"United in Heart and Action: Parent-Child Program for Children's Speech Development" has come to fruition in just three short months, which is truly touching.
Currently, children suspected of having special needs can seek help from various departments according to different disabilities, such as the Child Assessment Service of the Department of Health, Hospital Authority specialist services, educational psychologists from the Education Bureau, optometrists, or audiologists, etc. However, there are as many as 6,000 people waiting for various pre-school rehabilitation services. School-aged children who are identified as having special educational needs will first go through an initial screening by their teachers, followed by a wait for assessment by educational psychologists, a process that often takes about a year. Although the government has recently increased resources to support these children, cross-sector collaboration is very important for early identification and early intervention. Initiatives like "United in Heart and Action" represent a step forward by professionals from various fields, including medical, social, educational, and parental representatives, providing timely support to children and families who are waiting for assessments or services.
I am reminded that in Greek, there are two words related to time. One is Chronos – which refers to time in sequence or a continuous period, such as friends with SEN needs, who due to demand outstripping supply, go from queuing and waiting, to receiving pre-school support, to entering primary school and being reassessed, waiting for free or subsidized services, as time continuously passes, and parents watch helplessly and hopelessly as communication difficulties continue to affect their child's learning and social interactions. The other Greek word related to time is Kairos, which refers to an opportune or special moment. Colleagues from the Social Welfare Department, fellow colleagues from EdUHK, passionate parents from Heart to Heart Service, the Tai Po Baptist Church Social Service Office, and other community organizations have all seen the needs of children falling through the cracks in services, and have come together to creatively support caregivers and parents - a beautiful example of Kairos - a time for cross-sector collaboration.
As the Director of the Whole Person Development Centre at EdUHK, I and my colleagues are also committed to seizing opportunities to assist SEN families with our community partners. For example, through sponsorship from the business sector, for the second consecutive year, we have developed I-Believe, an intensive training program for counseling and speech therapy tailored for children with SEN and early primary school students, using instrument assessments. During the process, counseling workshops are also available to enhance parents' skills and resilience. Additionally, the Lutheran Church's WeCycle III program supports adolescents in recovery from drug addiction to become bicycle tour guides, with I-WELL conducting longitudinal assessments using evidence-based methods to examine the effectiveness of the tour guide program.
I hope that our initiatives, like "United in Heart and Action," will turn accumulated experience and timely opportunities into greater momentum to support families in need, and I also hope that this pilot program, with support from the Social Welfare Department and various units, will be able to help more children.
Author: Dr. Yuen Chi-Pun, Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Counseling at The Education University of Hong Kong, Director of the Whole Person Development Centre, and an audiologist and speech therapist.
