'It was a calling': Teen who grew up with special needs brother hopes to help others like him
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Isabelle Lee had a childhood unlike most of her peers.The aspiring speech therapist grew up looking after her younger brother, Emmanuel, who has special needs, becoming the «quiet and dependable child» she believed her family needed at the time.Sp'It was a calling': Teen who grew up with special needs brother hopes to help others like him
Isabelle Lee had a childhood unlike most of her peers.The aspiring speech therapist grew up looking after her younger brother, Emmanuel, who has special needs, becoming the «quiet and dependable child» she believed her family needed at the time.Speaking to AsiaOne on Thursday (June 26), the 19-year-old described her childhood as «a blend of warmth and complexity».«I grew up in a very loving home, but I also felt that I had to grow up faster than most children my age,» she said.Isabelle explained that she felt she had to take on more responsibilities than her peers, such as making sure he completed his homework, ate and drank properly, played safely and felt accompanied.«I had to learn how to manage my own emotions at a young age, be helpful and be good,» said the teen.By harnessing her experience as a «glass child», a term which refers to siblings of children with special needs, Isabelle is determined to help others like Emmanuel and herself.She has enrolled for a four-year course in speech and language therapy at the Singapore Institute of Technology starting in September. Read more