We just had our annual EAP Family Day on the 6th of July 2019, where we had put on a live stage production, titled ‘The Greatest Show’, featuring almost 60 of our kiddos with autism! The event was held at PJ Live Arts, Jaya One. It was an amazing event where we showcased our children’s skills and honoured all families as well! One of the highlights of the event was also when we had YB Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Education, to officiate the event and present the awards to the kiddos! Check out some of the highlights from the event in our blog below!

Our Family Day event started bright and early on a Saturday morning, as our kiddos arrived and headed backstage for make up and their final preparations. Meanwhile, our families and special guests were treated to a spread of refreshments as they waited in anticipation for the show to begin.

After the arrival of our honoured guest, YB Teo Nie Ching, Deputy Minister of Education, we took her on a quick tour backstage for a quick session to meet and greet the kiddos, before officially announcing her arrival and welcoming her to the event. We kicked off the event with a welcome speech by our EAP Director, Jochebed Isaacs, who shared that the reason why we have our Family Day each year is to celebrate each and every single one of our kiddos with autism. During her speech, our Director also had a special honour moment for one of our families, who have been in the programme with EAP for several years now and who have supported their child with autism with unwavering love and dedication throughout the years.

The event was then officiated by YB Teo, who also shared about the Ministry of Education’s Zero Reject Policy and their efforts in improving the national school’s special education system.

And thus began ‘The Greatest Show’! Our kiddos each played a role, live on stage – from dancing, singing, reciting lines, to even playing musical instruments! In this production, a group of children had set out on a quest to find different talents from all around the world, in order to put on ‘The Greatest Show’ to impress the world. In the end, they discovered that they need not put on a show to impress the world, but that they need only impress their families, who are already so proud of them.

Following the live production, we held a Kids Awards Ceremony, where we presented each child with a special award to highlight their strengths and achievements thus far! Each of our kiddo has worked so hard and their achievements – big or small, deserve to be commemorated and celebrated.

All in all, the EAP Family Day was a tremendous success filled with so many highlights and unforgettable moments! To prepare for this event:

• Each child started practising for their part(s) since April
• For some children, their practices amounted to 300 practices over 3 months
• Some children had to practice standing in front of a crowd
• Some children had to practice tolerating lights, clapping and loud sounds
• To prepare for the children’s success, our EAP Team created 20 video models, 130 Social Stories, and 200 different visuals
• We had 3 full rehearsals at PJ Live Arts

We would just like to take this opportunity to say how proud we are of each and every single one of our kiddos – we look forward to what lies ahead of each of you! We would also like to say thank you to all parents and families for the support in making special arrangements for the rehearsals and being a part of the event. We honour each and every one of you for the dedication, commitment, and sacrifice for the children’s best interest.

Also, a special thanks to the volunteers from International Islamic University Malaysia for not only volunteering at the event but also for preparing the props used on stage. Thank you to all of our vendors and partners who helped make the event happen – PJ Live Arts, Stories, and Ms. Foong!

Last but not least, a very special thank you to our amazing EAP Team who stayed back over many evenings and weekends for script writing, designs, briefings, making of visuals, video models, props, costumes, packing of gifts, shopping for materials, decorations, choreography and the list goes on. This event was made possible because of your efforts and dedication in helping our children be successful.

This Family Day was truly, The Greatest Show!