Bangsa Ria Day Training Centre for the Handicapped

Bangsa Ria as a day-care centre for the disabled and mentally-challenged, was originally run by a church in Bangsar for some years. When the church decided to close down the centre in 2006, the children were literally left in the lurch. The staff too had no other place to go. The parents, despite having helped to raise funds had no recourse as the centre belonged to the church which had the legal right to close it down. Out of desperation, in the same year, parents and well-wishers came together and registered Persatuan Orang Kurang Upaya Bangsa Ria KL & Selangor (Bangsa Ria Association for the Disabled KL & Selangor) as a legal, registered society under the Registrar of Societies (registration no. 0873-06-SEL).

Our mission

Bangsa Ria offers a sanctuary for the disabled, providing individualised training to push each child to the best of their abilities. Training, mental and sensory stimulation, meals, snacks, friendship and above all, loving caring is at the core of Bangsa Ria.  Our centre opens from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays. Each child has a separate training programme based on individual assessment. The skills and therapeutic training activities include:

• Self-help Skills Training Basic self-help skills such as toileting, bathing, dressing and feeding
• Communication Skills Training Learning to communicate via signs, pictures, objects and body language
• Motor Skills Training Developing co-ordination, balance and agility
• Stimulation Exercises Picture and puzzle sorting, colouring, painting, pasting and other activities
• Snoozelen Room (a place for sensory adventure and experience!) Our Snoozelen Room is a magical place of dazzling fibre optic cables, xylophone, vibrating bubbles tubes, music, moving pictures, soft cushions, carpets and a whole lot of things that promote sensory skills and allow the children to develop their senses of touch, smell, sight, taste and sound. In between training activities, there is time for playing on the swing, trampoline fun, a bath, lunch, snacks and a short rest.