The Rainbow Centre is a voluntary welfare organisation

Charitable organization

A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...

 in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. It operates two special schools, the Margaret Drive Special School (MDSS) and Balestier Special School for children with special needs like autism

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

, intellectual disability

Intellectual disability

Intellectual disability is a broad concept encompassing various intellectual deficits, including mental retardation , deficits too mild to properly qualify as MR, various specific conditions , and problems acquired later in life through acquired brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases like...

 and multiple disabilities. The centre is located at Margaret Drive in Queenstown

Queenstown, Singapore

Queenstown1 is one of the early housing estates in Singapore, built before Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio, and was a test bed for much of Singapore's public housing...

, near a church.

History

Margaret Drive Special School started out in 1987 to cater to children with multiple handicaps. In 1989, the school introduced the programme called Structured Teaching for Exceptional Pupils (STEP) for autistic children aged between two and twelve years. In 1992, the Rainbow Centre was established, with Ee Peng Liang

Ee Peng Liang

Ee Peng Liang, K.St.J was a businessman and a philanthropist. He was educated at St Joseph’s Institution and later was qualified as a chartered accountant...

 as the first Honorary Patron.

In 1995, Rainbow Centre set up the Balestier Special School at NcNair Road as its second school, which was officially opened by Wee Kim Wee

Wee Kim Wee

Wee Kim Wee GCB was the fourth President of Singapore from 2 September 1985 to 1 September 1993.-Early life:Born into a humble family, Wee Kim Wee was the son of a clerk, Wee Choong Lay and his wife Chua Lay Hua. His father died when he was eight...

 on 1 October 1996.

The Margaret Drive School later moved to a new purpose-built building with special facilities to cater to the needs of children with different learning difficulties. The building was officially opened by Aline Wong on 19 July 1999.

A programme called Rainbow Link was launched in 2002 to promote volunteerism, through support, services and education.
Rainbow Centre and Autism Resource Centre jointly started the Pathlight School

Pathlight School

Pathlight School is a special school for high-functioning autistic children, located in Ang Mo Kio, Singapore. Founded in 2004, it is run by the non-profit Autism Resource Centre, and comprises one half of the national educational provision for autistic children...

in January 2004. This is an autism specific mainstream school for children with autism aged between six and sixteen years old.