Thumbs Up Therapy Singapore

15/06/2026

Congratulations to Rachel Looi for completing the LAMP (Language Acquisition through Motor Planning) Therapy Approach Training!

Over two packed days, Rachel dived into this evidence-based AAC approach - exploring motor patterning, multisensory convergence, and practical strategies to support non-speaking individuals communicate more independently using the LAMP approach.

Rachel is excited to bring this knowledge into her sessions, empowering the children and families she works with, to build relationships through independent communication. Way to go, Rachel!

09/06/2026

We're thrilled to welcome Shelly Martin to the Thumbs Up Therapy team!

Shelly is an American Speech-Language Pathologist with over 15 years of experience supporting children from early intervention through high school. She holds a Master's in Speech-Language Pathology from Northwestern University and a Bachelor's in Communication Disorders from Central Michigan University.

Shelly has worked across schools, children's hospitals, and private clinics, with expertise in autism, language and articulation delays, AAC, feeding difficulties, and more. She takes a warm, play-based approach to therapy and is passionate about collaborating closely with families and school teams to support each child's progress.

Her clinical interests include Hanen, DIR/Floortime, gestalt language processing, AAC, and the Social Thinking framework. Please note that in Singapore, Shelly works as a Speech and Language Therapy Assistant.

We're so happy to have her on board - welcome Shelly!

09/06/2026

Congratulations to Rachel Looi and Shireen Gill for completing the Lindamood-Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing® (V/V®) workshop!

This evidence-based programme focuses on developing concept imagery - the ability to create a vivid mental picture from language - as a foundation for reading comprehension, language understanding, and higher-order thinking. Over the course of the training, Rachel and Shireen explored how weak concept imagery can affect a child's ability to understand what they read, recall information, express their ideas - and, most importantly, what to do about it.

Using structured, imagery-based language and a step-by-step instructional approach, the V/V® programme equips therapists with practical tools to help children demonstrate and master reading comprehension.

Rachel and Shireen are excited to bring these strategies into their sessions, helping the children they work with build stronger reading comprehension and language skills from the ground up. Well done to both of them!

24/09/2025

👏 Well done to our therapist Joanna Lim, who recently completed two Orton-Gillingham seminars: “Orton-Gillingham and the Science of Reading: Rewiring the Brain for Literacy Success” and “Orton-Gillingham and the English Language: Structured Literacy for Reading and Writing Success.”

Through these courses, Joanna deepened her understanding of how the brain learns to read, the principles of structured literacy, and strategies for supporting learners with dyslexia. She explored evidence-based approaches such as multisensory instruction, the six syllable types, and handwriting strategies that build strong foundations for reading and writing.

Joanna is looking forward to applying these insights to empower children and families on her caseload and to help every child unlock their literacy potential. 🌟

18/06/2025

We’re delighted to welcome Aparnaa Raman to the Thumbs Up Therapy team!

Aparnaa is a passionate and dedicated Speech and Language Therapist with a strong background in both education and therapy. Before making the transition to speech therapy, she worked as a primary school teacher for five years and holds a BA in Education from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She later pursued her BSc in Speech and Language Therapy from City University of London, going on to practise in both the UK and Singapore.

With experience working across hospitals, clinics, mainstream schools and specialist colleges, Aparnaa has supported children and young people aged 3 to 18 with a wide range of developmental differences. She takes a holistic, child-led approach to therapy, tailoring sessions to her clients’ unique interests and needs, to nurture strong relationships and support meaningful progress in communication.

Aparnaa is especially passionate about bridging the gap between families, educators, and therapists. Her dual background as a teacher and therapist enables her to collaborate effectively with caregivers and schools to deliver practical, integrated support for children.

She has completed additional training in Gestalt Language Processing, the Complexity Approach for speech sound disorders, and Parent-Child Interaction.

We’re so pleased to have her on board – welcome Aparnaa!

27/03/2025

We’re thrilled to welcome Susan Ferguson to the Thumbs Up Therapy team!

Susan is a highly experienced occupational therapist with a strong passion for paediatrics. She has worked across diverse settings, including stroke and orthopaedic rehabilitation, special education, and private paediatric practice. Combining her expertise in both adult and paediatric therapy, she takes a holistic, collaborative approach, ensuring the best outcomes for the children and families she supports.

She specialises in individual and group therapy, as well as school-based consultations, helping children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Delays, Sensory Processing Disorder, Dyspraxia, and Learning Disabilities. Susan is especially passionate about addressing sensory processing challenges to improve children’s participation in everyday activities.

Susan is dedicated to continuous learning, having completed advanced training in Sensory Integration (USC Chan), Neurodevelopmental Treatment (NDT), and Behavioural Strategies.

We’re so excited to have her on board - welcome Susan!

13/05/2024

Shireen Gill joins us this week!

We welcome Shireen to our team this month. Shireen graduated from Curtin University with a MSc in Speech Pathology and she is a dedicated speech therapist who is passionate about working with children and their families.Having worked in a trans-disciplinary team (i.e. caregivers, teachers, occupatio...

05/03/2024

🏆 Exciting News! 🏆

We’re thrilled to announce that Thumbs Up Therapy has been awarded the Gold award from Expat Living Singapore for Best Children's Therapy for the second consecutive year! It is a huge achievement for a small clinic like ours.Thank you for the support from all the voters.

We want to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the team members, past and present, for their exceptional work. Your passion, dedication, and unwavering commitment have been instrumental in shaping Thumbs Up Therapy into the clinic it is today.

22/01/2024

We are delighted to have Kirsty Chin and Andrea Fernando joining Thumbs Up Therapy.

We warmly welcome to our team, Andrea Fernando, Speech and Language Assistant, and Kirsty Chin, Senior Occupation Therapist. Andrea graduated from City University London. and lived and worked in London, before she moved to Singapore. As part of her training, she has worked in a variety of clinical a...

18/10/2023

Welcome to Nur! We are so happy to have you join us!

Thumbs Up Therapy are pleased to announce that they have welcomed new Senior Occupational Therapist Nur Smits, to the team. Nur is an experienced Occupational Therapist with over 16 years of experience working with children. She has worked closely with teachers in the schools, assessing the needs of...