Portal:Singapore/Selected biography/9

Denise Phua Lay Peng (Chinese: 潘丽萍; pinyin: Pān Lìpíng, born 1959) is a Singaporean politician and disability rights activist. a successful corporate career spanning two decades, After her son was diagnosed with autism, she founded WeCAN, a charity which helps caregivers of autistic people and offers early intervention programmes for autistic preschoolers to help other autistic children. She became full-time special needs volunteer in 2005, and subsequently became the president of the Autism Resource Centre (Singapore) and co-founded Pathlight School, the first special school for autistic children in Singapore.

Denise is also a Member of Parliament (MP), representing the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency. As an MP, she has focused on developing programmes for the disabled and special needs communities in Singapore.