S Singapore and Autism Spectrum Disorder Min Sung 1 , Iliana Magiati 2,3 , Tze Jui Goh 1 , Daniel Shuen Sheng Fung 1 , Mariam Aljunied 4 , Denise Phua 5 , Chee Meng Lam 6 , Stephenie Koon Miang Khoo 6 , Zi Lin Sim 6 , Sok Bee Lim 7 , Sylvia Henn Tean Choo 7 and Kenneth K. Poon 8 1 Department of Developmental Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore 2 Department of Psychology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore 3 School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia 4 Special Educational Needs Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore, Singapore 5 Autism Association Singapore, Pathlight School and Eden School, Autism Resource Centre, Singapore, Singapore 6 Autism Resource Centre, Singapore, Singapore 7 Department of Child Development, KK Women’ s and Children’ s Hospital, Singapore, Singapore 8 Early Childhood and Special Needs Education, National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore Singapore is a young island city-state in Southeast Asia with a diverse population of approximately 5.7 million (https://www.singstat.gov.sg/modules/ infographics/population). Ethnic Chinese constitute approximately 76% of the residents, followed by ethnic Malays (13.6%), Indians (9.4%), and others (3.4%). Its relatively brief his- tory as an independent state has been characterized by considerable economical and capital growth, four official languages (English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil; English is the official language of business, administration, and school instruc- tion), an internationally strong and competitive educational system, as well as governmental and community visions of Singapore as an inclusive society (Lee 2004). It is within this context that this paper seeks to present and summarize the history and current development of services, edu- cation, and other initiatives for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and their families. Legal Issues/Mandates for Service Singapore signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in November 2012 and ratified it in August 2013. Service devel- opment and provisions for individuals with dis- abilities in Singapore have been guided by national-level committees and advisory groups. The Enabling Masterplans (EMs) for the disability sector (EM 2007–2011, EM 2012–2016, and EM 2017–2021) are comprehensive disability-specific policy documents designed to chart the develop- ment of programs and services for people with disabilities in the public sector and aimed to enhance the integration of persons with © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020 F. R. Volkmar (ed.), Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102038-2