Autism Resource Centre (ARC): what it runs and how to get in

Dictionary: ARC · WeCAN · SG Enable · SPED · EIPIC

This page is not ARC’s own site, and each route below links to the organisation or agency that runs it.

What the Autism Resource Centre actually is

ARC(S) is a Singapore charity for autistic people across a whole lifetime, from preschool through school and into work. Its stated mission is “to help individuals on the autism spectrum maximise their potential in life through advocacy and provision of services in education, employment and empowerment of family caregivers/professionals”.

The main office is at 5 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10. WeCAN sits there too, and so does one of Pathlight’s three campuses. E2C is elsewhere again, at the Enabling Village in Lengkok Bahru.

One detail is worth knowing before you start. ARC and Pathlight do not provide diagnosis or assessment services: they run their own admissions and needs assessments, but neither of them produces the psychological reports a Pathlight application relies on. Pathlight’s FAQ points parents to KKH, NUH or a private psychologist for those, and our guide to getting an autism diagnosis in Singapore covers the step.

The Core Services menu on ARC’s site lists nine units. The three below are the ones this page covers in depth, and every figure in them is as of August 2026, from each arm’s own published pages.

The three doors, side by side

Each arm has a different first step, and they are not interchangeable.

WeCAN Early Intervention Programme: children six and below

WeCAN is early intervention built specifically around autism, for children aged six and below. It is one of Singapore’s government-funded Early Intervention Programmes for Infants and Children, or EIPIC.

The Enabling Guide says EIPIC sessions may include therapy services such as speech, occupational and physiotherapy. WeCAN’s own pages describe its programme in three teaching levels rather than in therapy sessions, so ask what a place would actually look like for your child.

The programme serves children until the year they turn six, and from the first day it works with the family on what comes next, which may be a mainstream setting, a special education school, or a privately run programme. Three teaching levels make up the curriculum: settling, attention and basic communication first, then social communication, group learning and independence, then learning in a larger social group.

The National Autistic Society in the United Kingdom has accredited the programme since 2009, and it has passed several re-accreditation reviews since.

How you get in. The process does not start with WeCAN. A child can only be referred to it through SG Enable, the central referral agency for every government-funded EIPIC place in Singapore, and WeCAN’s own enrolment page says all referrals must go through SG Enable for national consolidation.

Not every doctor can start that referral. The Enabling Guide says a child up to six may be referred to EIPIC by a doctor or paediatrician, and that only KKH, NUH, SGH and private paediatricians can make the referral. An appointment at one of those is the practical place to begin.

Once a referral arrives, WeCAN contacts the family and sends the application forms. When the completed form comes back, WeCAN invites the child to a Needs Assessment within one and a half months of the referral date. That assessment takes about 45 minutes, and if the team decides the programme suits the child, the child goes on a waitlist until a place opens.

You do not need a confirmed autism diagnosis to enrol. WeCAN’s FAQ answers that question directly: a confirmed diagnosis of ASD, meaning autism spectrum disorder, is not required for enrolment.

The wait can be long. WeCAN states that where a child is recommended but no vacancy exists, a waiting period of between 6 and 18 months may follow, and it points parents to www.sgenable.sg for current wait times.

What it costs. WeCAN publishes no flat monthly fee. Its fees page says the fee matrix is downloadable from SG Enable’s website, and that the programme receives a government grant for every child, part of it means-tested against household income through the Household Means Eligibility System.

The declaration form comes when your child is offered a place, and families who want the means-tested subsidy submit it with supporting documents. Your child’s actual monthly fee is advised after means-testing is done. Families needing more help can apply to ARC for additional subsidy, granted case by case.

Parent training is not optional here. WeCAN lists compulsory parent training programmes among the ways families take part, alongside classroom participation and parent-teacher conferencing. Plan for your own time, not only your child’s.

Pathlight School: ages 7 to 18

Pathlight describes itself as the first autism-focused school in Singapore to teach the national curriculum alongside life readiness skills. It takes students aged 7 to 18 who are cognitively able to handle that curriculum but need additional support, such as smaller classes, special accommodations and staff trained in autism.

The academic track runs from Primary 1 to Secondary 4 or 5. It ends in the PSLE, Singapore’s primary school leaving exam, and then the GCE N or O Levels, the secondary leaving exams, until 2026, after which the Secondary Education Certificate replaces them from 2027.

Classes are small. Pathlight puts its typical primary class at 10 to 14 students with one teacher and one teacher-aide, and says the size varies with the needs of the students in it.

Pathlight runs three campuses, and where a student goes is set by the school rather than by a plain level rule. Its 2025 distribution put Primary 1 to 4 at Tampines, Primary 1 and 2 plus the Vocational Track at Ang Mo Kio Campus 1, and Primary 3 to 6 plus Secondary at Ang Mo Kio Campus 2. The school attributes that spread to deployment needs and use of space.

Secondary students are a case on their own. They spend the school day at one of three partner secondary schools, Mayflower, Peirce or Yio Chu Kang, so the daily commute may not be to a Pathlight campus at all.

Pathlight does not teach Mother Tongue Language, and all students are exempted from it as a subject. Parents who want their child to sit Mother Tongue at the national exams can tell the school, at the latest by Primary 4, and Pathlight will assist with registering them and with applying for access arrangements. The school is clear that those parents take full responsibility for supporting their child’s Mother Tongue learning and for keeping up with the curriculum.

How you get in. Applications are submitted online through the Ministry of Education’s website, not to Pathlight. MOE’s SPED schools page lists Pathlight among the schools for autism with no intellectual impairment, and points to the admission timelines and how to apply.

Applicants invited to sit the School Screening Assessment are assessed by Pathlight’s own psychologists and educators. The school is clear that this does not automatically guarantee a place. Admission also turns on the admission criteria, the assessment’s own outcome, a review by the Admissions and Review Committee, the availability of physical and teaching resources, class suitability and overall school capacity.

If the answer is no, the file does not stop there. MOE’s Multi-Agency Advisory Panel, or MAAP, automatically picks up applicants assessed as unsuitable for their first-choice school and recommends other placements. That is why Pathlight tells parents to list a second and third choice: the panel uses them.

One exception worth knowing. If your child is already in a mainstream school, Pathlight cannot take the application from you directly, and you approach your child’s current school instead.

What it costs. Singapore Citizens pay S$60 a month in primary, S$85 in secondary and S$90 on the vocational track. Permanent Residents pay S$350 in primary, and Pathlight’s fees page publishes no PR rate for secondary or the vocational track, so ask the school. Fees include student insurance.

Pathlight extends financial assistance as long as students meet its criteria, a gross household income of S$4,000 or below or a gross per capita income of S$1,000 or below. Students who meet them pay less than the listed fee, and some have it waived entirely. Families who need it are told not to hesitate to contact the school’s Student Affairs Team.

Our page on Pathlight School admissions walks through the application in full, and our SPED school fees comparison puts these figures beside every other special education school that publishes one.

Employability and Employment Centre (E2C): autism and employment, from 16

E2C is ARC’s employment arm. ARC describes it as the first autism-focused centre offering services that help autistic people succeed at work, and it works with employers as well as with clients.

To use it, a client must be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident, aged 16 or above, hold a primary diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, and not currently be enrolled in another SPED school or programme. That last condition matters for planning: on ARC’s wording, someone already enrolled in a special education school or programme is not eligible at the same time.

The programme runs in five stages.

1. Pre-assessment. You meet an E2C case manager, who explains the programme and works out whether it fits. The client and a parent or guardian must both attend this meeting.
2. Assessment. The case manager assesses hard skills such as computing, baking or cleaning, and soft skills such as communication, grooming, focus and stamina. A summary report goes to the family.
3. Training. Vocational training in agreed areas, using autism-friendly coaching. ARC says this may take 10 to 40 weeks before a client is recommended for placement, and that it varies with the person.
4. Placement. Job coaches support the client through applications, interviews, company policies and signing the contract, and brief the supervisors and colleagues.
5. Support. A job coach gives on-site support at the workplace and acts as go-between, for as long as the client needs it to stay employed.

How you get in. This is the direct door. You sign up with the Client Request Form on ARC’s E2C page, without any referral agency in between. Referrals are accepted too: ARC’s FAQ says a school, a social service agency, SG Enable or a professional such as a psychologist can refer someone.

What it costs. ARC does not publish a price. Its FAQ says fees, subsidies or funding arrangements may apply depending on the service, and asks people to contact ARC for current information. Ask at the pre-assessment meeting.

If you are forwarding this to an employer, the part they will want is that E2C assigns a job coach at no cost to the employer. ARC also tells employers they may qualify for the Special Employment Credit, and says E2C can tap the Open Door Fund, which helps pay for redesigning jobs, modifying workplaces or training employees with disabilities.

Our guide to life after 18 for autistic young adults covers the wider transition to work in Singapore, of which E2C is one route.

What else ARC runs

The Core Services menu lists six more units beyond those three. Autism Intervention, Training and Consultancy, or AITC, is the training and consultancy arm for professionals and caregivers; it also runs direct intervention services and adult learning courses in information technology, career skills, social relationship skills, wellness and independent living. ARC’s AITC page lists those offerings and does not mention job placement, which is E2C’s stage.

The other five are the Enrichment Activities Unit, the Digital Academy, Residential Support, Library and Info Services, and Social Enterprises.

If you are not sure which arm fits

Start from your child’s age and the question you actually have.

• Under 7, and the question is early intervention or early support. WeCAN is the arm, but you cannot start the process with WeCAN. Book a paediatrician at KKH, NUH or SGH, or a private paediatrician, and ask about an EIPIC referral, which reaches WeCAN through SG Enable. If no place is open when your child is recommended, expect a wait.
• Aged 7 to 18, and the question is school. Pathlight, applied for through MOE. Our guide to the MOE SPED application covers the process, and our list of SPED schools in Singapore covers the schools to consider if Pathlight is not the right fit.
• 16 or older, and the question is work. E2C, either directly through its Client Request Form or by referral. All four of its conditions have to be met: citizenship or PR, age 16 and above, a primary autism diagnosis, and not currently in a SPED school or programme.
• None of these, or more than one. ARC’s general line is arc@autism.org.sg and +65 6323 3258. WeCAN can be reached on +65 6592 0428 and E2C on +65 6592 0426.

For two of the three arms, the first step is not the school or the centre itself. WeCAN’s route runs through a doctor and then a referral agency, Pathlight’s through a ministry portal, and only E2C takes you directly.

Sources

ARC, WeCAN, Pathlight and MOE pages accessed 27 to 28 August 2026. The Enabling Guide page was accessed 17 August 2026.

• Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), home and Overview of ARC(S)
• Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), Employability & Employment Centre
• Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), Autism Intervention, Training & Consultancy
• Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), FAQ
• WeCAN EIP, Enrolment, Our Programme, Programme Fees, Accreditation and FAQ
• Pathlight School, FAQ and Fees & Subsidies
• Enabling Guide, Therapy and intervention
• Ministry of Education, SPED schools