Heep Hong Society announced that a speech therapy training programme for autistic children and a training programme for parents are under way, allowing autistic children who are waiting for therapy to receive training and support as early as possible. Families with financial difficulties can apply for funding and the first phase of the plan aims to benefit over 300 families.
Chairman of the Executive Committee of Heep Hong Society, Dr Henry Au Yeung, and the Director of Heep Hong Society, Ms Nancy Tsang, attended the launching ceremony today (December 19) with the sponsor, Director of Autism Children Foundation, Mr Ivan Liew, and the supporting organization, former president of the Rotary Club of the Peak, Mr Peter Kwan. "In recent years, the number of children diagnosed with autism has been on an upward trend. I am glad the government is concerned about this situation. In this year's ‘policy address’, the government proposed to appropriate additional resources for autistic children in the hope to shorten their waiting time for professional services. Unfortunately, the new measures did not address the serious problem of prolonged shortage of pre-school places for autistic children. As of the end of October this year, there are over 4,000 children on the waiting list for pre-school special education, and they generally have to wait for 1.5 to 2 years before they receive service, "Ms Tsang said.
"To address the present issue, and provide children with timely training, thereby relieving their parents of the pressure during the waiting period, we took the initiative to seek sponsorship and launch the first program in the New Territories East. Priority will be given to autistic children waiting for pre-school services, and families with financial difficulties will also receive additional financial support," She continued.
The programme will be implemented in 4 phases in the first year, and has received overwhelming response. Since it was introduced last month we have received over a hundred applications for 45 places in the first course. The participants are pre-school children who are assessed and diagnosed with or suspected to be children with autism. Each will receive 8 speech therapy sessions in groups, and the therapist will provide group sessions and training according to the child's learning ability while providing individual counseling services to parents. Parents will be taught how to seize the golden period in training children of 0-6 years of age, assisting autistic children to improve their ability to comprehend and to express themselves, thus improving their social and communication skills.
Mr Yung and his son Toto, three years and four months old, enrolled for the programme as one of the first participants. Toto could say less than ten monosyllabic words when he was two years old and could not even understand simple instructions. Having waited for half a year, he was assessed and diagnosed with autism. He then queued for special child care services. The chance for him to get a school place by August 2011 is not very high. Mr. Yung said helplessly, "My son will be nearly five years old by 2012 when it is his turn for the services, I would not want him to sit at home for several years, thereby missing the golden age of learning."
Toto currently does not receive any government services. Mr. Yung said: "As parents, who would not want their children to get continuous training and speech therapy? However at the rate of several hundred dollars per session, not everyone can afford the services. Heep Hong Society’s programme is of great help to us and to the children, charging us at only about ten percent of the rate of private therapy services. The Government should confirm pre-school services for autistic children as soon as possible rather than to keep us waiting.”
Mr Yung described this programme by Heep Hong Society as the best gift for himself and his son. He said that two months after joining the scheme, his son progressed greatly in his language skills, and is much more stable emotionally. Mr Yung hopes that the Government can allocate more resources so that his son can continue to receive timely training and treatment.
A majority of students graduating from Heep Hong Society is admitted to mainstream schools this year. The senior speech therapist of Heep Hong Society, Ms. Yvonne Lai emphasized the effectiveness and importance of training at an early age, she said, "Most autistic children have language difficulties, if they can receive effective language training before the age of 6, we will be able to build a solid foundation for them based on their ability to communicate and socialize, thus enabling them to integrate into society more easily.
The support programme for early intervention speech therapy for autistic children is well supported and sponsored by the Autistic Children Foundation and other community leaders, allowing grassroots level and low-income families with autistic children to gain access to the service. The founding chairman of the Autistic Children Foundation, Ms. Eva To said: "The long-term and continuous training of autistic children is very important, and the earlier the intervention is, the better. Financially viable parents tend to seek private services for their children, but the high fees may cause many other families to hesitate. We hope that by offering our assistance, all children could have training opportunities and be able to improve regardless of their financial situation. "
To benefit more children, Heep Hong Society will launch a similar programme early next year in the New Territories West. Together with the New Territories East, the Society will be able to provide a total of 340 places. Heep Hong Society appeals to charitable organizations and donors for support and plans to expand to all territories in Hong Kong eventually.
