Rong Xuan

Rong Xuan has a first major in Psychology and a second major in Marketing. Through her academic journey, internships, and volunteering experiences, she has developed a strong interest in working with individuals with special needs. Her interest in this field first began at an Autism Activity Centre, where she had the opportunity to work alongside coaches and therapists supporting individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She also provided guidance to coaches when clients exhibited challenging behaviours. Witnessing how her work contributed to improving the wellbeing and independence of clients was inspiring, and it helped her realise that this is what she wants to pursue in the long term.

Rong Xuan worked closely with coaches to support clients. Her responsibilities included preparing visual supports and task materials, facilitating classroom activities, and behavioural interventions aimed at improving emotional regulation and daily living skills. She also designed a money skills programme consisting of five classroom activities. Over a 10-week period, all participating clients demonstrated progress, with each client achieving at least a 20% improvement in their ability to identify, count, subtract money, and make purchases. Following this experience, she expanded her exposure to working with individuals with diverse disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, down syndrome, and cerebral palsy. In this role, she designed task materials aimed at enhancing clients’ cognitive skills and organised game sessions and arts and crafts workshops to promote engagement and personal development. Most recently, she delivered clinical aspects of psychological practice. I was tasked in conducting interviews and drafting child evaluation reports. She also contributed to the clinic’s outreach efforts.

Rong Xuan also volunteered as a chatline volunteer, a platform that provides emotional support to youths. In this role, she provided real-time emotional support through a chat-based platform, applying active listening techniques and suicide risk assessment to support individuals who may be experiencing distress or difficult life challenges. This experience has helped her develop stronger empathetic listening and communication skills, while also allowing her to provide a safe space for individuals to feel heard and supported.