The Financial Secretary announced that all permanent residents aged 18 or above of Hong Kong will be given HK$6,000. This windfall may have different meanings to all walks of life, but for children with special needs who are waiting for government-funded services or from underprivileged families, HK$6,000 could bring timely training and support services to them.
Heep Hong Society appeals for members of the community to make donations of HK$6,000 for the establishment of the Training Grant for Children with Special Needs. Chairman of Heep Hong’s Executive Committee, Dr Henry Au Yeung, was the first to echo support by donating his $6,000 budget bonanza. Every dollar of the money raised will be pooled in a training fund dedicated to helping special needs children in Hong Kong from disadvantaged backgrounds. The training fund will cover professional training for children with special needs awaiting services from low-income families, social adaptation training for children under our care and youth training programme.
More than 4,000 pre-school aged children are desperately waiting for subvented special needs service. The HK$6,000 would be able to provide 3-month speech therapy for 3 autistic children in the queue, or provide 10 sessions of professional training services for one child with developmental problems from a low-income family. The HK$6,000 is also sufficient for a social adaptation event for 20 children with special needs and their care-givers. If one in every 10,000 citizens gives $6,000 to the cause, Heep Hong will be able to set up a dedicated training fund and extend immediate help to some 2,000 children or half of the population on the waiting list.
Established in 1963, Heep Hong Society is serving over 6,000 children with special needs and their families. It is Hong Kong's largest children's education and rehabilitation service organization. Through its 30 service units, Heep Hong Society provides diagnostic assessment, training and treatment, parent counseling and school support services. The Society started serving autistic children in the eighties and since then have been concerned about the development of relevant services for autistic children. For more information about Heep Hong services, please contact us at 27763111 or visit our website at www.heephong.org.
