Meet the 2024-2025 Board Members

Boon Eu : Secretary

Boon Eu CHEAH is a medical doctor who sees children, youth and adults with various disabilities (including rare disorders) in her daily career. Her interest pours out to those with autism, specific learning difficulties, ADHD and Irlen Syndrome as she shares similar struggles and was only given the late diagnoses in adulthood. As a neurodivergent and an avid advocate about being inclusive, understanding and accepting of each other, she believes she can ensure early intervention and opportunity for the individuals to assimilate into the community.

Katarzyna (Kate) Czapor : School and Community Networker

Kate is dedicated to promoting inclusion as the Inclusion Lead for a group of schools in Malaysia. As a SEN mother herself, she’s passionate about supporting teachers, raising awareness among parents, and supporting positive change for students with special educational needs. Her focus is on ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed in an inclusive environment.

Jacqueline Vincent: Written Content Creator

Jacqueline is the Principal of HEI Schools Cyberjaya, Malaysia, where learning through play is at the heart of the Finnish-inspired preschool experience. As a passionate advocate for inclusive education, she’s on a mission to make classrooms more welcoming, reflecting both Finland’s playful approach and SENIA’s mission. With a big heart for children and their right to equal learning opportunities, Jacqueline brings fun and fairness to education in Malaysia!

Adam Azlan: Treasurer 

Adam is a Treasury Analyst at Maybank, and is currently the Chairperson of Amnesty International Malaysia. As a mental health advocate and a volunteer tutor-mentor for several non-governmental organizations, he seeks to learn more and become a better advocate for inclusivity in and through education. His interest and long term goal lies in ensuring Human Rights and Education is accessible to all in Malaysia!

 

Emy Hieber: Chairperson

Emy is the Learning Support Coordinator at Dalat International School in Penang. She has been working there for the last 9 years, and connected to SENIA in various capacities since 2018. She and her husband have a cat, many fish, and hundreds of books to keep them company. Emy is passionate about neurodiversity and empowering learners to advocate for their needs and embrace their own way of being in the world.


Become a SENIA Malaysia member by joining our mailing list! You will receive notifications of any upcoming events or news.

https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/782772/134808110619428167/share

Follow and like us on Facebook and Instagram to stay connected.

https://www.facebook.com/senia.malaysia?mibextid=2JQ9oc

https://www.instagram.com/seniamalaysia/

Contact the board at malaysiachapter@seniainternational.org.

Events: Call for presenters SENIA Indonesia Conference

Call for presenters!

Want to make a difference in special education?

Share your insights as a speaker at our workshop. Let’s inspire together!

The theme for our next conference is Bridging The Gap: Together We Thrive.

Fill out the Google form for further information and sign up as presenters.

Newsletter – SENIA Indonesia News

Exciting News from SENIA Indonesia!

We’re thrilled to share some updates and introduce some key members of our organization!

Meet the SENIA Indonesia Board and Teacher Representative!

These dedicated individuals are passionate about supporting educators and fostering a vibrant educational community in Indonesia.

Stay tuned for more news and upcoming initiatives! #SENIAIndonesia

Events: SENIA Local Conference 2025

Mark Your Calendars! ️

SENIA Indonesia Local Conference is Back!

Join us for a community-building event at the Jakarta Intercultural School on:

  • February 28th: Half-Day Conference
  • March 1st: Full-Day Conference

Calling all educators! We’ll be opening a call for presenters in August. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, spread the word and encourage your fellow educators to join us! #SENIAIndonesia #LocalConference #Jakarta

Share this post and help us build a thriving community!

Senia Indonesia Local Event

On Saturday, April 20th, 2024, SENIA Indonesia brought together over 100 educators from across Indonesia for a successful local conference focused on ‘Creating a Community of Belonging.’

The event fostered a collaborative environment where educators shared ideas and best practices through 10 insightful workshops and 7 interactive “job-alike” sessions. These sessions were all designed to empower educators in building inclusive learning spaces.

The SENIA Indonesia conference served as a valuable platform for educators to connect, learn, and grow together, ultimately contributing to a stronger sense of community and belonging within the education sector.

Below are some of the highlight pictures from the event:

Resources – Workshop Opportunities: The Special Needs Network

Workshop Opportunity

 

The Special Needs Network

(Sharing is caring)

Do you have a child with special needs? Are you struggling with behaviour issues such as meltdowns, are you feeling overwhelmed with financial burden, does your mental health suffer? If you answered yes to any of these questions then please keep reading.

Alan is the father of Joey. Joey is a 25 year old young man who has Down Syndrome and is autistic. As a parent of a child with special needs, I too have experienced many challenges. However, I was able create a framework that allowed Joey and I to have a happy life, move from Canada to Bali Indonesia, avoid meltdowns and get back my mental health. You can watch a Youtube video interview where Alan share stories about his life, and story about Joey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W86pOCCtQZk

Alan is doing a Free workshop that cover:

  1. How to reduce meltdowns
  2. How to avoid mental health issues for parents and care givers
  3. How to reduce your financial burden so you can focus on enjoying your time with your child

This is a 2 hour online workshop which will be done via Zoom, held from 9:am to 11:00 am (Bali time) on May 24, 2024. The workshop will be more than a presentation and will involve a lively discussion with the participants.

If this agenda resonates with you, please sign up for the workshop by clicking on the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1HTyNjkoYukgjzd1BJOHg7wRG6YX1iok338ItD2jumNc/viewform?+usp=sharing_eil_se_dm&ts=664446b4&edit_requested=true

 

Newsletter: Notes from SENIA’s Director

INCLUSIVELY INSPIRED WITH LORI BOLL

 

Hello SENIA Peeps,

Last week, I had the privilege of virtually attending The Brookings Institute Symposium on Inclusion and Education Systems Transformation. Inclusive leaders from around the world gathered to address a critical issue:

“Despite global policy efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for equitable education, no nation has succeeded in creating truly inclusive classrooms and school communities on a large scale. While some countries have made significant strides in meeting the needs of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), nearly every nation has fallen short in developing schools as settings for full social inclusion. This requires going beyond physical inclusion to create accessible and meaningful learning environments for all, including children with IDD.”

Five adults in chairs sitting agains a blue screen with white writing with the title of the symposium

World Leaders Discuss Inclusion

As international school leaders, educators, and families, we must prioritize this concern. Sustainable Development Goal 4 demands that schools be places where all children matter equally, participate fully, and develop the skills, knowledge, beliefs, and practices they need to thrive.

Becoming fully inclusive is not easy, but it can be achieved. The conference offered these recommendations: First, we need a mindset shift which is embraced school-wide and community-wide. Second, we must dismantle the silos in education, and encourage synergy in our roles. Third, according to Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, “The central impediment to implementing effective inclusive education is the capabilities of a trained teacher workforce. You cannot ask teachers to become ‘includers’ in their schools or to manage children with complex learning needs without training.” Mr. Shriver also believes we need to empower young people as agents of change. Our students want inclusive schools. Are we ready to listen to their voices?

At SENIA, we endorse these points and strive to support schools on their inclusive journey by facilitating mindset changes, helping to create systems of support that involve the entire school community, and providing professional development opportunities through our conference and coursework. As well, our SENIA Youth are emerging as a strong voice advocating for change and will be our inclusive leaders of tomorrow.

With Sustainable Development Goal 4 as our guiding principle, we call on our schools to become more inclusive. We don’t expect you to do it alone. SENIA is here to support you.

Lori Boll

 

If you’d like to watch some of this symposium, check out this link.

Resources

Read more

Local Events

Read more

Meet Our Board

Read more