Psychology and Child & Human Development Centre Director
National Institute of Education
Kenneth is Lien Foundation Chair Professor of Education (Psychology and Human Development) at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He is also Dean, Education Research, as well as Centre Director of the Centre for Research in Child Development. Trained as a clinical psychologist and as an early interventionist, he has spent the past 20 years of experience working with children and persons with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
Kenneth is leading/has led, as principal investigator, research projects with a combined quantum of over SGD$7 million. His research has focused on the development of children (especially children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and children from low income families) examining how the home and school environments impact development. He is Lead Principal Investigator of the ongoing Singapore Longitudinal Cohort Study (SG-LCS) and was Principal Invesitgator of the completed Transition and Adjustment of Children with Special Educational Needs (Tran-SEN).
As Singapore is a context which until recently, has not conducted much research with assessment tools, he has developed, adapted, and normed instruments which may be used for future studies such as the Singapore Ability Scales (SAS), Singapore's first commercially available test of intellectual abilities. Finally, a growing area of research is in the examination of how the outcomes of students with neurodevelopmental disabilities can be optimised in inclusive school environments.
Complementing Kenneth's research, he teaches/has taught courses on early childhood intervention, autism spectrum disorders, and the assessment of children and youth. His work extends to consulting with organizations to support children with autism spectrum disorders and more broadly, including students with special educational needs.
Kenneth is Singapore's Representative to the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children. He also contributes to the community serving as President of Rainbow Centre (Singapore), as Board member of the National Council of Social Service, Vice Chairperson of the Board of Catholic Family LIfe, and on several Advisory Panels to the government. At an international level, Kenneth serves as a Treasurer of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) and on the editoral boards of several journals.
Comments