SINGAPORE - For more than a year, Hoon Shu Yen and Nur Marsha Danisha spent their Monday afternoons poring over books at the Fernvale Primary School library.

The girls, both 11, looked forward to the 45-minute sessions, and have become friends. Shu Yen is a pupil at the adjacent Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds) Fernvale Gardens School.

The schools are unique in Singapore. They are linked by a "Friendship Gate" to encourage interaction between both sets of pupils.

Since 2017, the schools have been conducting a weekly joint reading programme.

Nur Marsha said: "I joined because I wanted to help them read confidently and make them happy."

To promote greater integration islandwide, Minds launched on Thursday (Feb 14) the first in a series of six illustrated children's books with Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Gan Thiam Poh as the guest of honour.

The book, titled Not So Scary After All, explores how a boy with special needs overcomes his fear of dogs with the help of those around him.

In line with the plot, therapy dogs were brought to Fernvale Primary School for pupils from both schools to play with.

Fernvale Gardens School's principal Gerard Vaz said it is vital for children to be introduced to individuals with special needs from an early age.

He added: "They haven't begun to form any preconceived notions and ideas about what special needs individuals are like. It is the perfect time to plant the seeds and show that there is a lot of commonalities between them and people with special needs.

"The very theme of the book is to show that special needs students are no different."

Local author Lianne Ong penned the collection, with the other five volumes to be released intermittently this year. There will be about 3,000 copies of each book.

Minds has sent several copies of the first volume to its 16 mainstream primary and secondary school partners, which will include it in their curriculum and stock them in their respective libraries.

The books will also be given to the 900 pupils at all four Minds schools here.

Madam Balakrishna Vyjanthimala, principal of Fernvale Primary School, said: "Our children have gained confidence through the reading programme. They learnt to be patient, because they get to understand that the mannerisms of the children from Fernvale Gardens are different.

"They learnt to respect somebody who is different from them, and above all, gain empathy."