Binte Matnor

Occupational Therapist
SPD

Sharifah Rawiah is an Occupational therapist currently working in SPD. She is involved in a few programmes in SPD – Transition To Employment (TTE) Programme (previously known as Transition Programme to Employment, TPE), SPD Day Activity Centre (DAC) and Autism Learning Centre (ALC). TTE is a transdisciplinary return to work programme for adults with acquired physical disability (mainly neurological and orthopaedic conditions). Sharifah’s main clinical work in TTE is providing physical rehabilitation, prescribing assistive devices and wheelchairs as well as conducting worksite visit for any modifications and employer engagement. While in DAC and ALC, her clinical work centres around improving the quality of life through meaningful engagements with clients of different diagnosis such as intellectual disability, cerebral palsy and autism to name a few.



 

 

 

 

 

 

Ms Melinda Cooper

Ms Melinda Cooper

Occupational Therapy Consultant
Pearson Clinical Assessment

Melinda Cooper is an occupational therapist who has worked in a variety of settings including community health, neurological rehabilitation, schools and private practice, in Tasmania and Victoria as well as the UK and US. Her area of specialisation is children with cognitive and learning difficulties, and sensory processing issues. Melinda has been occupational therapy consultant at Pearson Clinical Assessment since 2007, providing support, training and guidance to allied health professionals and students in the use and interpretation of standardised assessment tools.  Melinda has a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, is a member of OT Australia and earned a Masters of Business Administration from Melbourne University in 2015.